Commenting on the re-appointment of Dominic Raab as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Mark Fenhalls KC, Chair of the Bar Council, said:

The quality and range of work by the employed Bar was celebrated at the Bar Council’s Employed Bar Awards 2022 last night, in partnership with the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn.

Commenting on the announcement from the Criminal Bar Association that its members have voted to accept the offer from the Ministry of Justice, Mark Fenhalls KC, Chair of the Bar Council, said:

The Bar Council has signed new agreements to foster closer working with the Bar Associations of Sri Lanka and Guyana, as part of its International Market Access Project, funded by the Ministry of Justice.

The government’s draft Victims Bill is intended to amplify victims’ voices and put their needs and rights at the heart of the criminal justice system.

Amid a cost of living crisis and stretched public services, the next 12 months will be busy for Parliament’s select committees. Labour chairs set out their priorities – now, Diana Johnson.

Provisions in the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (published today) to add a regulatory objective to the Legal Services Act 2007 (LSA) may be incompatible with barristers’ duties and risk confusing the role of lawyers, warns the Bar Council.

Following the appointments announced as part of Liz Truss’s new Government, Mark Fenhalls QC Chair of the Bar Council said:

As he bows out of the House of Lords after 40 years, former lord chancellor Lord Mackay shares his views on the Tory leadership race – and the Duchess of Argyll divorce case.

Former Lord Chancellor Lord Mackay has criticised Liz Truss' grasp of the legal aid system during her time as Justice Secretary as the Tory leadership hopeful faces a fresh battle with the legal profession if she becomes prime minister next month.

The Legal Services Board has published a new statutory statement of policy on ongoing competence, setting out the outcomes that the legal services regulators should meet.

The Bar Council welcomes a new measure banning alleged perpetrators of domestic abuse from cross-examining their alleged victims in family and civil courts.

The Bar Standards Board has issued new interim social media guidance and launched a three-month consultation on new social media guidance and the regulation of non-professional conduct.

The Bar Council has welcomed a Ministry of Justice package of measures to address Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs), in which legal action is brought to intimidate journalists, authors, and campaigners.

The Law Commission of England and Wales has today outlined recommendations to reform weddings law, proposing a fairer system that gives couples more choice over where and how their wedding takes place.

Responding to today's publication of the official Diversity of the Judiciary 2022 Statistics, Mark Fenhalls QC, Chair of the Bar Council, said:

The images of the Yazidis trapped on Mount Sinjar in Aug 2014, surrounded by fighters of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), facing death by thirst in the searing desert heat or through capture, remains indelibly imprinted in all our minds.

The Government has announced the next steps in the criminal legal aid review including a Statutory Instrument to be laid in Parliament by 21 July to bring in a fee increase of 15% for the Advocates' Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS – ie the fees paid to barristers) from 30 September 2022.

To mark Justice Week 2022, the Bar Council of England and Wales has highlighted the number of court closures and is calling for greater investment to help solve the problem.