Issue 127 | 6 February 2020
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The Bar Council has been campaigning to highlight to the public the importance of the justice system and calling for urgent funding across the whole system after years of cuts have taken their toll. Through mainstream media, the Bar Council has been putting the case for justice.
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More Crown Court sitting days announced
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Consistent calls by the Bar Council for more Crown Court sitting days didn’t fall on deaf ears. After a concerted press campaign by the Bar Council and others, the Lord Chancellor announced this week plans to add an extra 4,500 sitting days to relieve the backlog of cases in the criminal justice system.
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Faith in the justice system
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The Daily Telegraph turned to the Bar Council for its view after it emerged that twice as many victims of crime are dropping out of prosecutions amid warnings of a “worrying lack of public confidence” in the justice system. An analysis of official data by The Daily Telegraph shows the proportion of victims withdrawing support for police investigations has doubled across all crimes since 2015.
Amanda Pinto QC, Chair of the Bar, told the Daily Telegraph: “Alongside rising recorded crime, falling crime detection rates, plummeting charge rates and prosecutions, courts not sitting and the backlog of cases piling up, it would not be a surprise if victims of crime and the wider public were losing faith in our justice system.”
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The Times pointed to warnings from the Bar Council in making its argument for funding across the whole justice system. In an opinion piece by The Times, the newspaper quoted Chair of the Bar, Amanda Pinto QC and urged that: “Courts must be reopened, their sittings increased, and the practice of releasing suspects under investigation reviewed. There is no time to wait for a royal commission to reach its conclusions. Work should start now.”
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Emergency terror legislation – sentencing
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The Bar Council called for caution in response to the Lord Chancellor's announcement that the government will bring in emergency legislation to prevent terrorist offenders being released early from prison, which will apply retrospectively to serving prisoners. Daily Mail, BBC News, and others, reported that Amanda Pinto QC, Chair of the Bar, said: “It is important that any proposed reform which could retrospectively alter the punishment for an offence should be the subject of careful consideration to ensure that it complies with the rule of law.”
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Much of the Bar Council’s work would not be possible without funding from the Bar Representation Fee (BRF): a £12.50 per month voluntary subscription. Find out more and sign up to help support the Bar.
The Bar Council’s Employed Bar Awards 2020: nominations now open
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Do you know an employed barrister whose outstanding work should be recognised across the profession and beyond? Or are you that employed barrister? If so, you have until the end of February to nominate them for an Employed Bar Award 2020.
This year we will be presenting awards for outstanding work in the public sector, law firms, NGOs, the Armed Forces, sports, and commerce, finance and industry. We will also be crowning the employed Bar Legal Team of the Year and the overall winner of Employed Barrister of the Year.
Held at the historic Merchant Taylors’ Hall on 3 July, the awards ceremony will be attended by leading members of the Bar and judiciary, and will include guests from government, industry and the media.
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Interview with Amanda Pinto QC, Chair of the Bar
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Amanda Pinto QC, Chair of the Bar, speaks to the Law Society Gazette about how solicitors have a big role to play in increasing opportunities for female barristers.
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It has been a busy schedule for the Bar Council since Parliament has returned, including meetings with Chair of the House of Commons Justice Select Committee, Shadow Justice Minister, Bambos Charalambous MP and participation in the All Party Parliamentary Group on Legal Aid.
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Views sought on changes to pupil supervisor training
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Are you a pupil supervisor or otherwise responsible for pupillage in chambers? If so, you may be aware that the BSB has recently updated its Pupil Supervisor Training outcomes, which sets out the regulatory requirements for pupil supervisors’ training. This will affect the content of courses currently offered to prospective pupil supervisors.
Share your views with the Bar Council’s Education and Training Committee. Please send any comments to ?subject=Pupil%20Supervisor%20Training.
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Warning over judicial independence in Poland
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The Bar Council has expressed its grave concern at the latest legislative measure by the Polish parliament, passed on 23 January 2020, which interferes, once more, with the independence of the judiciary, a principle which is internationally recognised.
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Bar Council: We want to accelerate progress on diversity
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Responding to the annual Bar Standards Board (BSB) Diversity at the Bar report last week, Chair of the Bar, Amanda Pinto QC, said, “The Bar Council wants to accelerate progress, so we are pushing practical initiatives to make the profession more representative of the society we serve, from the bottom to the top.”
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Better Case Management update
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The BCM and Defence Toolkit have recently been updated and contain practical advice and guidance for practitioners with the aim ensuring that justice is open, fair and timely.
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Legal Tech: Gamechanger or ethical dilemma?
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Bar Council policy experts Melanie Mylvaganam and Stuart McMillan discuss the ethical and regulatory implications of the introduction of AI into the legal market, as well as the potential dangers.
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More courts join HMCTS/Bar Council digital ID scheme
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The ‘professional users’ access scheme’, led by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) in partnership with the Bar Council, has been extended to include yet more courts. The scheme, which is being rolled out nationally, allows barristers to access HMCTS buildings via a smartphone identity application (ID app) or ID card without the need for a full security search each time.
This week the scheme was extended further, and rolled out in the following buildings:
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• Aylesbury Crown Court
• Barkingside Magistrates' Court
• Basildon Crown Court
• Blackpool Magistrates' Court
• Cannock and Seisdon Magistrates' Court
• Doncaster Magistrates' Court - (Justice Centre - North)
• Ipswich County Court
• Luton Crown Court
• Liverpool Combined Court
• Medway County Court
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• Milton Keynes County Court
• Snaresbrook Crown Court & Annex
• South Tyneside Magistrates' Court
• Stockport Magistrates' Court and County Court
• Swindon Magistrates' Court
• Torquay & Newton Abbot County Court
• Willesden Magistrates' Court
• Wimbledon Magistrates' Court
• Worcester Combined Court
• Wrexham Magistrates' Court
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Members of the Bar can access their identity information via the Bar Council’s secure My Bar portal.
Electronic ID cards verify users’ practising status and are only available to legal professionals who regularly use a venue which is participating in the scheme.
To find out if your local court or tribunal building is operating under the scheme, you can check the HMCTS website.
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Consultations: Automated vehicles
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The Bar Council’s Law Reform Committee has responded to the the Law Commission for England & Wales and the Scottish Law Commission joint consultation on automated vehicles.
The committee views safety as paramount and agrees a stricter regulatory regime is necessary where there is no responsible user having the obligation to ensure safe and legal road use. The committee also emphasised that transport is key to the independence of people with disabilities and older people and welcomed the focus in the consultation on accessibility.
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What has the Bar Council ever done for me?
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With the 2020 Authorisation to Practise (AtP) period just around the corner, you will soon be logging into MyBar to renew your practising certificate. Most of the practising certificate fee (PCF) you pay gets taken by the regulators, including the Bar Standards Board. Less than one third goes towards funding the work that the Bar Council does to support and represent you. To carry out that import work we rely heavily on the Bar Representation Fee (BRF) – your voluntary contribution of just £12.50 a month, which you can subscribe to alongside your PCF during AtP.
So what are you actually funding, and why is it worthwhile? Here are just three of the many current Bar Council initiatives that would not be possible without the BRF:
Improving barristers’ working lives
Every two years we produce an extensive report (informed by a major survey of the whole profession) on a wide range of different aspects of your working life, including research into the nature of your practice, your workload, your wellbeing and how all of this is changing over time. From this research, the Bar Council shapes the support it provides to the Bar. Later this year, Barristers’ Working Lives 2020 will give us a new insight into how the profession is evolving and identify the key issues you are currently facing. Download the previous Barristers’ Working Lives report.
Making the profession’s voice heard
We work hard to ensure that the Bar has a strong presence in the media and has the platform to set the record straight in a time when the profession and the justice system can be all too easily misrepresented. In January alone, the new Chair of the Bar Amanda Pinto QC has appeared on Sky News, BBC, LBC radio and in The Daily Telegraph, Financial Times, The Times, Daily Mail, The Guardian and The Independent, to name a few, on key issues affecting the profession and our justice system.
Managing Advocacy and the Vulnerable training
We maintain online training material and manage the process of successful training which prepares criminal barristers to work with vulnerable witnesses. To find out more about taking part in the training, contact your Inn of Court.
Read the full list of work funded by the BRF, and the direct benefits you get as a BRF subscriber.
Why wait for the AtP window to open?
Log into MyBar and subscribe to the BRF now.
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Katherine Duncan, Chair of the Bar Council’s Young Barristers’ Committee (YBC), gives her latest update on the work of the YBC in 2020, as well as a call out for applications to the committee.
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If you are raising money for a good cause, ?subject=Fundraising%20on%20BarTalk to feature in this section of BarTalk.
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Bar Council committee vacancies
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Help shape policy for the Bar Council by joining one of our committees. We currently have vacancies on the Bar Representation Committee, Young Barristers’ Committee, Employed Barristers’ Committee.
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Following the Bar Council elections for membership of the 2020 Bar Council, there is the following vacancy: Self-employed counsel over seven years in practice.
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The Bar Council is looking to nominate a barrister to join the Judicial Appointments Commission Advisory Group.
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English-Polish Law Day
30 March 2020
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The Bar Council will be holding a third English Law Day (in collaboration with the Warsaw Bar Association and the Law Society of England and Wales) in Warsaw on Monday, 30 March. The event will focus on extradition and child abduction, as well as on professional cross-border practice and judicial independence.
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