Features

James Dingemans QC looks at the legal profession  in Albania and the work of the Slynn Foundation there.  

On Wednesday 30 March 2011 a delegation from the Albanian National Chamber of Advocacy, (the ANCA), which is effectively the Bar Council, Bar Standards Board, Law Society and Solicitors Regulation Authority for Albania all rolled into one organisation, visited the offices of the Bar Council and Bar Standards Board. This article attempts to explain what they were doing there. 

Job titles
Head of Chambers and Silk 2KBW

2KBW is primarily a criminal set of chambers with a Western Circuit heritage. Increasingly members are working in other areas particularly London, the South East and the Midlands including a significant group of civil practitioners, dealing with general common law as well as some more specialised areas of civil law.

Is anything private anymore? Charles Hale and Toby Craig investigate…  

Did you hear the one about the ‘luvvie actor’, ‘family man footballer’ (or possibly several of them) and ‘one of Britain’s most successful businessmen’? No? Sadly, nor did we, but if we had we wouldn’t have been able to tell you anyway, such is the pervasive influence of the tabloids’ latest pet topic; the infamous Super Injunction. And it’s not just Fleet Street’s ire which has been raised. 

Is the world of legal expert witnesses becoming deserted?  Has Jones v Kaney [2011] UKSC 13, in which the Supreme Court abolished their immunity from actions for breach of duty, made matters worse? Penny Cooper examines the case…  

Commonwealth Lawyers Conference: February 2011 saw India hosting  the 17th Commonwealth Lawyers’ Conference. Nichola Higgins reports.  

Hyderabad, the sixth most populous city in India combines bustling bazaars and statuesque mosques with a major centre for the IT industry in India (earning the city the sobriquet “Cyberabad”).  In February, it played host to the 17th Commonwealth Lawyers’ Conference, during which over 700 lawyers, academics and judges descended on Hyderabad between 5th and 9th February 2011. Lawyers have much to learn from the comparative experience of other commonwealth countries and to facilitate such learning the CLA holds a biannual conference as well as regional events. 

The frustrations of being counsel for the defence  mount up as the case of R v Jason Grimble rumbles on...

May 9, 2010: When the wine goes in, strange things come out - Schiller

In days gone by, losing a client was an occupational hazard, borne with anger or relief for a few seconds and then forgotten as a fresh case appeared, as if by magic.

In the second part of his article on the attempt by Abu Hamza to avoid extradition, Paul Hynes QC considers the arguments in the European Court and their compatibility with European notions of cruel and inhuman treatment

As we saw in the first part of this article, four men, Babar Ahmad, Haroon Rashid Aswat, Syed Tahla Ahsan and Abu Hamza, exhausted their UK domestic challenges to US extradition, and had to look to Europe for a remedy. 

Adam Sampson Chief Legal Ombudsman gives us his thoughts on Silks, barristers’ financial management issues and some of his current cases…  

Touring one or two of the Silks’ parties over the past few days left me with mixed emotions. On the one hand, it is nice to see talent recognised. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the Silk system, it does at least provide a mechanism by which years of dedication and hard work is honoured. 

Sam Stein QC lays out the Bar Standards Board’s position regarding the awarding and conduct of pupillages and sets down the basic rules  with which all chambers must comply.  

The vast majority of practitioners enjoy their work and would not do anything else. The vast majority of practitioners are probably not fit to do anything else. 

The inaugural Bar Debate took place on 7 April 2011 in Court 1 of the Old Bailey. Counsel’s David Wurtzel was there
  

The debating chamber 

Court 1 of the Old Bailey has seen its share of sentencing in its time.  This has included the need for the judge to don the black cap, which at least one panellist on 7 April looked forward to seeing again.  It was thus a suitable if well behaved venue for the first Bar Debate:  “Bang ‘em up Britain:  are we taking a rational approach to sentencing?”