From the Chair · 31st August 2026

A not so brief message of thanks

Riel Karmy-Jones KC, written on her last day as Chair

When I first stumbled, almost by accident, into the world of the Criminal Bar some thirty odd years ago, I did so naively, not knowing what I would find. A Canadian theatre director at the time, I was looking for something that echoed the work I had been doing up to that point but was more tangible. What I found was a vocation, one that involved real drama, that touched on the best and worst of human experience, and carried the potential to help people through some of the most difficult, painful experiences of their lives. Alongside that, I discovered the most collegial community, many of whom I am proud to call friends. The Criminal Bar is an extraordinary profession, and I am hugely grateful to be a part of it, and to all the people within it.

Today has been my last day as Chair of the Criminal Bar Association of England and Wales. It has been an exceptional year. None of us could have imagined the work that would come raining down on us. We have campaigned against the restriction of jury trials, given evidence before both a Justice Select Committee and a Parliamentary Select Committee, battled for increases in fees, fought for improvements to our working conditions and lives, forged relationships with the government and the MoJ, strengthened ties with the Bar Council and Circuit Leaders, engaged extensively with the senior judiciary, responded to countless consultations, championed diversity, and so much more.

It has been a privilege and an honour to have been trusted to lead you. But no leader stands alone, and nothing achieved this year would have been possible without the huge network of support that I have been lucky enough to garner over the past twelve months. In that regard I particularly want to thank Red Lion Chambers, and my clerks, for their endless encouragement and patience.

I learned a great deal from Mary Prior KC and Barbara Mills KC, who together paved the way for the work that we have been doing, and the excellent relationship that the CBA and Bar Council now enjoy. Kirsty Brimelow KC’s history with the CBA brought to her leadership of the Bar Council a knowledge and experience that has been a real boon to us all. Her never-ending enthusiasm and her humour have been infectious. She has been a pleasure to work with, as have her excellent team: Heidi Stonecliffe KC, Phil Robertson, Adrian Vincent, Piran Dhillon-Starkings, Archie Jacob, Nikkita Feifel, Rhiannon Du Cann, Sally Burnell, and so many more.

The Circuit Leaders too have been very much part of all that we have achieved. Claire Davies KC, Sarah Jones KC, Samantha Hillias KC, Harpreet Sandhu KC, Caroline Goodwin KC and Chris Rees KC have been wonderful and contributed so much. A particular mention to Claire and Heidi, who will make a formidable team next year when they move into their leadership roles with the Bar Council. Their friendship and support have been invaluable.

I am indebted to them all, but even more so to those remarkable colleagues, friends and family who came forward, selflessly putting their busy lives and practices on hold for no reason other than a belief in the principle of criminal justice, and that our profession was worth fighting for. No sitting back in comfort saying I’m alright Jack for them. Instead, they volunteered their experience, knowledge, wisdom and wit, and gave us that precious commodity that we all have so little of: time.

Of these, HH Geoffrey Rivlin and Sir Stephen Mitchell stand out for all they have done in respect of the juries campaign. Without them and their significant contributions to the debate, we might already be looking down the barrel of a Crown Court Bench Division, with all the injustice that would flow from that. I particularly thank them for their sage advice and friendship, which has been incredibly valuable to me.

With them stand legends of the criminal Bar Michael Mansfield KC and Geoffrey Robertson KC, and our cohort of retired judges who came forward, willing to put their heads above the parapet, including HH Peter Rook KC, HH Chris Kinch KC, HH Nick Lorraine-Smith, HH Jeffrey Pegden KC, HH Paul Dodgson, HH Wendy Joseph KC, HH Peter Collier KC and HH Nic Madge. Their commitment and support was extraordinary and really made a difference. I thank them all.

Also Flora Page KC, who took such a brave and principled stand against the proposals to restrict jury trials, and our past Chairs of the CBA, particularly Francis Fitzgibbon KC, Chris Henley KC and Mark Fenhalls KC, all of whom supplied an ear, a shoulder, a laugh and their advice when I needed it.

Keir Monteith KC, who agreed to help me to set up a long overdue CBA Black Barristers’ Committee, and to let me interview him, together with Laurie-Anne Power KC and Stephen Akinsanya, in what turned out to be quite an explosive podcast on the difficult topic of racism in the criminal justice profession, deftly produced by Adam Batstone. All shared very personal accounts of their experiences, and their thoughts on the question of racism and what we need to do to combat it. It was a brave thing for them to do, and it really has made an impact. We have received messages of congratulations and support from other organisations, engagement from the MoJ, and the senior judiciary who are keen to work with us to make things better, recognising as they do that this is an issue that affects all areas of the system, from top to bottom, and that there must be change.

We had huge help from several Parliamentarians across all parties who supported us in our work on the Courts and Tribunals Bill. Karl Turner, Jess Brown-Fuller, Kieran Mullan, Neil Shastri-Hurst and many more who took the time to read the multiple briefing notes that we sent them and quoted from them as they stood up for us in opposition to the jury proposals. We owe them our gratitude.

It may surprise some, given the battles we have been engaged in, but my thanks also go to the Ministers of Government and MoJ civil servants with whom we had a number of meetings who, despite significant differences of opinion, were unfailingly courteous, friendly and respectful. Both previous Lord Chancellors Shabana Mahmood MP, then David Lammy MP, and the Minister of State for Courts and Legal Services Sarah Sackman MP, never shut us out. Minister Sackman in particular went out of her way to accommodate us, even staying on for meetings late into the evening so that we had the opportunity to make our arguments face to face. She listened, engaged, and heard, and as a result progress was made. I am grateful to her, and to her team who also gave up their time to meet with us regularly throughout the year.

The same can and should be said of, now, Lord Brian Leveson, and those who assisted him in his Review, particularly David Ormerod and Clare Toogood. Whilst we fundamentally disagreed with the Part 1 Report and the proposals in respect of restricting jury trials, the recommendations made in Part 2 on efficiency have done the criminal Bar an immense service by highlighting, in a way the Government have no choice but to accept, the terrible consequences that the years of underinvestment by successive governments have brought, the fact that the criminal justice system is on its knees, and the woeful conditions the criminal Bar is working in.

Similarly, our Lady Chief Justice, Sue Carr, Lord Justice Nicholas Green and Lady Justice Philippa Whipple, together with others such as Mmes Justices Knowles, Lieven and Theis, have been so helpful and proactive in seeking not only to improve the working relations between bench and bar and to make the courts run more efficiently, but to meet difficult issues such as bullying, harassment and discrimination, and to work with us to eradicate them.

The CBA Executive Committee is a treasure trove, an incredible resource of the finest and most committed of the criminal Bar, who offer their time for no return. They have been invaluable in helping us with consultations, strategy and implementation. Our education programme is second to none under the superb chairmanship of Paul Jarvis KC and his committee, who have devised outstanding conferences and lectures across the year. Richard Christie KC in particular deserves mention for his immense and continued work as Chair of the Remuneration Committee. He and his team have put in countless hours helping us with representations to the Criminal Legal Aid Advisory Board and responding to the Government’s proposals on AGFS. We owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

More immediately, the CBA, and its Chair, could not function without the superb team of Officers who truly are the unsung heroes of the criminal Bar. This past twelve months has been a doozy, and without their help we would not have made the inroads that we have. What James Gray, Matilda Robinson-Murphy and Maya Chopra have done is far too much to quantify here, but suffice to say there have been many late nights, early mornings and lost weekends. I am enormously grateful to them.

James Rossiter, the CBA Director of Communications, has been stupendous this year. Not only is he the kindest man you could meet, but he is also the most hardworking of us all. No one could forget the many news, radio and television reports and interviews, sometimes multiple times a day, about our juries campaign that flowed across many months. That was all because of James. It is largely through his dogged tenacity that we have become the visible presence that we are, often the ones the press approach first. In light of that, his penchant for cold water swimming, Lime bikes, coffee and chocolate must be forgiven.

Aaron Dolan, our administrator, is the engine room of the CBA, the one who ensures our news bulletins, emails and messages go out on time, who makes our conferences, dinners, parties and all events run without a hitch. Alongside everything else, he is a technological genius, developing and building us a new website this year which is superb. It will be launched very soon. Aaron gives his everything to the CBA, and we owe him a huge thanks.

I welcome Kama Melly KC, who takes over as Vice Chair to the Officers Group. Kama of course was previously the Chair of the CBA RASSO Committee, so needs little introduction. Her expertise in this field of work will be invaluable this year, when procedures in cases involving vulnerable complainants are significantly under the microscope, and change is nigh. Kama is a fantastic addition to the team. Her humour and straight-talking pragmatic approach is exactly what is needed.

Finally, Andrew Thomas KC as Vice Chair has been utterly fabulous. He has worked tirelessly throughout this year. He has had my back every step of the way, and, like a scene from a Looney Tunes cartoon, calmly picked me up by the back of my lapel and held me six inches off the ground when tiredness and temper got the better of me and my fists and feet began to flail. His intellectual ability, exceptional kindness, and measured, even temper will make him an outstanding Chair, and exactly what we need going forward through the next stages of negotiations. His love of running, Pulp and Blur keep his feet on the ground, literally and metaphorically, something which is essential in this job.