Those of us who call the legal aid system the fourth emergency service know that we have to be aware of an important difference. However much money you have you can call on the NHS, the police or the fire brigade. They will not ask for proof of your income before offering assistance. And that in a nutshell explains in part the predicament of those seeking to ensure the survival of a meaningful legal aid system.
The Law Commission published the keenly awaited Consultation Paper “Marital Property Agreements” in January.2010 It seeks views on a range of options for reforming the law relating to pre-nuptial, post-nuptial and separation agreements. It starts by quoting the Government’s Code of Practice on Consultation: “Formal consultation should take place at a stage when there is scope to influence the policy outcome.”
Fifteen years ago, there were some 1,800 women in custody. Today there are over 4,000. In the course of a year more than 11,000 women are imprisoned. Instead of a punishment of last resort, women's prisons are now seen as stopgap, cut-price providers of drug detox, social care, mental health assessment and treatment - a refuge for those failed by public services.
The use and abuse of expert testimony in the legal system and the assessment of expert testimony has been a source of much publicity, debate, opinion, and proposed remedies. The most recent proposals for the UK emanate from the Law Commission (LC) and contained specific proposals regarding the admissibility of expert opinion.
We have enjoyed testamentary freedom in England and Wales for many years, subject of course to the restrictions imposed first by the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1938, and later by its more broad-ranging successor, the I(PFD)A 1975. We were allowed to leave our estates to whomever we liked. We could be eccentric, capricious or foolish; that was our right and the law supported it.
Since qualifying as a barrister I have had a sense that the regulatory framework under which barristers work was in a broad sense rational. Like most barristers I occasionally had to refer to the Code of Conduct, especially in the early years. However, the regulatory framework was consistent.....
Leolin Price CBE QC, responds to Gerard McDermott QC article which appeared in the Easter 2011 issue of 'the barrister' under the above heading One of his observations was : “Obviously the profession cannot hope to accommodate every applicant for pupillage”. I comment on that statement because its desolate assumption, introduced by “Obviously”, is in my view unworthy of our profession.
With the issuance by the UK Ministry of Justice of their “Guidance” and related “Quick Start Guide,” the imminent effectiveness on July 1, 2011 of the UK Bribery Act 2010 makes it timely to review this new legislation in comparison to the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which has been on the books since 1977. Notably, several recent enforcement actions have been jointly US-UK proceedings.
