Criminal

Nick Green QC reviews the events that shaped his year as Chairman and looks to the Bar’s future 

This is my final chance to express my thoughts as Chairman, before returning to civvy street. There is so much that has happened this year that it is hard to pull the threads together; but let me try. 

Changes to the law on murder, introduced by the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, have come into force.

St Albans Syndrome, Woolwich Worm and other ailments. Christopher Kinch QC reports on the latest outbreaks.  

You might think that things were hard enough at the criminal Bar these days without the judiciary starting to show signs of reverting to the bad old days of cantankerous and difficult judges. It is within living memory that when counsel failed to curtail his submission before the then resident judge at Southwark he was allowed a period of reflection in the court cells. Isn’t it all supposed to be different now with a modern judiciary all schooled and refreshed by the JSB at those arduous seminars at Warwick? There are signs that some judges may be falling into bad habits, or perhaps there is something in the judicial water flasks that is proving a source of infection. Whatever the cause, it seems about time for some health advice to any member of the Bar finding themselves confronted by signs of judicial malady. 

The Sentencing Council has launched a public consultation, proposing changes to the guidelines for assault offences.

Lord Justice Sedley reviews three books on the topic of international law and piracy.  

Among the casualties of warfare during the last hundred years have been many of the rules governing the conduct of hostilities. The Hague and Geneva Conventions describe the members of warring States’ armies and militias as “lawful combatants”. The reason they contain no category of “unlawful combatant” is that no such antithesis is recognised in international law. The counterpart of the lawful combatant is the civilian, who is entitled to the ordinary protection of the law. 

Richard Jones QC meets the President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Professor Terence Stephenson 

A working party of about 100 barristers, clerks and practice managers from the criminal, family, civil, commercial and chancery Bar has been set up to advise sets of chambers on how to contract directly with the LSC.

Are your chambers’ details being used in connection with online fraud? Caroline Kean and Rachel Barber advise on protecting chambers from uninvited and unauthorised association with bogus websites 

As the deadline for nominations for the Bar Pro Bono Award 2010 approaches, Georgina Closs asks six previous winners – who have all made an outstanding contribution to pro bono work – what it means to win the Award.  

Each year, the Sydney Elland Goldsmith Pro Bono Award recognises the sets of chambers and members of the Bar who have made an outstanding contribution to pro bono work over the course of the year. With the nominations deadline for the 2010 award approaching fast, I interviewed six previous award winners – Andrew Walker, Michael Fordham QC, Keir Starmer QC DPP, Andrew Hall QC, Samantha Knights and Judith Farbey – to gauge their experiences of pro bono work and what it meant to win the Award. 

Lord Justice Leveson explains the work of the new Sentencing Council