News

International links 

A delegation of senior barristers has visited the Gulf to strengthen links with the local legal profession. 

Delays getting longer caused by huge increase in scale of family breakdown 

Family judges have lost authority with the general public and this is contributing to “completely unacceptable” delays in the courts and damaging children’s welfare, a Family Division judge has warned. 

Magistrates’ courts and county courts 

The Government has selected 93 magistrates’ courts and 49 county courts for closure. 

JASB Training Day – 10 January 2011 

Members of the Joint Academic Stage Board (JASB), and members of staff from the BSB and SRA will be in attendance at the second Training Day on 10 January 2011 for new JASB Representatives attending CPE/GDL and Qualifying Law Degree (re)validation events. 

Lord Justice Moses has called for reform of the role of the judge in jury trials. 

Delivering this year’s Law Reform Committee lecture “Summing Down the Summing Up: Re-Forming the Criminal Trial” on 23 November at the Inner Temple, Moses LJ said there was a problem in the function of the judge and his role as guide when summing-up. Instead, he said, the jury should be given a list of questions to answer. 

Every Justice of the Supreme Court will from now on be styled as “Lord” or “Lady” after the Queen signed a warrant on 13 December to ensure uniformity of address. The courtesy title will be conferred upon new Justices for life.

Every set of barristers’ chambers would need to gather and publish statistics on the diversity of their members and staff, under new Legal Services Board (“LSB”) proposals. 

• International Committee 
• Workshop on networking opportunities 

At the end of last year the International Committee together with the Criminal Bar Association and the Institute of Barristers’ Clerks organised a practical workshop focussing on how barristers and chambers can increase their international practices. The panel of speakers, which was chaired by Peter Lodder QC, included junior and senior practitioners who gave practical tips on how to capitalise on the networking opportunities available at international conferences and how to tap into various international markets. 

• International Committee 
• Financial assistance for junior members 

Various Specialist Bar Associations have joined forces with the Bar Council’s International Committee to offer their junior members (seven years’ Call or less) financial assistance to participate in international legal events of their choice which contribute to their professional development. 

New Bar Chairman’s inaugural speech 

Peter Lodder QC, the new Chairman of the Bar Council, has called on publicly funded barristers to diversify their practices. 

The Chairman reassured barristers who do legal aid work that they have a “realistic future”, but urged them to follow the lead of the privately funded Bar and to be “creative and entrepreneurial” in their pursuit of opportunities.