Features

Luke Robins-Grace weighs up what justice should be worth at election time  

Justice is not a commodity but as the saying goes: you get what you pay for, and most people would agree that the price recent governments have been prepared to pay for our system of justice does not reflect its value to society.  

Inspired by Chaucer’s great poem and calling for an end to indefinite detention, this year’s Refugee Tales embarks from Runnymede. Join all or part of an uplifting journey, writes Josephine Henderson  

The Chairman’s Column on indefinite immigration detention in the March issue of Counsel  sparked huge interest, and readers may also be interested to know about a walk from Runnymede to Westminster from 1 to 5 July 2017.  

Why do defendants make false confessions? Simon Ralph looks at troubling trends in the interrogation of vulnerable individuals and what can be learned from the United States  

‘No good, crooked mother*******!’  

Google, Facebook, Twitter and other intermediaries increasingly face a broadly united front of protest. Is it time to regulate? asks Richard Spearman QC  

Under the headline ‘Facebook publishing child porn’, the Times of 13 April 2017 reported on its front page: ‘The social media company failed to take down dozens of images and videos that were “flagged” to its moderators, including one showing an Islamic State beheading, several violently paedophilic cartoons, a video of an apparent sexual assault on a child and propaganda posters glorifying recent terrorist attacks in London and Egypt.’ 

David Anderson QC examines the post-Brexit implications for national security and identifies potential fault lines for future security cooperation with the EU  

As jihadi fighters from Europe return from the battlefields of Syria, sometimes by complex overland routes, the advantages of a coordinated European response to terrorism seem obvious. 

When should clients feel satisfied with our services?  

‘You’ve got to keep reinventing. You’ll have new competitors. You’ll have new customers all around you’ – Ginni Rometty 

In a welter of longer treatises, the Bar’s Brexit Papers have been described as ‘gold dust’. Written in the public interest to inform and guide the negotiations ahead, Hugh Mercer QC highlights the value of the Bar’s topic-based and clear-sighted analyses  

One of the difficulties in predicting the impact of Brexit on different fields is that the government’s strategic priorities have been expressed in fairly general terms.  

Jess Campbell explains a landmark Court of Appeal Unit case and the importance of pro bono costs orders; updates on strategic funding opportunities; and shares current cases looking for counsel by area of law and Circuit  

There are a multitude of reasons to undertake a pro bono case, but one that brings many junior barristers to our door is that Bar Pro Bono Unit cases offer the junior Bar an opportunity to take their first steps in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. 

Following the triggering of Art 50, Anneli Howard assesses the possible ramifications of the Supreme Court’s Miller ruling, other associated litigation and key next steps for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU  

The British are famous for their unwritten constitution, which has evolved over the last 800 years.  

Its top courts will be ‘liquidated’, powers shifted and judicial interviews are to be live-streamed. John Cubbon outlines the radical reformation of Ukrainian justice as the country continues its transition from communism  

In Ukraine, efforts are in train to change the composition of the judiciary, starting at the top with the Supreme Court. They are much more radical than those in the United Kingdom and for good reason.