News

The All Party Parliamentary Group for Legal and Constitutional Affairs observed the diamond anniversary of legal aid by posing the question, “Is there a future for the publicly funded practitioner?” 

The BSB will run an afternoon session at the Bar Conference on Saturday 7 November, titled ‘Disclosure of disciplinary findings and services complaints. 

This workshop will debate the pros and cons of disclosure in the context of the overall conference theme - Access to Justice. The workshop will consider current policy on disclosure; specific analysis of disclosure of inadequate professional service; disclosure in relation to public access and direct access, and the impact of technology on disclosure. The panel currently is as follows: 

EACH year, fifteen Chinese lawyers participate in the Lord Chancellor’s Training Scheme for Young Chinese Lawyers (LCTS). The Bar Council and Law Society were delighted to formally welcome this year’s LCTS lawyers at a reception held at the Law Society last night. 

The LCTS was launched in 2001. The 15 candidates who will take part this year are highly regarded practising commercial lawyers between the ages of 25 and 40. The programme consists of an academic programme at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and practical placements in law firms and chambers. This enables the Chinese lawyers to gain an understanding of English law and the English legal system and obtain practical experience in commercial law, litigation and court procedure as well as the management of a legal practice. 

A shortage of judges is creating delays in the family courts, the President of the Family Division has warned. 

IN June the Commission issued a Communication setting out what it would like to see the EU prioritise over the next 5 years across the breadth of activity in the Justice Liberty and Security fields. The European institutions will now debate the draft, leading to the definitive adoption of the work programme in Stockholm at the end of the Swedish Council Presidency in December. The Commission will follow this with an Action Plan in 2010, setting out detailed, prioritised, and timetabled plans to implement the programme. The Communication reveals some potentially far-reaching and controversial ideas across the range of JLS activities, including in both the criminal and civil law fields: 

http://ec.europa.eu/commission_barroso/barrot/archive/Programme%20Stockholm-%20EN-%20COM%202009-262.pdf 

Five awards for outstanding achievements in the field of legal aid were presented at the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year (“LALY”) awards. The occasion marked  the silver jubilee of the Legal Aid Practitioners’ Group (“LAPG”), which organises the event, and the 60th anniversary of the legal aid scheme. 

In quick succession Prince William was admitted as a member of Middle Temple, Called to the Bar and Called to the Bench as the sixth member of his family to be made a Royal Bencher of the Inn. He follows in the footsteps of his mother, Princess Diana, and the Queen Mother. Lord Phillips, the senior law lord, Lord Judge, the Lord Chief Justice, and the Attorney General, Baroness Scotland, were among the 300 guests at a ceremony in Middle Temple Hall. 

The House of Lords EU sub-committee E has recently published a short updated report supporting renewed EU attempts to enshrine minimum defence rights, in order to balance existing measures such as the European Arrest Warrant. The report anticipates a new, narrower, Commission proposal later this year, which should be consistent with, but go beyond, the European Convention on Human Rights. 

The Bar Council Scholarship Trust is sponsoring the Law Reform Essay Competition 2009, which is open to law students and pupils. The competition invites entrants to submit an essay of no more than 3,000 words, which identifies and makes the case for a law reform that is desirable, practical and useful.  More information is available on the Bar Standards Board website. 

A cross-party group of MPs has condemned the Legal Services Commission (“LSC”) proposals to cut legal aid funds for family law cases as “flawed, weak and inflexible”.