News

In the first three years’ of practice, newly qualified practitioners are required to complete 45 hours of continuing professional development (CPD), including at least 9 hours of Advocacy Training and 3 hours of Ethics (the “New Practitioners’ Programme”). On completion of your pupillage, you will be sent a CPD Information pack along with your Full Qualification Certificate. This details further information about the New Practitioners’ Programme and includes a copy of the CPD record card. We will maintain a record of your attendance at Advocacy Training and Ethics courses and you are required to keep your own record of attendance at other accredited courses as well as signing the registration document at these events. All courses that New Practitioners attend must be accredited by the Bar Standards Board. Information on accredited courses can be found on the website at www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/Practisingcertandcpd/ 

THE Bar Council has welcomed the publication of the final report from the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Panel on Judicial Diversity. Chaired by Baroness Neuberger DBE, the Panel has published a report which sets out proposals for a co-ordinated programme designed to deliver ‘sustained progress towards a more diverse judiciary’. The report emphasises the need for a ‘fundamental shift in approach’ which focuses on a judicial career that addresses diversity at every stage. Baroness Neuberger’s report is an important document which complements the work which the Bar itself is undertaking to improve diversity within the profession. 

Changes to legal aid system in England and Wales are incompatible with rule of law. 

SPEAKINGin Vienna at the 38th Annual Conference of European Bar Leaders, the Chairman of the Bar, Nicholas Green QC said the latest round of proposed cuts in criminal legal aid in England and Wales, coupled with the absence of a clear strategic vision for the future of legal aid were placing the country’s justice system at risk. Echoing the concerns of the recent report of the Public Accounts Committee, The procurement of legal aid in England and Wales by the Legal Services Commission (HC 322), Nick Green drew attention to the chaotic way in which legal aid policy and administration is being conducted, and the way that this is endangering the rule of law. The Public Accounts Committee criticised the LSC, amongst other things, for failing to get a grip of its financial management, for weak internal controls (leading to its accounts for 2008-09 being qualified) and for threatening the long-term future of the junior criminal Bar and placing the quality of advocacy in the Crown Court at risk. The Committee criticised the LSC for the lack of a clear strategic direction (reflected in its poor management of changes initiated following Lord Carter’s review of legal aid in 2006). Significantly, the Committee found that the LSC’s failings were such that it was not able to demonstrate that its management of the legal aid funds was delivering value for money. The Government is proposing to cut criminal legal aid fees in order to “safeguard” civil legal aid. However, instead of transferring any savings from criminal legal aid to civil legal aid, the total funds for legal aid will be reduced as part of the Government’s plans to cut public expenditure. 

On the eve of the Conference, Nick Green QC said: 

‘This conference has the rule of law as one of its key themes, something which every democracy has at its centre. However, reform of public funding for the legal aid system in England and Wales has become so chaotic that access to justice is being seriously weakened. The Bar cannot stand by and allow the legal aid system to face further arbitrarycuts. The Bar Council and the Criminal Bar Association have worked hard to put forward realistic and practical solutions to the Ministry of Justice and the Legal Services Commission in these difficult economic times. But the way in which the most recent consultations on Very High Costs Cases and the Advocates’ Graduated Fee Scheme have been conducted has left us no option but to take the first step towards a judicial review of the legality of their consultations, in the public interest.’ 

The Judicial Executive Board has agreed to support the recommendations of the final report of Lord Justice Jackson’s review on civil costs.

The Rona Group of Artists are running an exhibition focusing on the Inns of Court at the Langham Gallery, Bloomsbury from 24 March to 10 April. Email: info@ronagallery.com for further information.

The European Commission is currently reviewing two existing EU measures designed to support victims of crime: Council Directive relating to compensation to (cross-border) crime victims 2004/80/EC and the complementary Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA on the standing of victims in criminal proceedings. The Commission is expected to launch a public consultation this Spring, with all options open, including possible new EU legislation. 

From 1 September 2009, the ‘Consolidated Regulations of the Inns of Court and the General Council of the Bar’ will be replaced by the ‘Bar Training Regulations’. 

Former Bar Chairman, Stephen Hockman QC has set out the case for an international court for the environment. 

Delivering the eighth Ruth Steinkraus-Cohen International Law Lecture, in London in March, Stephen Hockman QC, of Six Pump Court, said: “After the failure of the Copenhagen summit, the need for institutional reform at an international level is increasingly widely recognised.” 

COMBAR, the Bar European Group, the Criminal Bar Association, London Common Law and Commercial Bar Association (LCLCBA) and TECBAR have joined forces with the Bar Council’s International Committee to offer their members of 7 years call or less, who are in employed or self-employed practice, financial assistance to participate in international legal events and conferences which contribute to their professional development. The International Secretariat has developed a scheme under which the cost of participating in such events is shared equally between the applicant, his or her SBA and the Bar Council Scholarships Trust. The grant programme thereby funds up to two thirds of the cost of participating in an international legal event. It aims to encourage more junior barristers to participate in activities which will give them an international perspective on legal issues and hence help them thrive in an increasingly globalised legal market. In return for the financial support the successful applicants commit to disseminating the knowledge and experience among junior members of his or her SBA. It his hoped that other SBAs will join this programme in due course. 

THE Bar Council has taken the first step toward a judicial review (JR) of two consultations on Advocates Graduated Fees and Very High Cost Cases (VHCCs) which are being conducted by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Legal Services Commission (LSC) respectively. 

The Bar Council has instructed solicitors to write to the MoJ and the LSC, in accordance with the pre-action protocol for judicial review claims. The principal basis for the Bar Council’s claim is that the consultation exercise is inadequate and unfair. The Bar Council’s decision to proceed with an application for JR has not been taken lightly. It has been more than twenty years since the Bar Council last instituted JR proceedings against the Government, despite a series of poorly handled reviews and efforts to reform the legal aid system.