Practice Toolset

Mind set up an expert advisory group to assist with drafting the toolkit. Rachel Spearing, a member of the Bar Council’s Disability Committee, explains her involvement and the background to the project 

In May 2009 the Bar Council’s Disability Committee were approached by Mind, the mental health charity, who were seeking a delegate to join their working party in drafting a toolkit to assist prosecutors and advocates dealing with victims/defendants suffering from mental distress. This was to become the first mental health toolkit for prosecutors and advocates to be jointly funded and produced by the CPS, the Law Society and the Bar Council. The aim was to provide legal professionals with a better understanding of the issues surrounding mental distress, the impact such conditions can have on the validity and accuracy of a person’s evidence and what support can be provided to help a witness give their best evidence and be supported through the process. 

The new Chairman of the Bar Council intends to pass on to his successor a Bar which has got through the difficulties and is ready to flourish, finds David Wurtzel.  

If every elected leader needs a “narrative”, then Peter Lodder QC, the new Chairman of the Bar, has one and it is straightforward: “Perhaps because I have been fortunate in my own career, I am an optimist and I continue to be an optimist. I intend to pass on to my successor a Bar which has got through the difficulties and is ready to flourish.” As for those seeking to enter the profession, it is imperative “to make sure there is a good, successful future for them. There was one for me when I came to the Bar; there should be one for them. It is something I hold dearly.” 

Bobbie Cheema and Sarah Perry discuss the forthcoming Advocacy Training Council Report on Vulnerable Witness, Victim and Defendant Handling 

The manner in which the vulnerable are treated in our court system is a mark of how civilised a society we are. 

The Advocacy Training Council (“ATC”), which oversees advocacy training for the Bar of England and Wales, is shortly to publish its Report on Vulnerable Witness, Victim and Defendant Handling. It is the first major research project in England and Wales to focus specifically on how best to train barristers in handling the most vulnerable people in court, whether witness or defendant, and whether vulnerable by reason of youth, learning disabilities or a mental health diagnosis. 

David Wurtzel believes that the guidance given by the Court of Appeal in R v M and W on questioning young witnesses has muddied its own message 

The conclusion by “Raising the Bar” (the report by Advocacy Training Council’s Vulnerable Witnesses and Defendants Handling Group) that there is a “clear and pressing need for training for advocates in how best to handle vulnerable people in Court” is more momentous than might first appear. The concept of the “vulnerable witness” goes back to 1998 and the Home Office report, “Speaking up for Justice”. 

Carl Teper mourns the loss of Rosie Samwell-Smith, Principal Lecturer and Director of the Bar Vocational Course at the Inns of Court School of Law.  

Rosie Samwell-Smith (Mrs Rosie Keane), who died in October 2010, was formerly Principal Lecturer and Director of the Bar Vocational Course at the Inns of Court School of Law (“ICSL”), which is now The City Law School. 

Solicitor General Edward Garnier QC MP discusses the role of the Law Officers in referring a sentence which is considered to be unduly lenient to the Court of Appeal 

The Law Officers (the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve QC MP, and I) have a wide variety of powers, from assisting charities to prosecuting the media for contempt, but none is more high profile than the power under the Criminal Justice Act 1988 to refer a case to the Court of Appeal where the sentence is considered to be unduly lenient. 

The Conference proceedings were described as the showcase of our branch of the profession, reports David Wurtzel  

Opening Keynote and Plenary 

Opening the 25th annual Bar conference the Conference Chairwoman, Kim Hollis QC called the proceedings “the showcase of our branch of the profession”. She then laid down her challenge: “My objective is that by the time you leave, each of you is thinking laterally about your future.” Having asserted that there are things such as access to justice on which we will not compromise (core values), she held out the prospect that there was a huge global marketplace out there (opportunity). 

As the Coalition Government begins its bonfire of the quangos, the judicial office of Chief Coroner can be found among the ashes, says John Cooper QC 

As the Coalition Government begins to burn the quangos, among the ashes can be found the office of Chief Coroner. Never can a judicial office have been so short lived. Strangled at birth would be exaggerating its longevity as the post was only just about to be filled. Although “under review”, most commentators now believe that the Chief Coroner will be abolished – if you can abolish something that has not yet happened. 

What are the advocate’s emotional drivers when conducting a cross-examination, wonders Professor Penny Cooper. The ability to continually assess the witness’s demeanour and adjust one’s questioning is crucial, she concludes.  

In 1905 in The Art of Cross-examination, Francis Wellman wrote “It requires the greatest ingenuity; a habit of logical thought; clearness of perception in general; infinite patience and self-control; power to read men’s minds intuitively, to judge of their character by their faces, to appreciate their motives; ability to act with force and precision; a masterful knowledge of the subject-matter itself; an extreme caution; and, above all, the instinct to discover the weak point in the witness under cross-examination.” 

Towards the end of his training contract, the author decided to transfer to the Bar. He also applied for newly-qualified positions as a solicitor. He describes a Summer of over 60 interviews, comparing chambers’ interviews with those conducted by City law firms 

Towards the end of my training contract at a “magic circle” firm, I decided to pursue my long-held ambition to transfer to the Bar. So began the quest for one of the 460 pupillages contested by over 4,000 applicants. With these statistics and the current job market in mind, I also applied for newly-qualified (“NQ”) litigation positions in City law firms, making it clear that I was also applying for pupillage and, if offered a position, I could only work for a year before starting pupillage.