News

Date for your diary: “Justice in Times of Austerity” – London, 20 June 2011

The Bar Council is hosting a seminar entitled “Justice in Times of Austerity” at the Inns of Court in London on the evening of 20 June 2011, at which Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Justice and Fundamental Rights, will give the keynote speech.

QASA

An accreditation scheme designed to maintain high standards in criminal advocacy has changed its acronym. The Quality Assurance for Advocates scheme is to be known as the QASA (Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates).

Barristers donned their walking boots along with senior judges and thousands of lawyers and legal support staff for the seventh annual Legal Walk this month.

In London, the Bar chair, Peter Lodder QC, the Master of the Rolls, Lord Neuberger, and the Attorney-General, Dominic Grieve QC, were among more than 5,000 people stepping out on the ten kilometre walk from the Royal Courts of Justice, past Buckingham Palace and the Serpentine and on to Chancery Lane.

The Bar Council has backed a government “Action Plan” to promote the UK’s legal services sector overseas.

Transparency in the justice system reached a new level this month with live streaming of proceedings in the Supreme Court.

The Sentencing Council has published a public consultation on its proposals to introduce a new guideline for the sentencing of burglary offences. The consultation runs from May 12 for twelve weeks and will close on 4 August 2011. 

The BSB held its annual Clementi Debate on 26 May at Centre Point Tower in London. In anticipation of its consultation on Continuing Professional Development and the joint review of legal education, the Debate asked “Is legal education fit for purpose?”.

In 2010 the BSB, along with ILEX Professional Standards and the Solicitors Regulation Authority, established the Joint Advocacy Group (JAG) to take forward the development of a quality assurance scheme for criminal advocates.

A review of CPD for barristers, commissioned by the Bar Standards Board and chaired by Derek Wood CBE QC, has recommended major revisions of the system.

The Judicial Diversity Taskforce has singled out the Bar Council’s schools outreach programme for praise in its first progress report.