2011

7 April 2011 - The iconic Court One of the Old Bailey will this evening play host to the inaugural ‘Bar Debate’, arranged by the Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales.

1 April 2011 - The Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, has welcomed the publication of the interim Family Justice Review, chaired by David Norgrove. It has urged the Government to defer any changes to legal aid in family justice until the detail of this interim report has been considered, and fully consulted on, and the final report is published in the autumn.

1 April 2011 - The Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, has today established a working group to explore the viability of a Contingency Legal Aid Fund (CLAF) in the wake of the Government's response to its consultation on civil litigation costs.

31 March 2011 - The Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, has pledged to continue to make the case on the effect of legal aid cuts, as the Justice Select Committee announced its response to Government proposals.

31 March 2011 - The Crown Prosecution Service has published today details of a scheme, which, through an open competition, will establish regional based Panels of advocates for the CPS to call upon over the next three years.

29 March 2011 - None of us, at the self-employed or employed Bar, has escaped the consequences of the coalition Government’s measures to reduce the national deficit. But the publicly funded Bar is bearing the brunt of cuts in public expenditure. This follows the cuts in legal aid announced by the last Government and the proposals for radical change in the publicly funded legal services market, the subject of recent consultation by the Ministry of Justice. We wanted to give you a short update on developments which affect so many practitioners and indeed the future of the Bar as a whole. Click here to view the letter to the profession from the Chairman/Vice-Chairman.

22 March 2011 - The Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, along with the four Inns of Court, has today launched a new careers website to provide a range of accessible information to school and university students. ‘Become a barrister’ (www.become-a-barrister.com) is a new portal for anyone interested in a career at the Bar and includes a series of films and case studies aimed at demystifying entry to the profession.