BARRISTER MAGAZINE

Bar Council commits to address inappropriate behaviour at the Bar

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The Bar Council has published new research findings showing increasing numbers of barristers have had their professional lives made more difficult because of inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour at the Bar. The behaviours reported are observed across the profession and involve judges, barristers, chambers’ staff, solicitors, as well as court staff. Inappropriate behaviour at the Bar can include pejorative or demeaning language, intimidating or bullying behaviour, unwanted attention, unwanted physical contact, sexual harassment and serious abuse, inappropriate comments, online abuse, or...

Remote justice: Some thoughts on the future of hearings in courts and tribunals in an increasingly virtual world

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, it was perhaps not widely contemplated that courts and tribunals would soon have the capability and capacity to conduct the majority of their hearings on a virtual platform as a matter of course. However, due...

A Double-Edged Sword: The Transactional Nature of Plea Bargains

By Callum Stevens, Law student at Christ's College, Cambridge, Aspiring Criminal Barrister “How do you plead?” “Guilty”. And breathe. The defendant has pled guilty. Such a declaration is final. There’s no going back. The defendant will be credited with a 33% reduction...

Cognitive Bias: Forensic Science

Dr David Schudel forensic chemist at Keith Borer Consultants. According to the Oxford English dictionary, “bias” has several meanings, including: “to influence, affect (often unduly and unfairly)”. No one likes to think of themselves behaving...

Evidence from computers – the unreliable legal presumption that, without more, it can be relied upon

By Stephen Mason and Daniel Seng, editors, Electronic Evidence and Electronic Signatures (5th edition, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies for the SAS Humanities Digital Library, School of Advanced Study, University of London, 2021) On 16th July...

Chambers encouraged to analyse earnings data to understand disparities and ensure equal access to work

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The Bar Council has launched new data analysis and resources to encourage chambers to identify any earnings disparities within their own sets and understand what is causing the differences. The Bar Council data analysis at a whole Bar level is based on earnings declared during the authorisation to practise (AtP) process and reveals concerning patterns in relation to disparities between men and women at the self-employed Bar. The new analysis for 2022 shows: In every Call band and every area of self-employed practice, men’s median gross earnings are higher than women’s. The disparity in earnings between men and women is present in the early years of practice with an overall...

All bark no bite: will a new offence reduce companion animal abduction?

By Samuel March, Barrister at 9 King’s Bench Walk “I read a learned article by some lawyer saying we should not bother about pet theft....

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With great respect, that is a bad legal argument: ‘respect’, courtesy or insult?

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By David Wright1, Helen Murray-Edwards2, Jeremy Robson2, Natalie Braber1 1School of Arts and Humanities, Nottingham Trent University 2Leicester De Montfort Law School “Eighteen of Mr Tangle’s learned friends, each armed with a little summary of eighteen hundred sheets, bob up like eighteen...

Investment urgently needed to ensure future of criminal defence profession

I have spent the last 15 years fighting on behalf of the Law Society’s members for the pay their vital work deserves, which is necessary to make the criminal defence profession sustainable and ensure access to justice for victims, witnesses and defendants. Criminal defence solicitors have gone a staggering quarter of a century without a significant funding hike. It is hard to think of any other profession where the fees payable are stuck in a mid-90s time warp. Unsurprisingly given the...