Features

Chris McWatters believes that the FLBA Chairman will need all his diplomatic wizardry to deal with the fizzing brew of change facing the Family Bar 

St Albans Syndrome, Woolwich Worm and other ailments. Christopher Kinch QC reports on the latest outbreaks.  

You might think that things were hard enough at the criminal Bar these days without the judiciary starting to show signs of reverting to the bad old days of cantankerous and difficult judges. It is within living memory that when counsel failed to curtail his submission before the then resident judge at Southwark he was allowed a period of reflection in the court cells. Isn’t it all supposed to be different now with a modern judiciary all schooled and refreshed by the JSB at those arduous seminars at Warwick? There are signs that some judges may be falling into bad habits, or perhaps there is something in the judicial water flasks that is proving a source of infection. Whatever the cause, it seems about time for some health advice to any member of the Bar finding themselves confronted by signs of judicial malady. 

Snigdha Nag reviews Made In Dagenham  

Stephanie Hawthorne picks out her favourite features from her tenure as Editor 

David Wurtzel looks through old issues. The rhetoric is the same, he concludes 

Lord Justice Toulson discusses the forthcoming selection for seven criminal law Senior Circuit Judge appointments.  

There will soon be a rare opportunity to apply for a significant number of criminal law Senior Circuit Judge roles across the country, including the Old Bailey where for the first time there is to be a vacancy for a judge to work for a reduced number of days. 

Nigel Pascoe QC raises his glass to celebrate Counsel's 25th anniversary 

And so, dear reader, which is it to be: a magnum of champagne or a small glass of dry sherry to celebrate a modest achievement?  Probably somewhere between the two .  Counsel has reached its 25th birthday in reasonable shape with a continuing selection of readable articles and more friends than implacable enemies.  Let that not sound too complacent.  There will always be angry readers believing, as with Punch, that it is not the magazine they remember.  In a sense they are quite right.  Counsel continues to evolve, but a discernable independent spirit still exists which continues to mirror the extraordinary panorama of the practicing and employed bar. 

Position: Barrister
Chambers: Brick Court Chambers 

The presumption against short prison sentences in Scotland could provide lessons for south of the border, says Dr Sarah Armstrong 

On the very same day in June 2010 that the Lord Chancellor Kenneth Clarke QC MP argued for fewer short prison sentences in England and Wales, the Scottish Parliament passed a law to do just that. The Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 creates a presumption against prison sentences of three months or less, culminating a major effort to reform the use of imprisonment here. 

Gavin Purves explains why Counsel was established and charts its development