Justice Matters

As Rebecca Wilkie steps down as Chief Executive of the Bar Pro Bono Unit, she reflects upon her time there, the Unit’s development and the changed pro bono landscape  

Eight years after taking up the privileged post of Chief Executive at the Bar Pro Bono Unit, the pro bono landscape has changed beyond recognition.  

Michael Zander QC considers the Justice Committee’s Report on the Criminal Cases Review Commission  

The House of Commons Justice Select Committee’s report on the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) makes several strong recommendations but on the central topic it passes the buck to the Law Commission. 

Cross-examination of the vulnerable witness in R v FA: the Court of Appeal takes the ground rules approach and shows what direction such hearings must take, writes Penny Cooper  

“It will never be in the interests of justice that witnesses should be subjected to bullying and intimidatory tactics by counsel or to deliberately and unnecessarily prolonged cross-examination.” - Sir Brian Leveson (2015), Review of Efficiency in Criminal Proceedings , para 264 

The Charter, its background, popular misconceptions and its current popularity – Robin Griffith-Jones and Mark Hill QC on Magna Carta, religion and the rule of law  

“Magna Carta,” said Sir Edward Coke, “is such a fellow that he will have no sovereign.” 

Nkumbe Ekaney QC and Charlotte Proudman examine the impact of the first FGM case litigated in care proceedings  

A study by Equality Now and City University estimated that about 103,000 women aged 15-49 who had emigrated to England and Wales from female genital mutilation (FGM) practising countries were living with the consequences of FGM.  

Paul Jarvis commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Law Commission, with a particular eye on its efforts to codify the criminal law  

2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Law Commission.  

Aaron Wood considers whether the emergence of trade mark and patent litigators and advocates will help or hinder the IP Bar  

The Bar is well accustomed to the challenge of solicitor advocates.  

Sheryn Omeri on the recent decision in Hounga v Allen.  

In the recent Supreme Court decision in Hounga v Allen, the claimant, Miss Hounga, had arrived in the UK on a fraudulent passport which she had used to secure a 6-month visitor’s visa. 

A “Get out of jail free” card? Gerard McMeel explains contractual estoppel.  

As an advocate it is rarely pleasurable to enter the courtroom with one hand tied behind your back. 

Almost three years after the Bribery Act 2010 came into force, a new weapon for UK prosecutors, enshrined in the Crime and Courts Act 2013, came into effect on 24 February 2014, whereby the Serious Fraud Office and the Director of Public Prosecutions picked up the carrot of Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPA) to add to the stick of the Bribery Act.   

DPAs in the US federal system have been used by the Department of Justice in criminal prosecutions and the Securities and Exchange Commission in securities enforcement actions for over 20 years, and this inherently US approach has proved, to a large extent, successful.