EU

The Commission issued a new handbook at the end of January:
http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/studies_reports/sme_handbook.pdf 

SPEAKING in Vienna, where he is attending the European Bar Presidents Conference, the Chairman of the Bar, Desmond Browne QC, warned of the dangers of the ever increasing quantity of advocacy work being handled in-house by the Crown Prosecution Service. In drawing a distinction between the English adversarial and the continental inquisitorial systems of justice, he pointed out that in England there was nothing which corresponded to the District Attorney or the juge d’instruction. 

Desmond Browne QC said: 

“Until recently, it was rare in England to find the conduct of a prosecution in the hands of barristers dedicated to that type of work. Until now barristers have prosecuted one week, and defended the next. This dual role has ensured the admired independence of the English Bar with its dedication to the cabrank rule. 

On 10 February, the Grand Chamber of the ECJ delivered judgment on one of the cases discussed, above, the reference for a preliminary ruling by the House of Lords in Case 185/07 Allianz SpA, Generali Assicurazioni Generali SpA, v West Tankers Inc. See:
http://curia.europa.eu/jurisp/cgi-bin/form.pl?lang=en 

The responsible committee of the European Parliament is, as I write, debating its draft report on the Commission’s March 2008 Green paper aimed at identifying possible EU measures to improve the transparency of debtors' assets and the right of creditors to obtain information. The Bar is hoping it will support (research into) the possible introduction of EU provisional measures, in particular to deal with recalcitrant debtors. 

In early March, the Competitiveness Council adopted a Key issues paper for 2009 in the area of the internal market, highlighting the urgency of simplifying the regulatory environment for business, in particular SMEs as just one of the areas of focus for EU activity to help to alleviate the current financial crisis. See: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/intm/106513.pdf 

In early March, the Bar Council submitted a written response to the Commission’s November 2008 Green Paper on Consumer Collective redress. The Bar expressed no preference either way on the need for, or desirability of, developing collective redress mechanisms at EU level, but did indicate which features it would favour and which not, were that to be proposed. 

The International Committee is pleased to announce that its member with responsibility for the CIS region, Rupert d’Cruz, has been appointed Chairman of the Eastern Europe Committee (PECO Committee) of the CCBE (Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe). Ruper t has under taken many initiatives for this Committee, and most recently co-chaired a high-profile conference in Kiev, which brought government, legislature and profession together to consider the establishment of an independent bar council. 

The International Committee member with responsibility for the Middle East, Mark Hoyle, has been appointed Professor for Islamic Law at Leeds University. Mark Hoyle is one of the leading exper ts on Middle Eastern legal systems at the Bar and the Committee is pleased that his work has been recognised in this way. 

On 19/20 February the Annual Conference of European bar leader takes place again in Vienna. The substantive discussions will this year focus on the theme of “Collective Redress” which is where the European Commission is actively considering a major initiative to improve access to justice for consumers. The Bar Council will be represented by its Chairman and Vice-Chairman. 

The International Committee has worked with the “Ecole Nationale de la Magistrature (ENM)” to place twenty of its trainee judges with English and Welsh chambers specialising in criminal and family law for five weeks over February and March. The intention is that the trainee judges (auditeurs de justice) will gain an understanding of legal practice in England and Wales; in par ticular publicly funded work. 

To give the judges a warm introduction to London and the Bar Council, the International Committee organised a welcome event to coincide with their first day in chambers. Presentations were given on the Bar Council (James Dingemans QC), the comparison of the position of the victim in both the French and English legal systems (His Honour Judge Brooke QC), Opening up the family cour ts and forced marriage (Mrs Justice Parker) and Contemporary issues in criminal law (His Honour Judge Kramer). The group then attended the Dame Ann Ebswor th Memorial Lecture, followed by a small reception to meet the tutors, hosted by Desmond Browne QC. The International Committee were pleased to hear more about the judges’ training programme from Jean-François Thony, Director of the ENM. 

The Commission's long-awaited private international law proposal is due out on 24 March. It is expected to cover not only applicable law, but also jurisdiction, recognition and enforcement. The Chancery Bar Association has been actively following preparations, and will react.