Features

Edited by: Ros Burnett
Publisher: Oxford University Press (2016)
Format: Hardcover 336pp 
​ISBN: 9780198723301 

As the 2016-17 Silk cohort is announced, Counsel probes the appointments system with the Chairman of the Queen’s Counsel Selection Panel, Helen Pitcher OBE  

Q  The basic principle of Queen’s Counsel Appointments (QCA) has always been that the process should be open, fair and transparent. But over the years, the process itself has been refined. What have been the major changes and how were the lessons learned – that is, how was it determined that something else would work better? 

Author: Philippe Sands
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson (2016)
Format: Hardcover 496pp and e-book
​ISBN: 9781474601900 

From ‘smart’ sanctions to judicial review, closed hearings to the Brexit/Trump effect, Maya Lester QC briefs readers on the varied legal issues surrounding the foreign policy tool of choice: economic sanctions  

Economic sanctions have been a foreign policy tool of choice for some time.  

As the child abuse inquiry continues to buckle under varied pressures, Pete Weatherby QC describes the practical challenges of running inquiries and other high-volume cases – being a techie geek is a bonus  

‘But can’t we just run off one copy?’ was the plaintiff cry of one of the team.  

Ch-ch-changes: Jess Campbell reflects on a significant year for the Bar Pro Bono Unit; explains what the £30 initiative means to litigants in person; and sets out how volunteering fits so well with the wellbeing initiative  

The close of a year is always a good time for reflection and the Bar Pro Bono Unit has much to reflect on from 2016.  

HH John Platt updates readers on the O’Brien/Miller pension and money claims fallout: all about tax 

Last year, a local issue awoke the Bar’s interest in the City of London. Gregory Jones QC urges barristers to dust off their voting rights and reclaim their voice in the City – on the doorstep of the Inns of Court  

Barrister politicians are nothing new. Lincoln’s Inn alone has produced 16 British prime ministers.  

Law confidential?  

'A secret spoken finds wings'  – Robert Jordan, The Path of Daggers   

Following the capsizing uncertainty generated by Brexit, the general public and businesses are increasingly looking for answers. No surprise, then, that the Bar has become a rich source of reliable and politically neutral information on a wide range of complex legal issues, deciphering events as they happen. Counsel brings you the cream of the Brexit Bar blog crop