News

Barristers have until 26 October 2009 to respond to a Legal Services Board (“LSB”) consultation on how it can enforce its decisions. The LSB, which is due to become fully operational on 2 January 2010, will have the overall role of ensuring legal services providers are properly regulated in pursuit of the public interest. 

Nominations for this year’s Bar pro bono award should be submitted by 30 September 2009. This award is given to recognise the outstanding contribution of an individual barrister or group of barristers to pro bono work in the past 12 months. The award will be presented at the Bar Conference on 7 November. E-mail natalia@barprobono.org.uk or visit www.barprobono.org.uk for further information. 

The Bar Standards Board (BSB) is working towards making decisions about barristers joining Legal Disciplinary Practices and Alternative Business Structures. 

As explained in the BSB’s response to the Legal Services Board’s discussion paper ’Wider access, better value, strong protection’, the BSB is concerned that some evidence is obtained to ensure that the effect on consumers is better understood. 

Three new board members have been appointed to the Bar Standards Board. They are: Richard Thompson, the new lay member, who is a Chief Constable with the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and previously worked for 18 years in the Foreign Office; Sam Stein QC, of Dyers Chambers, a criminal practitioner; and Patricia Robertson QC, of Fountain Court Chambers, a commercial and civil practitioner.  

The Commission has produced a handbook of EU rules applicable to merger control, as at 14 July 2009. 

See: http://ec.europa.eu/competition/mergers/legislation/merger_compilation.pdf 

The two regulations recently adopted, establishing procedures for the negotiation, conclusion and variation of bi-lateral agreements between Member States and third countries, on respectively, applicable law in contractual and non-contractual obligations; and on jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement of judgments and decisions in family law areas, were both published in the official journal (OJ L200 of 31.07.09) and entered into force in August. 

In July, the House of Lords EU Committee adopted its Report on this October 2008 proposal. The Bar Council had given evidence to its preceding inquiry. For the report, see: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldselect/ldeucom/126/126i.pdf and for
the supporting evidence, see: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldselect/ldeucom/126/126ii.pdf 

The report has been quite well received in Brussels, despite being rather critical of the current Commission proposal in places. It takes a similar line to the Bar Council on the fundamental issue of the level of harmonisation, urging that rather than apply maximum harmonisation across the board, the Commission should aim for what it terms “differentiated harmonisation”. 

The Legal Services Board has a number of consultation papers out for consideration now and there are more to come through the rest of the year. The consultation papers concern various aspects of how the legal profession will be regulated in the future. 

Open consultations are: 

 

Consultation on rules governing the making of representations and the giving of evidence on the scope of the Reserved Legal Activities Consultation
closes – 5pm, 28 October 2009 

SECURITY incidents at court do happen and can be a source of great concern to counsel. In recent months, the issue of court security has been brought to the attention of the Legal Services Committee and it has been seeking to establish the extent of the problem. To this end we have asked barristers to let us have details of any violent incidents at court, including incidents of verbal abuse. 

We have also been in contact with the central team dealing with security policy and guidance at HMCS. HMCS has in place systems to monitor security incidents at court and they are urging stakeholders to report all incidents, no matter how minor. This will ensure that they can establish a comprehensive picture of the level of conflict and potential violence and this will enable them to review what provisions can be put in place to mitigate or eliminate this actual or potential threat to court users. 

THE Chief Executive of the Bar Council of England and Wales, the Chairman of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales and the President of the Law Society of England and Wales expressed their deep concern at reports of mass trials being held in Iran following the political unrest after the disputed June presidential elections. The fourth mass trial in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court began yesterday where over 100 people have been accused of crimes including rioting, vandalism, “acting against national security”, and conspiring against the ruling system. Those on trial include members of the opposition reform movement, including a former vice-president and other senior politicians. Two Iranian workers for the British and French embassies in Tehran, a French academic and an
Iranian-Canadian reporter were also among those on trial.