The Bar Council warned that the European Union (Withdrawal)
Bill's approach to 'bringing rights home' is a recipe for confusion
and puts the rights of UK citizens at risk. Chair of the Bar,
Andrew Langdon QC, said: "It is a recipe for confusion. Far from
bringing rights home, this Bill sets up UK citizens for second
class status."
Robin Allen QC, Chair of the Bar Council's Equality and Diversity
and Social Mobility Committee, responded to the Lammy Review. He
said it was a major contribution to the important and urgent task
of securing a fair and equal criminal justice system. He also
announced that the Bar Council was developing a foundation course
in judgecraft - to be undertaken pre-application - that will
demystify the skills needed for judicial appointment and increase
the confidence, particularly of ethnic minorities, women, and those
from a non-traditional background, when applying.
The Bar Council announced that its annual Pupillage Fair would be
free for students to attend at the University of Law in Moorgate,
London, and that the popular CV clinic would return.
Chair of the Bar, Andrew Langdon QC, welcomed the HM Courts &
Tribunal Service (HMCTS) decision to postpone pilots for a flexible
operating hours court. The Chair said: "Past experience shows that
rushing into decisions can backfire on the government, employment
tribunal fees and the impact of LASPO on vulnerable people being
just two examples. We will continue to talk with HMCTS, who are in
listening mode, on this issue."
The second phase of the Wellbeing at the Bar initiative was
announced. The Bar Council announced the introduction of a
Certificate of Recognition to recognise efforts made to promote
wellbeing across the Bar.
Chair of the Bar Andrew Langdon QC and Chair-Elect Andrew Walker QC
attended the Labour and Conservative Party conferences to promote
the Bar Council's Party Conference briefing The Case for Justice
and meet party policymakers.
Responding to the Bach Commission's report The Right to Justice on
legal aid and access to justice, Andrew Langdon QC said: "Change is
afoot. This report is part of a shift in how legal aid is being
discussed. Lord Bach makes the important point that the rule of law
and legal rights do not mean much unless citizens are able, through
the legal system, to have them upheld, and that cuts to legal aid
have made that impossible for many, especially the most vulnerable
in society."
Breaking with tradition, the Bar Council published its annual
report as a website rather than a traditional report, making it
easier to see the achievements of the Bar Council in 2016/17.
The Bar Council participated in another successful English-Cypriot
Law Day, which saw the Chair of the Bar, Andrew Langdon QC lead a
delegation of barristers to Limassol to meet with Cypriot lawyers
and discuss issues of joint interest.
An open letter from the Bar Human Rights Committee, Bar Council and
Law Society was sent to the President of Tanzania condemning the
violence against lawyers in Tanzania. The letter came in the wake
of the shooting of Tundu Antiphas Mughwai Lissu, the President of
the Tanganyika Law Society.
Publication date
1 October 2017