Features

Fiona Jackson reports back from the anniversary dinner held at the House of Lords to celebrate twenty years of the Association of Women Barristers.  

On Tuesday 4th October in the Cholmondeley Room of the House of Lords, our former President, Baroness Hale, hosted a memorable Dinner to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Association of Women Barristers. Another former President, Lady Justice Arden, also joined with the Solicitor General, Lady Butler-Sloss, Baronesses Deech and Scotland, our current President, Mrs. Justice Cox, and members and other distinguished guests in toasting the success of the AWB in its many campaigns. 

Lynne Townley and Samir Pasha consider the impact of recent legislative and policy initiatives aimed at discouraging the practice of forced marriage

Forced marriage is defined as “a marriage without the consent of one or both parties and where duress is a factor”. Under domestic legislation, a marriage entered into without the valid consent of either party can be rendered void. Forcing a person into marriage also incurs a violation of the provisions of numerous international instruments. 

2012/13 applications for practising certificates will have to meet new requirements, Oliver Delany explains  

The practising certificate application process is fundamentally changing. Simply paying the fee will no longer suffice. All barristers who require a practising certificate for 2012/13 will be required to follow a new process. 

William Byfield, Gutteridge Chambers : A sad acknowledgement that although the problem of late payment is not a new one, this time round the effects are more acute than ever

December 1, 2011: “A man who pays his bills on time is soon forgotten” - Oscar Wilde.

Chasing fees is a perennial problem. I remember a dinner party in the early nineties at the house of an old university friend, also at the Bar and now an eminent civil practitioner and fellow Head of Chambers. At the time we were both going through what might loosely be called a cash-flow crisis. After a wonderful dinner cooked by his most glamorous and exotic wife, talk turned to the irritations of life.

asks Catherine Heard, Head of Policy at Fair Trials International

Sir Scott Baker’s year-long review of the UK’s extradition arrangements reported on 18th October. The press coverage of its findings focused on the difficult case of Gary McKinnon and on the report’s clean bill of health for the UK-US extradition treaty - findings that understandably disappointed campaigners wanting a renegotiation of our extradition treaty with the United States.  

Asma Nizami looks at the founding of the Free Representation Unit, the UK’s largest single provider of free advocacy.  

Pro bono services are now an established part of the legal profession. The first organised attempt to deliver pro bono legal services from within the legal profession came in 1972 with the founding of the Free Representation Unit (‘FRU’). Then thought to be ‘untraditional and a bit radical’, it is now the largest single provider of free advocacy in the UK, and it will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2012. 

Shape the future or become the past 

The Chairman of the Bar, Peter Lodder QC, told Bar Conference delegates that they needed to shape the future or risk becoming the past in a lively opening plenary session.

The Chair of the 26th Annual Bar Conference, Taryn Lee, kicked off proceedings (for the second year at London’s Hilton Metropole Hotel), by introducing the day’s theme - ‘Shaping the future: a modern Bar for a modern market’. She encouraged the record 650 plus in attendance to focus on the strengths of the profession as they consider developing their practices. She outlined the format for the day, including encouraging modern-minded technophiles to tweet throughout the conference, which proved particularly popular. It also meant those not attending could keep track of what was going on, whether in plenary sessions or in workshops. Barristers, journalists, sponsors, and even humble PR professionals were getting in on the act. The Conference Chair even made time for a tweet or two. 

Counsel’s David Wurtzel interviewed Chair of the BSB, Baroness Deech, and Vice Chair, Sir Geoffrey Nice QC soon after their appointment. Three years into the posts, he interviews them again …  

Meeting with Baroness Deech, Chair of the Bar Standards Board, and Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, Vice Chair, was an opportunity to take stock as they reached the way point of three years in post. I had interviewed each of them early in 2009. The Bar had just discovered that it had a BSB Chair who understood how to talk to barristers - indeed she still gives a report at every Bar Council meeting. Back in 2009, Baroness Deech had said, “the Bar is going through hard times, many sections are worried about legal aid”. That much has not changed... 

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What does the Bar Council’s Brussels Office do for the Bar? Evanna Fruithof looks at the current priorities, including the proposed European Sales Law.  

It is 12 years since the Bar Council Brussels Office began operations, with me at its helm. September 1999 also saw the first European Council conclusions on Justice and Home Affairs – heralding an ever-expanding EU remit which accounts for a significant portion of the work of the Brussels Office today.