Features

As South Africa announces plans to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, Christina Warner looks at the court’s breakthrough cases and new focus on children in conflict, amid challenges to its credibility  

Enacted in 1998 and opened in 2002, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has a Herculean task ahead; hearing details of some of the most heinous global conflicts in modern times.  

Learning from international experience  

According to the Bar Council, on current trends, 50:50 gender balance at the Bar is unlikely ever to happen.  

While pro bono work is a significant part of how the Bar gives back to society, over a third of barristers volunteer for charity work outside their profession. Haresh Sood inspires with some alternative ways of giving  

We all see and hear of people doing charity runs, walks and triathlons for a number of causes, which is a valuable source of fundraising.  

‘I hope the film may be of some help to the agencies who do their utmost to support the refugees who have survived, most especially to their children.’ Dir: Vanessa Redgrave  

On 3 October the Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC) hosted a thought-provoking and inspiring film screening of Vanessa Redgrave’s Sea Sorrow .  

Understanding outsourcing, secondments and other non-traditional ways of working  

With a title like this, it was not surprising that there was a good turnout for the morning session run by the Ethics Committee, with practitioners at every stage of their careers represented. 

Why is it that in the year 2016, video still seems like an exotic marketing tool for chambers to use? Oliver Scott argues that it’s a natural medium for barristers 

Catherine Baksi takes a look at how chambers are adapting to a pressured and competitive environment  

Despite the myriad of pressures on the Bar, the number of barristers and chambers from which they practise has grown in recent years.  

Authors: Bastian Obermayer and Frederik Obermaier
Publisher: OneWorld Press (2016)
Paperback: 384pp
ISBN: 978-1786070470
Price: £12.99 

The online support portal for barristers’ wellbeing and mental health has gone live  

A new portal giving barristers, clerks and chambers staff access to guidance, tips, support and contacts for help on all matters concerning wellbeing was launched on 15 October at the Annual Bar Conference.  

Arguably the most serious miscarriage of justice of our times – lessons must be learned from the iconic Hillsborough proceedings, writes Pete Weatherby QC  

Hillsborough is arguably the most serious miscarriage of justice in our history.