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Celebrating Excellence in Advocacy

On Saturday last, our spring conference took place in Manchester.  We celebrated ‘Excellence in Advocacy.’  The conference was a huge success.  That it was, was because of the commitment of men and women giving up their free time in order to educate and train lawyers committed to public service.  I have already thanked all the speakers publicly.  They were impressive.  My personal thanks though must go to James Mulholland QC, Sophie Shotton, Monica Stevenson, Jodie Woodward and Paul Jarvis from the Education Committee who organised with Aaron such a magnificent day.  And despite the event taking place in England’s first city, all the Officers had travelled from London to support the event.
 
Kama Melly of Park Square Barristers Leeds spoke to us of the s28 pilot at Leeds Crown Court and of the huge amount of work and cooperation that the Bar and Solicitors have put in to make the scheme work.  Kama is the Bar representative on the pilot.  She spoke eloquently and demonstrated her commitment to Justice.  Without our cooperation these schemes would fail.  We are the glue that holds the system together yet politicians continue to ignore that fact. That must change.

Justice Light
The rally last week was a success despite the absence of press coverage.  The CBA were well represented.  The Vice Chairman spoke to considerable critical approval. He did us proud.  Our message was clear.  No more cuts!  You will find the Guardian’s online coverage HERE.  Sir Anthony Hooper expressed strong views-politicians would be well advised to heed them.
 
The Election
It now less than two weeks away.  May I repeat my call to lobby your candidates.  All you need is HERE.  Politicians have chosen to ignore us-let us not ignore them.  The next 10 days for them are vital as they try to garner votes.  Make them commit to justice.
 
Koestler Trust
Last week thanks to the generosity of my Chambers we opened an exhibition of works from the Koestler Trust, Britain’s best known prison arts charity, further details HERE.  The exhibition runs until the last week of May.  Please come along-simply call the clerks and they’ll arrange it.  Koestler does incredible work- they would be happy to help you organise something similar in your own Chambers.

Tony