Practice Toolset

The Mock Trials Competition introduces the law and the jury system to young people, whether they are likely to become lawyers or to end up in the dock. HHJ Christopher Kinch QC explains  

You might have noticed that the advocates in Court 4 at the Royal Courts of Justice that afternoon did look a bit on the young side and you might have observed that they looked remarkably composed as they waited for their case to be called on in the court where the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales usually sits. They had already completed three trials in the course of a court day that had started at 9.30 (on a Saturday) and at 3 p.m. they were ready for their last trial of the day. That level of “productivity” would have bean counters at the Ministry of Justice salivating. Every defendant had turned up. All the witnesses had been on time. There were no disclosure issues or problems or legal arguments and the judges were completing their summings up in 5 minutes or less. 

Barristers can now accept public access instructions from clients eligible for legal aid, following formal approval from the Legal Services Board on 28 March. Barristers under three years’ Call will also be directly accessible to clients, from later this year.  

A new training regime is due to be in place this autumn, at which point those who have already completed the existing training will have 24 months to undertake additional training or apply for a waiver. 

Hannah Kinch provides an insight into the work of the Young Barristers’ Committee.  

The Young Barristers’ Committee (YBC) has been around since 1954, and is one of the main representative committees of the Bar Council. Under the Bar Council’s standing orders, our purpose is to “represent and promote the interests of young barristers”; that is, those under seven years’ Call, both nationally and internationally. To that end, the YBC comprises elected Bar Council members, as well as those who have been co-opted to ensure that the committee properly reflects the fact that we represent both employed and self-employed barristers, across every circuit, in every practice area. I chair the committee, supported by my vice chairman (Max Hardy); the YBC is 30 strong. 

Guy Fetherstonhaugh QC, the Chairman of the Training for the Bar Committee, expresses his enthusiasm for the new pupillage application system.  

I am long enough in the tooth to remember PACH (the Pupillage Application Clearing House), its eventual online successor OLPAS, and its spawn the Pupillage Portal. I also remember vividly the dissatisfaction in my Chambers with each: the un-user-friendly application forms; the lack of any ability to tailor the forms to suit each Chambers’ speciality; the draconian deadlines; the torrent of paper that should not have, but did, accompany the online systems. The goodwill that the Bar should have, and did, feel for its own system gradually evaporated. In 1997, 243 sets of Chambers used the system; by last year, that had reduced to 100. 

Following the trial (and re-trial) of Vicky Pryce and the discussion on juries which has followed, Cheryl Thomas enters the debate and explains the world of jury research  

No one listening to the Today programme the morning after the first Vicky Pryce jury was discharged could have been more surprised than me to hear the former Director of Public Prosecutions, Lord MacDonald, state that it is impossible here to conduct research with juries about how they reach verdicts. 

Nothing could be further from the truth. I have been conducting just this type of research with real juries at Crown Courts in this country for a decade and am currently doing so. 

What did Lord MacDonald say?
According to Lord MacDonald: “In other jurisdictions, under controlled conditions, researchers are allowed to question jurors, to come to some conclusions about the way they are deliberating and how the process works. If you have a better understanding of that, then perhaps it’s easier to frame directions to juries that they will follow and understand.” 

He was right to say this information would be helpful. But he was wrong to claim that this kind of research cannot be done here. 

Nigel Lickley QC, Leader of the Western Circuit, explains the role of the circuit within the modern Bar.  

An eminent Silk in London asked me recently at a dinner in Middle Temple “What is the value of the circuits? ” 

David Wurtzel considers the results of the Bar Council’s 2012 “Bar Barometer”.  

‘The Bar will shrink’ has been a common cry of alarm over a number of years. First, the Bar lost its monopoly over the rights of audience in the Higher Courts, then solicitor advocates entered the market in force and then Legal Aid declined, student debt rose and the number of pupillages dwindled. And yet, according the 2012 Bar Barometer, the self-employed Bar as a whole has instead expanded. Using the latest statistics available, between 2010 and 2011 the largest increase (1.2%) in the previous five years took place. At the same time, the proportion of women and of BME barristers has steadily if slowly gone up. 

Kirsty Brimelow QC, Chairwoman of the Bar Human Rights Committee, explains its work  

The Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC) was set up by a small group of English barristers in 1991. Its original remit was to provide support and remedies for judges and lawyers, in other countries, who were being persecuted or prevented from performing their professional duties. 

CPD is a system of inputs that is completely blind to the outcomes, writes Matthew Nicklin. How best, then, to ensure that barristers are competent in the areas in which they practise?  

When Continuing Professional Development (CPD) was first made compulsory by the Bar Council, it was the Bar’s first discernible quality assurance measure for consumer protection. The theory was simple. Practitioners were required to complete a designated number of hours of recognised activities designed to keep them up to the mark. 

With pro bono projects about to be tested to their limits, it is imperative that proper use is made of the hard-fought-for legislation and supporting bodies, writes Guy Skelton  

Despite a somewhat dubious public perception, the law has an honourable history of philanthropy and charitable work. The nationwide legal walks, for example, are a powerful symbol of the legal sector’s belief in ‘giving back’. The 6,000 people who took part in this year’s London Legal Walk — a host of chambers, solicitors firms, Citizens Advice Bureaus, the judiciary and pro bono projects — raised over £530,000.