News

Last year, the Bar Council organised a very successful presence of the Bar at the Annual Conference of the International Bar Association
(IBA) in Madrid. Through the excellent support from many chambers and from COMBAR, we were able to significantly raise the profile of the Bar among what is now the largest gathering of international practitioners in the world. 

On 8 June the Bar Council hosted Judge Monageng of the ICC and colleagues from the ICC Registry who gave a seminar for interested barristers about practice in the ICC. The ICC is seeking to attract female counsel, especially those of African origin, a group underrepresented on the list of Counsel. 

A steering group has been set up to address the recommendations in the Review of Pupillage Report 

BabyBarista, the fictional blog which recounts the life of a junior barrister, has moved to a new home at www.babybarista.com.

Lord Hoffmann is to succeed the late Lord Slynn as President of the Bar Association for Commerce, Finance and Industry (BACFI).

All practising barristers are subject to CPD in 2010. If you have not received details about your CPD obligations or are unsure of them, please contact Rachel Reeves, Training Compliance Assistant on 020 7611 1444 or e-mail rreeves@barstandardsboard.org.uk 

Libel law “is tilted against the media” but there is momentum for improvement, Lord Steyn said when delivering the 3rd annual Boydell Lecture.

The Bar Course Conference 2010 will take place over two days: Thursday 8 July and Friday 9 July 2010. The conference will be held at The Grand Hotel in Brighton. The conference will formally open with a welcoming speech given by Baroness Ruth Deech. The programme will include educational sessions from the Providers of the BPTC and the Inns of Court. Mr Derek Wood QC will also provide an informative session on the recent review of pupillage. For all invited delegates, the conference will offer the opportunity to review the end of the Bar Vocational Course and outline the introduction of the Bar Professional Training Course. 

Lord Phillips, President of the Supreme Court, has mounted a staunch defence of the Human Rights Act 1988. 

On 15 June the International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC) held a conference of its 30 bar association members, to discuss how it can help to rebuild the Haitian justice sector, which is an even worse state as a result of the 12 January earthquake than it already had been before.