‘Complaining about a barrister’s conduct in a written ruling is usually a better way of a judge highlighting concerns than contacting their head of chambers or regulator, the Employment Appeal Tribunal has said.’
Legal Futures, 1st June 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Criminal barristers refusing to take on new legal aid work have asked the government to abandon plans to test new operating hours for courts, as heads of chambers prepare to discuss whether or not to accept the government’s surprise offer of investment last week.’
Law Society's Gazette, 30th May 2018
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Following its recent consultation, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) has agreed in principle how it should move forward with several further aspects of its review into the training and qualification of barristers.’
Bar Standards Board, 30th May 2018
Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk
‘A dispute between the government and the criminal bar over legal aid fees shows no signs of being resolved soon, after the lord chancellor said he was disappointed by the action being taken by advocates and declaring that any disruption to the courts is “unacceptable”‘.
Law Society's Gazette, 24th May 2018
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Women barely feature among the top 100 criminal defence barristers when judged by earnings, new figures have shown, and the Bar has been warned that the government could use EU rules on equality in procurement to force change.’
Legal Futures, 21st May 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today announced how it intends to work with the profession to make further progress in eliminating the discrimination, harassment and other unfair treatment of female barristers.’
Bar Standards Board, 17th May 2018
Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk
‘Speech by the President of the Family Division Sir James Munby: the Family Bar in a Digital World.’
Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 15th May 2018
Source: www.judiciary.gov.uk
‘The BSB has today published the fourth annual edition of its statistical information on student performance on the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC).’
Bar Standards Board, 10th May 2018
Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk
‘David Gauke, the justice secretary and Lord Chancellor, has admitted that the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is feeling “a little frustrated” by the direct action taken by criminal law barristers over legal aid fees.’
Legal Futures, 10th May 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The government yesterday defeated a Labour attempt to annul the legislation changing the scheme through which criminal defence advocates are paid for carrying out publicly funded work in the Crown Court, which has led to over 100 chambers declining instructions.’
Legal Futures, 9th May 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘Criminal barristers are in the grip of a mental health crisis caused by significant increases in the amount of digital evidence, the number of historical sexual assault cases and long hours, the body that represents them has said.’
The Guardian, 6th May 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Criminal barristers are close to stepping up their action against legal aid cuts by implementing a ‘no returns’ policy in addition to refusing to taking on new work. The Gazette understands the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) is actively considering encouraging members to implement the policy.’
Law Society's Gazette, 3rd May 2018
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Judges have been issued with guidance on how to proceed with cases affected by the criminal bar’s legal aid action – including guidance should the action escalate.’
Law Society's Gazette, 2nd May 2018
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘Self-employed barristers have been advised not to sign contracts drawn up by law firms attempting to comply with data protection legislation coming into force this month. The contracts, required by Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), provide “data controllers” with guarantees that “data processors” working for them will protect the rights of data subjects – in this case, clients.’
Law Society's Gazette, 2nd May 2018
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘In response to the Ministry of Justice’s announcement that they will be funding a new programme of Pre-Application Judicial Education to both educate and boost diversity within the judiciary, Robin Allen QC, Chair of the Bar Council’s Equality & Diversity and Social Mobility Committee, said: “The Bar Council believes profoundly in equality under and before the law. So it is delighted by the Lord Chancellor’s announcement today that the MOJ will commit funding for a programme of pre-appointment education for prospective applicants for judicial office of all kinds. We see this as a really positive step towards improving judicial diversity which is so urgently needed and so important.”‘
The Bar Council, 26th April 2018
Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk
‘Criminal law solicitors unable to find a barrister because of their protest over legal aid fees “may need to assist the client to represent themselves as best they can” if the court will not grant an adjournment, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned.’
Legal Futures, 26th April 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The link between ethnicity and success on the Bar professional training course and in attaining pupillage is more nuanced than the big gap between white and non-white candidates presented by the Bar Standards Board (BSB), the Bar Council has claimed.’
Legal Futures, 23rd April 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) is reviewing whether there are “unjustified and discriminatory barriers to pupillage” at the advertising and recruitment stage, Legal Futures can reveal.’
Legal Futures, 20th April 2018
Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk
‘The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today published an online guide to assist immigration barristers when they work closely with vulnerable clients. The new resource will help immigration barristers to identify, assess and manage vulnerability as well as help them to meet their regulatory and other legal duties.’
Bar Standards Board, 18th April 2018
Source: www.barstandardsboard.org.uk
‘Trainee barristers are being told they will be docked points in their exams if they wear short skirts, colourful socks or “kinky boots”. A handbook at the BPP university law school warns students that they may lose points if they do not adopt an extremely conservative dress code in their advocacy assessments.’
The Guardian, 16th April 2018
Source: www.theguardian.com
