Weekly Round Up – 03.02.12
Chairman’s Update:
I recommend those in London on 13th February attend the South Eastern Circuit Ebsworth Memorial lecture to be given by Moses LJ. QASA continues to receive the closest scrutiny. This will be a valuable opportunity to hear a view from the senior judiciary. You can find the lecture details here.
Together with Stephen Hockman QC, I have held two meetings concerning the Unified List (the Attorneys List as many of us still call it), one with the CPS (who inherit some of the work) and the other with senior members of the Board. We have made every effort to ensure a full and fair process for all who prosecute in this area, and both meetings have been very constructive. If you are a current List member, you will have received at least one letter notifying you of the intended changes. More on this when I have it.
I made a speech to the wider legal and parliamentary community at the Westminster Policy Forum yesterday. You can read the speech here.
Vice Chairman Mike Turner QC and I visited the Criminal Cases Review Commission in Birmingham yesterday. They were excellent hosts, and I hope that the CBA will develop closer ties including sharing information and expertise. I also hope that the Commission will participate in our Spring Conference in Newcastle on 21st April. The conference programme will be of the highest calibre, matching any event held in London. I keep saying the CBA is a national organisation, and I mean it.
My thanks to Mark Wall QC, Leader of the Midland Circuit, who organised a series of meetings and a dinner with Circuiteers in Birmingham yesterday. Thank you to all who attended. Your concerns, and your desire to do something about them, echo the views expressed by the Western Circuit in Bristol during my visit on 19th January.
Have a good weekend
Max
Practice Direction – Leicester Crown Court
Click here to read the Practice Direction received from Leicester Crown court
Sentencing Council: drug offences guideline announcement
Click here to read the announcement
Bar Council and Criminal Bar Association Lead on EU Factsheet on Defenders Rights
The Bar Council, which represents barristers in England and Wales, and the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) have played a leading role in the development of a factsheet which outlines the rights of defendants in the English and Welsh justice system.
The factsheet is part of an initiative of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) to produce national factsheets explaining the rights of defendants across the 27 Member States of the EU. The factsheets list in a simple but comprehensive way the rights available to defendants in criminal proceedings in each of the EU Member States, and are available in each of the EU’s languages.
The factsheets are available on the European e-Justice portal and will be updated on an annual basis for three years to ensure that they remain accurate and reflect any changes in the law.
Vice-Chairman of the Bar, Maura McGowan QC, said:
“The CCBE’s factsheets on defendants’ rights are an extremely useful tool which will ensure that any EU resident detained in a non-domestic EU Member State has quick and easy access to information about their rights. The Bar’s pro bono work to ensure that information about the justice system in England and Wales is available to residents of other Member States is testament to the profession’s commitment to facilitating universal access to justice, and British citizens are sure to benefit from the factsheets provided by other EU Member States.” The factsheets are available online at the European e-Justice portal.
The international professional and legal development grant programme-now accepting applications
The Criminal Bar Association, Commercial Bar Association, Family Law Bar Association, London Common Law and Commercial Bar Association, Personal Injury Bar Association and Technology and Construction Bar Association together with the Bar Council Scholarships Trust fund the 2012 grant programme. Now in its fourth year, the programme offers members of these specialist bar associations that are 7 years call or less, who are in employed or self-employed practice, financial assistance to participate in international legal events and conferences of their choice. The event must contribute to their professional development and legal practice and take place this year.
The cost of participating in such events is shared equally between the applicant, his or her SBA and the Trust. The grant programme thereby funds up to two thirds of the cost of participating in an international legal event.
The first deadline for applications to the grant programme is 5pm 24 February with another two taking place at 5pm on 18 May or 28 September.
For more information and directions on how to apply for the programme please visit the international pages of the Bar Council website HERE or see the attached documents. Any queries as to the application process and administration of the programme should be directed to Sarah Richardson [email protected].
CRIMINAL LAW WEEK
CBA NEWS FEED
Criminal Law Week – updates (issue 5)
Key updates from this week’s issue of Criminal Law Week:
Legal representation – circumstances in which the court may transfer a representation order at the request of an assisted party due to “loss of confidence”: R. (Clive Rees Associates) v. Swansea Magistrates’ Court and Rees Davies and Partners, D.C. (CLW/12/05/2).
Waste – two cases from the Court of Appeal on the scope of the offence of transporting waste destined for recovery in another country (Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007, reg. 23) (CLW/12/05/4 & 5).
Miscellaneous cases – on the ex turpi causa non oritur policy, committal for sentence, admissions and confessions, and “reasonable excuse” for failure to provide a specimen (Road Traffic Act 1988, s.7(6)).
CBA Events for your Diary
Date: Friday 20th / Saturday 21st April 2012
Title: The CBA Spring Conference, Northumbria University, Newcastle
Date: Friday 18th May 2012
Title: CBA Annual Dinner, Middle Temple Hall, Middle Temple, London
Other Events:
The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London, is pleased to announce the following free events:
Date: Monday 6 February 2012, 5pm
Title: European Criminal Law: What’s New for 2012
Speaker: PROFESSOR JOHN SPENCER, Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Centre of European Legal Studies, University of Cambridge; President of the European Criminal Law Association (UK).
Website: www.sas.ac.uk/events/view/11276
Venue: Institute of Advanced Legal Studies 17 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DR.
To register email: [email protected].
Admission Free, All Welcome.
(Organised in association with the European Criminal Law Association (UK).)
________________________________________
Date: Wednesday 8 February 2012, 6pm
Title: Restricting the use of the Death Penalty: the relevance of international human rights norms
Speaker: SAUL LEHRFREUND MBE, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Project, Simons Muirhead & Burton
Website: www.sas.ac.uk/events/view/11439
Venue: Institute of Advanced Legal Studies 17 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DR.
To register email: [email protected].
Admission Free, All Welcome.
________________________________________
Wednesday 22 February 2012
6th Annual Experiencing the Law Conference
Title: Accessing Justice: Rights, Responsibilities and Effective Strategies
Speakers include: Professor Avrom Sherr, Director, IALS; Professor Barry Godfrey, Keele; Lord Bach, House of Lords Opposition Spokesperson on Justice; Oliver Blaiklock, CCBH@KCL; Dr Kim Stevenson and Dr Tom Smith, Plymouth; Dr Judith Rowbotham,NTU; Vikram Sachdeva and Victoria Butler Cole, 39 Essex Street Chambers;
Website: www.sas.ac.uk/events/view/11265
Venue: Institute of Advanced Legal Studies 17 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DR.
Conference Fees: £65.00; Academic/NGO Rate: £40.00; Student Rate; £20.00.
For further information contact: [email protected].
(This conference is an initiative between SOLON, the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and the Centre for Contemporary British History at King’s College London.)
________________________________________
Date: Friday 24 February 2012, 2pm to 5pm
Title: Crime and Criminal Process in Historical Perspective
Speakers: HENRY MARES, University of Oxford; RUTH PALEY, History of Parliament; and PHIL HANDLER, University of Manchester.
Website: www.sas.ac.uk/events/view/11422
Venue: Institute of Advanced Legal Studies 17 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DR.
To register email: [email protected].
Admission Free, All Welcome.
(Organised with the London Legal History Seminar.)
________________________________________
Date: Thursday 22 March 2012, 2pm to 5.30m
Title: Serving Time in a Foreign Land: The Framework Decision on the Mutual Recognition of Custodial Sentences
Website: www.sas.ac.uk/events/view/11291
Venue: Institute of Advanced Legal Studies 17 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DR.
To register email: [email protected]. Admission Free, All Welcome.
(Organised in association with the European Criminal Law Association (UK).)
Seventh Dame Ann Ebsworth Memorial Lecture
‘Looking the Other Way – Have Judges Abandoned the Advocates?’ – The Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Moses
Monday 13 February 2012 at 6pm
Middle Temple Hall
1 CPD Point
Reserve a place email: [email protected]
Details on website: http://www.southeastcircuit.org.uk/events/dame-ann-ebsworth-seventh-memorial-lecture
Middle Temple Member “Women’s Forum”
Middle Temple Women’s Forum aims to inspire and support female members of the Inn throughout the course of their careers.
You are warmly welcome to join us for our inaugural event from 6.00 to 8.00 pm on Tuesday, 6 March 2012, at which our keynote speaker will be The Rt Hon Lady Justice Hallett. Drinks will be served in an informal setting where you will have a chance to meet other Middle Templars and the members of our Women’s Forum Steering Group. Please do feel free
to bring a guest – male or female, practitioner, judge, head of chambers, clerk or other colleague.
The event is free, but registration is essential. To confirm your attendance, please contact Maria Aristidou at [email protected] or ring on 020 7427 4816 with details of your name, profession, place of work, and if you are a MT member. Please provide the same details for your guest.
Masters Course in Applied Criminology, Penology and Management
The Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge, offers a two-year part-time Masters Course in Applied Criminology, Penology and Management, which is highly suitable for criminal barristers interested in broad professional development. Next year’s course begins in March 2012. Further details, including course fees and dates, and testimonials from former students, can be found here: www.crim.cam.ac.uk/courses/penology/
MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH PROJECT – LAWYERS NEEDED
A criminologist at Cambridge University is looking for volunteers to participate in a study seeking to examine lawyers’ experiences of working with clients with mental disorders. Participants would discuss their experiences with the researcher over the course of an hour’s interview taking place between the 19th of February and the 10th of March this year. This is an opportunity to communicate your views on the realities of working with clients with mental disorders: research of this kind is very rarely attempted and is important in ensuring that debates about changing law and procedure are informed by the people who have to deal with law and procedure every day.
The researcher would like to hear from barristers and solicitors who have either appeared in Crown Court cases in which the making of Hospital Orders was actively considered, or who have appeared before Mental Health Review Tribunals seeking the discharge of such orders. The researcher hopes to interview practitioners of varying experience – from those who specialise in this work to those who deal with one or two cases a year – and varying seniority – from trainees/pupils to senior practitioners. If you are interested in taking part in this research, or if you would like more information, please email [email protected] with your name, the type of tribunal before which you usually appear (Crown Court or MHRT), the number of years of post-qualification experience you have, and the dates on which you are free between 19.02.12 and 10.03.12.
Interviews can be conducted in Cambridge or central London. There is some flexibility over dates and times so please contact the researcher if you would like to participate and are available for interview at around this time. Participants’ on-going duties of confidentiality to clients would be respected, and only generalised information is sought. All participants who wish to receive a copy of the research findings will be sent a copy once the entirety of the study has been completed in July.
Invite for CBA members to Inquest Law conference
Wednesday 28 March 2012
Central London
A discount to all CBA Members is available
For further information on the Inquest Law conference click here
ECBA Spring Conference
Defence Rights in Europe
27 & 28 April 2012 –
Geneva
For further information on the ECBA Spring Conference click here
The Health & Safety Lawyers Association
Manchester Event – 3 presentations – each approximately 30 minutes, Followed by drinks reception
DWF LLP, 1 Scott Place, 2 Hardman Street, Manchester M3 3AA
Tuesday 8th May 2012
For further information on the Health & Safety Lawyers Association click here
The 5th ICAC Symposium – Registration
Fighting Corruption in a Changing World
May 2012
Hong Kong
For further information on the 5th ICAC Symposium click here
Amicus Events
Assisting lawyers for justice on death row
US Death Penalty Training
Spring 2012 – London
Friday 16 (evening), Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 March 2012
Saturday 31 March and Sunday 1 April 2012
For further information on the Amicus events click here
Other
Event on Show Trials with Martti Koskenniemi and Jacques Verges (aka The Terror’s Advocate)
It is a debate with Martti Koskenniemi, the distinguished Finnish jurist, and Jacques Verges, also known as “The Terror’s Advocate” (because of his notorious list of clients, see: http://www.filmsdulosange.fr/terrorsadvocate/index.html)
The event is entitled “International Justice: Between Impunity and Show Trials” and will use as a springboard for the discussion the upcoming cases against Saif Gaddafi (Libya) and Laurent Gbagbo (Ivory Coast). I would greatly appreciate it if you could circulate the poster and this information among your mailing lists and encourage those who are interested to register on the website.
We purposefully scheduled the event for a Friday evening, the 3rd of February, with a reception at 5:30pm, and start of the debate at 6:30pm (so that there is space and time to come after work or travel into London if need be).
View more news