News

The Bar Council and the Personal Support Unit are running a campaign to raise urgently needed funds for the PSU. Every year, the PSU provides practical and emotional support to over 6,000 unrepresented litigants embroiled in civil and family litigation.

An International Committee working group on developing international practice for the publicly funded bar delivered a seminar in early July aimed at raising awareness of international practice opportunities for the criminal and family Bar. The seminar comprised a panel of barristers who shared their experiences of working internationally and gave practical advice to the audienceof over 75 barristers and clerks who had gathered in the Bar Council offices and who joined from Birmingham by video link.

In early summer the Bar Council met with the Chinese Deputy Minister of Justice, Mr Zhao Dacheng and Deputy Director of their International team, Mr Kang Yu.

Criminal

Unfair reporting in a murder investigation could deter witnesses from stepping forward or even jeopardise a future prosecution against someone else, the Lord Chief Justice has said.

The results of a consultation with 35 children between the ages of three and seventeen that was undertaken by the Office of the Children’s Commissioner on behalf of the Family Justice Council (FJC) has shown that children involved in public and private family law proceedings feel confused and are often given little explanation about what is happening.

The BSB has recently updated the information available to students in preparation for the forthcoming academic year. The new Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) ‘Infotable’ has been published on the Bar Standards Board website and contains contact information for each BPTC Provider as well as information on term dates, fees and option subjects available.

Please be aware that the closing date for the BSB’s CPD Consultation is now 31 October 2011.

The biggest proposed changes in the consultation include an increase in the required CPD hours from 12 to 24 per year and that activities should be split into two categories, ‘verifiable’ activities and ‘nonverifiable’ activities.

Offers of pupillage went ahead as scheduled on 2 August despite an earlier technical hitch.

The Bar European Group, Commercial Bar Association, Criminal Bar Association, Family Law Bar Association, London Common Law and Commercial Bar Association and Technology and Construction Bar Association together with the Bar Council Scholarships Trust fund a grant programme which offers financial assistance to participate in international legal events and conferences to SBA members of seven years’ Call or less and who are in practice. The event must take place before the end of 2011 and contribute to members’ professional development and legal practice.

The International Committee has raised its concerns with the UK Border Agency (UKBA) over recent amendments to the Points-Based System which make it more difficult for non-European Economic Area (EEA) national barristers to practise in the UK.