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Issue 137 |25 June 2020

Jury trials
Treasury Committee report
Coronavirus testing update
Coronavirus suvey reminder
Legal Pride 2020
Counsel magazine
Chair's update
In-person training returns

Pupils' free mediation training
Parliamentary update
Lockdown LALYs
Direct Access tips
Volunteer with BCAS
Blogs
Partners for the Bar

Don't scrap jury trials when tackling the courts backlog

Amanda Pinto QC, Chair of the Bar, has responded to plans to use one judge and two magistrates in either way cases instead of a jury. The plans were floated by the Lord Chief Justice, and subsequently the Lord Chancellor, when looking at ways the tackle the growing backlog of cases.

Amanda Pinto QC told The Independent and wrote in The Times: “The need to address the backlog of cases built up over years must not be allowed to override the need for victims of crime and those accused of crime to see and feel that justice is being done in all cases, serious cases included. A panel of three is not the same as a jury of randomly-selected men and women from different backgrounds and of different ages, who bring their collective life experience to bear when evaluating the evidence.”

Treasury Committee echoes Bar’s lockdown fears

MPs have echoed concerns from the Bar that many self-employed people are being locked out of government financial support measures. In its report, Treasury Committee report 'Economic Impact of Coronavirus: Gaps in Support', the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee highlighted its concerns.

Read the Bar Council’s reaction

Update on coronavirus testing for barristers

Due to a lack of demand, the Bar Council will no longer act as an administrator of testing for barristers with coronavirus symptoms. The Bar Council had stepped in to facilitate tests for barristers in the absence of an ‘employer’. Barristers with symptoms can still apply for testing via the Government’s own test page.

Visit the government's coronavirus testing page

Tell us how the issues you face during the pandemic are developing

The situation for barristers continues to change rapidly, and in order to fully understand how the challenges you're facing are developing and present strong evidence to the Government, we need ongoing input from as many members of the profession as possible.

If you can spare 15 minutes to complete our latest survey and add to the collective voice of the Bar, we need to hear from you. 

The survey closes tomorrow (26 June) at 23:00.

Complete the self-employed barristers' survey

Complete the employed barristers' survey

Legal Pride 2020 goes virtual

The legal professions of England and Wales will celebrate Pride events virtually during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Bar Council and other representative bodies of the legal professions will release a series of video and blog interviews with members from each city whose Pride they were due to attend – Birmingham, London, Bristol, Newcastle, Leeds, Cardiff and Manchester – to highlight the experiences of LGBT+ lawyers across the country.  

More information

Counsel magazine: Racial diversity at the Bar + more

July’s edition of Counsel is out now and available for free online.

In this edition, Leslie Thomas QC, Gresham Professor of Law, discusses racial diversity at the Bar. Amanda Pinto QC, Chair of the Bar, looks at what is being done and what more can be done to make the profession more diverse. Plus, jury trials: blue sky thinking and the dangers of change.

Read Counsel

Chair’s update: Meeting with Lord Chancellor, BLM, and more

In her latest update to the profession, Chair of the Bar, Amanda Pinto QC, confirms a Bar Council working group to look at how the challenges faced by black barristers and those wishing to join the Bar can be overcome. She also shares details of the Bar Council’s most recent meeting with the Lord Chancellor, what more can be done to help the self-employed Bar, as well as CPS fees for cracked trials and S28 hearings, plus more.

Read the Chair's update

Bar Council face-to-face training returns with (socially distanced) mediation courses

After many weeks of delivering all of our courses and seminars online, in-person events are due to return to the Bar Council from next month with our five-day Foundation Mediation training sessions. The training will be running monthly throughout the rest of the year, in a safe and socially distanced environment.

Foundation Mediation follows the Civil Mediation Council and CIArb-recognised 40-hour mix of practical workshops, interactive teaching and practical case studies during which attendees take various active roles including as mediator.

Given the growing listing issues (and the fact that prior to lockdown there were more mediations in multi-track matters than trials), Foundation Mediation training provides an opportunity to extend your skills and practice for the future.

Find out more

Free mediation training places for pupils

Four places reserved for pupils from publicly funded chambers to attend our intensive five-day mediation course for free

We are pleased to announce that the Bar Council and the Society of Mediators can offer pupil barristers from publicly funded sets the opportunity to attend our five-day Foundation Mediation training free of charge.

Two places have been reserved on our 13-17 July course and a further two for 10-14 August.

During their week with the Society of Mediators, the pupils will not only receive accredited civil and commercial mediation training, but also develop the skills needed to be a mediation advocate. 

Places are awarded on a first-come first-served basis. Successful applicants must be from a chambers conducting publicly funded work.

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Parliamentary update

The Justice Select Committee heard from the Lord Chancellor and from HMCTS Chief Executive, Susan Acland-Hood on Tuesday. Discussions focused on court capacity as we emerge from lockdown, options to help reduce the backlog including limiting jury trials, extending court hours and using more buildings. The Bar Council briefed members ahead of the session and a summary of the session can be read here. The full transcript is not yet available but can be watched here.

The Bar Council is meeting with the Attorney General and Shadow Secretary of State for Justice next week. We continue to work on the various Bills which are going through both Houses.  

Virtual Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards

For the first time ever, the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards (LALYs) will be going online. Join the LAPG on 7 July at 19:00 to celebrate the incredible work of legal aid lawyers at the ‘Lockdown LALYs’, including the Legal Aid Barrister of the Year award, sponsored, as always, by the Bar Council.

Watch the short promotional video which may, or may not, feature the real-life Secret Barrister, as well as other familiar faces.

Register for free

Direct access tips: How to generate more work

Watch the latest short video from Daniel ShenSmith, barrister & mediator and Bar Council Direct Access Panel Member, as he shares his three main strategies for generating more direct access work.

Volunteer with the new and improved Bar Complaints Advisory Scheme

The Bar Complaints Advisory Scheme (BCAS) is designed to enable barristers who are the subject of disciplinary or complaints proceedings to obtain free initial advice and assistance from fellow members of the Bar.

Given the ever-increasing number of BSB disciplinary findings, and the now lower burden of proof in cases before them, BCAS serves an important purpose and ensures that barristers can secure appropriate representation during periods of vulnerability and uncertainty.

The Bar Council has recently reviewed the process through which members of the Bar can volunteer for BCAS and is now inviting both employed and self-employed barristers to add themselves to the database. In order to be included, volunteers must hold a current practising certificate and be prepared to provide initial advice on a pro bono basis. It is generally expected that they will be prepared to continue to act on a pro bono basis once they have provided initial advice, but they are not obliged to do so.

More information

Blogs

Guest blog: Black Protest Legal Support UK

Yvonne Kramo, Black Protest Legal Support UK (BPLS) committee member, writes for BarTalk on how hundreds of BPLS legal observers have been assisting Black Lives Matter protestors and how barristers can find out more or offer pro bono advice to BLM protestors.

Read more

Guest blog: Attorney General – restoring public confidence in criminal justice

The Attorney General, Suella Braverman QC MP, guest blogs for BarTalk on plans to change the guidelines on disclosure and the CPIA Code in order to restore the public’s confidence in the administration of the criminal justice system. In her blog, the Attorney General sets out why the Bar should contribute its views to her plans for reform ahead of the extended consultation deadline of 22 July.

Read more

Four places reserved for pupils from publicly funded chambers to attend our intensive five-day mediation course for free

Volunteer with the new and improved Bar Complaints Advisory Scheme

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