Monday Message 22.09.25

Positive Engagement with the Ministry of Justice

Last Wednesday, we had a productive meeting with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), during which we outlined our objectives for the year ahead, reaffirmed our commitment to the junior bar, and revisited the points we raised with the then Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice Shabana Mahmood during our July meeting. Later that same day, we received an invitation to meet with the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor, and Secretary of State, David Lammy MP.

This meeting is scheduled for today, Monday 22nd September.  We will report back next week.

Amongst other things, we will seek reassurance that the MoJ will hold true to their commitment, made to us at the end of July, to their ongoing consideration of multi-year funding settlements for the criminal bar. Then it was said that they would look to say more in the Autumn.  We are now in Autumn, so we hope to receive an update. This funding will be vital to addressing one of our key aims and objectives – improving recruitment and retention.

Leveson Review – Part 2 (the ‘Efficiency Review’)

Sir Brian Leveson has now embarked on the second phase of his government-commissioned independent review of the criminal courts. This second phase focuses on the efficiency of the criminal justice process, from charge through to verdict. This week, we will continue with our work to help inform Sir Brian’s review, and we will be taking part in a roundtable discussion with him next week.

By the end of this week, Sir Brian will have access to the Ministry of Justice’s latest quarterly figures which assess the state of our criminal courts up to the period ending 30th June 2025 (the second quarter). In anticipation of those figures, we will continue to draw attention to key measures that lie at the heart of the preparation and smooth running of all criminal cases but have a significant impact on efficiency in the Crown Court. These include:

  • Decaying Court structures that have a serious impact on the health and wellbeing of criminal barristers and others who work within them;
  • Delays caused by Prison Escort Services – we have all experienced the dreaded announcement as we walk into court for a 10am hearing that “the defendant will not be here till noon at the earliest”, only to find ourselves still waiting, other work delayed, till midday, mid-afternoon, or even the end of the day. In the first quarter of 2025 failures by prison escort services to produce defendants to the Crown Court resulted in 38 trials being cancelled, 20 of which were in London.
  • Artificial Cap on sitting days, which results in courtrooms sitting empty;
  • Over-listing of Trials – Courts are increasingly over-listing trials, only to adjourn them due to a lack of space, judicial availability, and staff. For example, 675 trials were cancelled in the first quarter of 2025 due to over-listing, making up 32% of all ineffective trials in that 3 month period to March 25;
  • Ongoing issues with court and police technology;
  • the need for firm but realistic directions as to timeliness of case preparation, disclosure, and the calling of evidence.

The CBA will be working constructively with the MOJ, the Bar Council, the CPS and judiciary to help improve efficiencies and identify those areas that require targeted investment.  Those matters alone will, in our view, significantly reduce the current backlog, and should be addressed before any further consideration or money is given to Sir Brian’s suggestion of a Crown Court Bench Division – for without that essential work being done, the CCBD would be no more than an expensive sticking plaster on an open and seeping wound.

Nor can there be any certainty that it will move things on more quickly. Judges and Magistrates will need to be found, training will need to be given, structures will need to be set in place and more money will need to be spent. The causes of the backlog have nothing to do with the system of trial by jury itself but are due to basic inefficiencies and chronic underspending. The idea that a gleaming new court system will magically solve those problems is nothing but an illusion.

Previous reviews have demonstrated that the public have confidence in trial by jury. The efficiency review is an opportunity to ensure that we can continue to deliver justice for victims, defendants, and the public.

IN OTHER NEWS

Submit a Crime Form

Following submissions made to the LAA by the CBA in August, we were notified by them last week that the “Submit a Crime Form” was restored to service on the 16th September. At that stage, we were told that there were 7 days worth of applications for Prior Authority (CRM4s) to process, following which we were told that attention would be turned to those now being submitted on “Submit a Crime Form”.

Significant additional resources had been put in place in the Magistrates Billing team (where CRM4s are processed) and would be maintained until at least CRM4s are back to a more normal turnaround.  A significant improvement in processing of CRM4s is expected by the end of the first week in October.

Section 28 – Reintroduction of the PRE Application

From Monday 22nd September 2025, all users are required to revert to using the PRE Application and PRE Portal for all Section 28 pre-recorded cross-examinations.

Harriet Harman Review – Webinar

Many of us will have tuned into the Bar Council webinar last week, introducing the Harman Report. Barbara Mills KC, Chair of the Bar Council, hosted the event and explained the background to the review and both she and Baroness Harman answered questions from attendees about the review, the recommendations and next steps.

  • The webinar can be accessed here.
  • The Bar Council has shared some information about what chambers/barristers should do to comply with the duty to prevent sexual harassment which can be found here.
  • Guidance to chambers on carrying out sexual harassment risk assessments can be found here.

If you need support, are aware of someone who does, or are concerned about behaviour you have observed or been told about, the following Bar Council resources are available:

  • Talk to Spot – use Talk to Spot to anonymously and confidentially raise concerns about inappropriate and abusive behaviour or seek support to make a report to the BSB, police or other appropriate body;
  • The Assistance Programme – available to everyone working in and around the Bar. The programme is run by Health Assured and provides fully funded confidential support. Call 0800 169 2040. Visit the Wellbeing at the Bar website.

Legally Lifelong

Last Thursday evening (18th September) I, along with Barbara Mills KC and Heidi Stonecliffe KC, and a host of others attended the launch of Legally Lifelong, an impressive initiative dedicated to improving wellbeing and raising awareness of hidden disabilities in the legal profession. It is the brainchild of Lucy Fegan-Earl, a paralegal and law student on her way to the criminal bar, Morwenna Hocken a paralegal working with the SFO, and Tochi Ejimofo of Furnival Chambers.

What these three young people have achieved in terms of raising awareness, and improving our working conditions is immense. You can read more about them and find ways to support their work here:

Website.
LinkedIn.

CBA Parents Working Group

We would like to thank everyone who took time out of their busy schedules last Thursday (18th September) to attend the inaugural CBA Working Group on improving conditions for parents at the Bar, chaired by our Assistant Secretary, Matilda Robinson-Murphy, who has also been liaising with Claire Davies KC, leader of the  South Eastern Circuit,  so that together we can push forward change.

This was a constructive session in which many shared their personal experiences of balancing childcare with the demands of practice. Recurring concerns included: HMRC’s approach to income changes during maternity leave, the lack of HMCTS facilities for those undergoing fertility treatment or breastfeeding and unworkable listing practices.

It was noted that there was a perceived absence of a reliable support network on certain circuits, and a growing culture where the responsibility falls on individuals to raise childcare concerns – while extended court hours increasingly become the norm. This group is committed to working with circuits and the Bar Council to address these challenges, which are making practice unsustainable for many at the junior Bar.
If you would like to get involved with this working group, please contact Matilda at [email protected].

SEC – Resilience at the Bar

On Wednesday 22nd October (18:00 to 19:00), the SEC will host an online talk delivered by Heidi Stonecliffe KC, Vice Chair-elect of the Bar Council. This promises to be an interesting and helpful talk for all, at whatever stage of your career you may be.

For further information and to book, contact [email protected].

CBA Podcast

The CBA have released a podcast featuring our former chair, Mary Prior KC, in discussion with Barbara Mills KC, the current chair of the Bar Council. In it, these two formidable women discuss, amongst other things, the responsibility and pressures of their roles, their efforts to help barristers of all backgrounds become the best they can be, and their working relationship, developed through mutual trust, over the past year. You can listen to it here.

Her Honour Valerie Pearlman CBE and Conor Gearty KC (Hon)

With much sadness, we mark the passing of two people who in very different ways were trailblazers in the legal profession.

Her Honour Valerie Pearlman CBE died last month, aged 89. HH Pearlman was called to the bar in 1958, at a time when there were fewer than 100 women practising at the Bar, and no female judges. She was appointed a Circuit Judge in 1985, making her the 13th woman to become a full-time judge. HH Pearlman sat in both family and criminal cases.

She sat originally at Snaresbrook Crown Court and later at Southwark, and also regularly sat at the Old Bailey. She grabbed the headlines in 1999, when she completed a fraud trial after she had been admitted to hospital with a serious leg fracture following a fall. The jury were taken to the Great Hall at St Barts hospital, where over the following two days she completed her summing up from her wheelchair. During their deliberations, she dealt with jury questions over a newly installed video link.

Valerie Pearlman was a true pioneer in many ways and helped to pave the way for women at the Bar and on the Bench.

Professor Conor Gearty KC (Hon) was a legal academic, author and one of the founding members of Matrix Chambers. Many generations of law students benefited from his inspirational teaching at Cambridge, King’s College, London and LSE, where he became the first Director of the Centre for the Study of Human Rights. He was a powerful advocate for civil liberties and human rights in the UK and internationally.

Professor Gearty was at the vanguard of developing the understanding of the application of human rights law, with the ability to communicate its values to politicians, judges and lawyers and to the public through his writing and media work.

Our thoughts and condolences go to the family and friends of these two remarkable individuals, who did so much, and made the Bar, and the legal profession a better and more inclusive place.

Yours,

Riel Karmy-Jones KC – Chair

Andrew Thomas KC – Vice Chair

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