News

The BSB’s annual report is now available. Contact the editor of the BSB News for a paper copy or go to the BSB’s website to view it. 

www.barstandardsboard.org.uk 

Baroness Deech has called for a change in public attitude towards divorce. 

In the first of six Gresham College lectures on family law, Divorce Law: A Disaster? , Baroness Deech of Cumnor DBE outlined the cost of divorce in financial and emotional terms, and called for a “new debate on marriage and the family under the umbrella of moral and civic renewal”, although she accepted that it was “unlikely to provide any consensus.” “ 

Responses, including that by the Bar, to the Commission’s Green Paper on the review of the operation of the Brussels I Regulation (on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters) can be seen, at http://ec.europa.eu/justice_home/news/consulting_public/news_consulting_0002_en.htm 

The House of Lords EU Committee’s July 2009 report can be seen at: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldselect/ldeucom/148/148.pdf 

The European Parliament (EP’s) Legal Affairs Committee (“JURI”) is holding a hearing on the review on 5 October 2009 at which Alexander Layton QC has been invited to speak on behalf of the Bar. The Council is aiming to issue conclusions as to what the Commission should be doing with the regulation at the October JHA Council. 

THE new Chairman of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), Paul Mendelle QC, has called for the Government to re-think its approach towards the publicly-funded Bar. He is taking over as Chairman of the CBA, which represents over 3,600 criminal barristers and is the largest specialist bar association in England and Wales. Commenting on the year ahead, Mr Mendelle said: 

“I am acutely aware of the challenges which face the Criminal Bar. Self-employed, publicly-funded barristers work incredibly hard and their very long hours of work outside the court sitting day are rarely seen or appreciated by critics. They provide highly-skilled, cost-effective advocacy to the public and that we possess a criminal justice system of such fairness is in large part due to the excellence of the representation available equally to both prosecution and defence. 

The new Supreme Court could cause unpredictable changes to the constitution, Lord Neuberger has warned. The former Law Lord, who is due to return to the Court of Appeal in October to take over as Master of the Rolls, has suggested that the Justices of the Supreme Court will be strengthened and more assertive in their new location. 

Desmond Browne QC, the Chairman of the Bar Council, has criticised proposals to reform legal aid as “cuts in spending, pure and simple”. 

In August, the Ministry of Justice (“MoJ”) set out its plans to “rebalance” the £2 billion legal aid budget, in its consultation, Legal Aid: Funding Reforms. These include “rationalising” the rate of pay for defence barristers in Crown Court cases so that they are brought more in line with CPS rates, which are on average 23 per cent less. 

Freedom of expression is “an important card in the pack” but “not always the ace of trumps”,  according to Lady Justice Arden.
In a speech, Freedom of Expression and the Role of a Supreme Court—Some Issues from Around the World, at a judicial academic conference in the summer, Arden LJ considered the role of Supreme Courts. 

The BSB’s annual report is now available. Contact the editor of the BSB News for a paper copy or go to the BSB’s website to view it. 

www.barstandardsboard.org.uk 

The Commission is hosting the above-titled 1-day conference in Brussels on 21 October 2009. The draft agenda and details for registration etc are available at: http://ec.europa.eu/competition/consumers/events/2009/index.html 

The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has appointed three new Board members, following an open recruitment process. 

Richard Thompson OBE, the new lay member, will take up the position on the Board immediately. Richard will continue in his existing role as Chief Constable with the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC). Richard was the first non police officer to be appointed as Chief Constable since 1946, and prior to joining the Police, he served for eighteen years in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, involving overseas postings in Stockholm, Geneva, Pristina and Baghdad.