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and Society – Which is to be Master?
By Mr Justice Aikens, Hon. Fellow,
St John's College, Cambridge
In 2008 the Inner and Middle Temple celebrate the
400th anniversary of the grant, by Letters Patent from James 1,
of all the freehold land around the Temple Church. 1608 therefore
marked the start of the modern history of the Bar – at least that
part of it which has grown up South of the Strand! To mark this
important anniversary the two Inns are holding a year long celebration.
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From BVC to Pupillage – Routes, Obstacle Courses, or Blocked Paths
By Richard de
Friend, Director, College of Law, London, Bloomsbury
Over recent
years, BVC enrolments have been growing steadily (driven in part
by demand from those from the very ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds,
that Bar must encourage into the profession if its laudable policies
on access and diversity are to succeed). |
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‘Fessing up to fraud’
By Monty Raphael, joint head of the Fraud
and Regulatory department, Peters & Peters
The decision to put the Old Bailey’s cases online reveals
that until the mid-19th century judges and juries at that Court
could sometimes get through three whole trials in a day. True, few,
if any, accused were represented, but still, such efficiency must
inspire those in Whitehall anxious to see a return to such judicial
efficiency. |
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CDS
Direct
By Richard Miller, Legal Aid Manager, Law
Society
The expansion of CDS Direct heralds
a fundamental and worrying erosion of the link between solicitors
and their clients, with the inclusion in CDS Direct of ‘Own
Client’ advice for the offences listed above. In other words,
a client’s request to speak to their own solicitor in one
of the specified cases will be declined and will be routed to a
CDS Direct adviser instead. |
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For
the greater good?
By Thom Dyke, Barrister
Pro bono work has long been considered
the sine qua non of a career in law. The head of pro bono at Clifford
Chance, Michael Smyth, has stated that “I regard pro bono activity
as the lawyers' equivalent of the Hippocratic oath”.. |
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All or nothing? - An overview of restrictions on parents decision-making
powers
By Penny Booth, Professor of Child and Family
Law and Moyra Throssell, Postgraduate student Staffordshire University
Law School
Twenty years ago statutes referred
to ‘parental rights and duties’, ‘rights and authority’ of the parent
or ‘parental powers and duties’. The Law Commission in Guardianship
and Custody (No172 in 1988) commented that such terms were misleading
and did not promote the notion... |
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Diversity-
What law students think and what can be done about it
By Prudence Shapcott, Director of Research at The College of Law
One of the biggest problems facing
the legal profession is how to open it up to more students from
less well-off backgrounds who have neither the money nor the contacts
to break through easily into a law career... |
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Fit
for Purpose? The Review of Low Template DNA
By Professor Allan Jamieson and Dr Rhonda
Wheate, The Forensic Institute
The use of Low Copy Number (LCN)
DNA in forensic science, and the criminal justice system, has been
affected in the wake of Justice Weir’s ruling in the trial of Mr
Sean Hoey |
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The
Dangers of the online world
By Matthew
Jackson, Director, Senior Forensic Consultant and Expert Witness
at Fields Associates.
Increased media attention over
the past ten years in cases such as those within Operation Ore (relating
to 7,000 individuals who allegedly subscribed to websites displaying
sexual images of children) and more recently, terrorism and ‘happy
slapping’ incidents, have provoked a greater public interest in
proceedings where digital evidence has formed a crucial part of
the case. |
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Raising the Bar: the importance of quality
By Mark Stobbs , Director of the Bar Standards Board
The issue of quality assurance has become one of the most important
issues in professional regulation. Clients’ expectations are changing.
Consumers are more willing to challenge poor service and have a
greater tendency to question professional opinion...
The National
DNA Database: crime solving tool or violation of civil liberties?
By Sir
Bob Hepple QC, FBA, Emeritus Master of Clare College and Emeritus
Professor of Law, University of Cambridge.
DNA profiling has had a dramatic
impact on the detection and prosecution of crime. But this rapidly
developing technology has also given rise to many concerns, for
example the indefinite retention of DNA samples from those who are
not charged or are acquitted;the
irrevocability of consent given in fraught circumstances by victims
and witnesses.
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