Features

Name: Timothy Scott QC     Position: Family Law Silk 

Name: Laura Heaton            Position: Family Law Barrister / Finance Director 

Chambers: 29 Bedford Row 

A powerful and thought provoking film, finds Felicity Gerry  

In the Land of the Free is the sort of thought provoking film which does not require a hemp shirt. A powerful film, which suffers the disadvantage of being labelled a documentary, about three prisoners held for decades in solitary confinement in an American prison. The film received its European Premiere at Curzon Cinema Soho on 25 March as part of the 14th Human Rights Watch Film Festival sponsored by Time Out and followed by a discussion moderated by Terry Waite CBE who gave a moving account of his own detention. Human Rights Watch has published several reports on prison facilities in the United States of America (for further information visit: www.hrw.org/en/united-states/us-program/prison-and-detention-conditions). 

Belle Turner reports on the recent YBS seminar “All Change? Or not? For the Young Bar”.  

At this time of great change at the Bar there is some concern as to whether young barristers at a grassroots level are engaged with the potentially career-changing decisions that senior members of chambers may be taking on behalf of their members. There is no small irony that, as a young barrister in a set wishing to become a Legal Disciplinary Practice (“LDP”), for example, the senior members of chambers may profit considerably from the work of the juniors for many years before the juniors themselves benefit. There is a sense in many of the emails which I receive that this wasn’t what people signed up for. 

Dominic Regan and Sean Jones suggest the best restaurants to visit in order to obtain good wine at a fair price.  

You have cause to celebrate. Perhaps you have just been paid for that case you did late last century. The proverbial moron in a hurry can find good wine but the art is to find it at a fair price. Here are some suggestions. 

Dominic Regan and Sean Jones suggest the best restaurants to visit in order to obtain good wine at a fair price.  

You have cause to celebrate. Perhaps you have just been paid for that case you did late last century. The proverbial moron in a hurry can find good wine but the art is to find it at a fair price. Here are some suggestions. 

Simone Paissoni outlines the tax issues involved in owning a property in France 

France is a wonderful country, but complex at all levels, and it excels in its complexity regarding the taxation of real estate.
Anyone who dreams of owning that “petit bijou” in the sun or the city, knows that the costs and duties on purchase amount to six or seven per cent, but what about after completion? What does the new owner have to worry about? What about on sale, or gift or death—how are such events treated tax wise in France? 

The BSB has recently published a consultation paper on its proposals for revisions to barristers’ practising arrangements. Charles Hollander QC and Sarah Brown outline the key themes and explore the challenges ahead.  

The Legal Services Act 2007 (“the Act”) introduces into the regulatory arena the principle of authorisation to practise. In terms of the Bar, this requires new procedures which build upon and extend the current practising certificate regime. The Bar Standards Board (“BSB”) has recently issued a consultation paper on its proposals for authorisation to practise arrangements. 

In Re W the Supreme Court reformulated the approach a family court should take when exercising its discretion to decide whether to order a child to give live evidence in family proceedings. However many questions still remain unanswered,  believes Chris McWatters 

 Most barristers would consider it a travesty of justice if they were not allowed to cross-examine a complainant who had made allegations against their client, especially if those unchallenged allegations were believed by a court. 

Joseph Holmes argues the case for trial by jury in international criminal trials.  

The objective of international criminal justice is, backed by the weight of global consensus, to replace the “culture of impunity” with a “culture of accountability”. However, there is a real danger that the administration of international criminal justice is coloured by political influence. Consider the following basic propositions. 

David Wurtzel believes the cast deftly balances the personal with the political and imitate without mimicking the historical figures.  

“The promise” is the Balfour Declaration of November 1917 which said that the British Government “view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”. It lies at the heart of Ben Brown’s fine play, performed in the round at the Orange Tree. For much of the action, the floor is covered by a map of the Ottoman Empire. Not the least of the many historical ironies which run through the production is the sight of British ministers, sitting in London, carving up that Empire before the First World War has actually been won.