Judicial
News
HM
The Queen has appointed William Stephen Hart to be a Circuit Judge.
He has been assigned to the Western Circuit, based at Gloucester
Crown Court w.e.f. 11 June 2008.
HM
The Queen has appointed Peter John Henry Ralls QC to be a Circuit
Judge. He has been assigned to the Western Circuit, based at Southampton
Combined Court w.e.f. 10 June 2008.
HM
The Queen has appointed Myles Kenneth George Watkins to be a District
Judge. He has been assigned to the Western Circuit, based at Winchester
Combined Court w.e.f. 2 June 2008.
Advocacy
Liaison Group (ALG) - HCAs
| ALG
Framework letter (November 2006) |
|
|
| ALG
Framework Memo (November 2006) |
|
|
| ALG
Framework Document (November 2006) |
|
|
Careers
at the Bar
Would
you like to encourage undergraduates in your area to undertake
a career at the Bar? Can you offer advice and assistance to BVC
students? If you can help the Further Education department at
the Inner Temple, please click here
for further details.
Criminal
Justice Act 2003
| Distance
Learning qualifying for CPD hours |
| A
set of 5 CDs or one DVD featuring all five workshops from
the Western Circuit Criminal Justice Act CPD course held in
Bristol in April 2005 is available via the "CPD
on CD" page. |
Criminal
Justice System
| Criminal
Case Management Framework (July 2005) |
| Guidance
to practitioners on how cases might be managed most effectively
and efficiently. It describes case management procedures,
and the roles and responsibilities of administrative staff
operating those procedures, as well as setting out the expectations
of the judiciary. |
|
|
Crown
Prosecution Service (CPS)
|
ss 71-75 Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 - Information
for Prosecuting Counsel |
| Guidance
on regulating agreements made with offenders who offer to
assist, or have assisted, with the investigation or prosecution
of offences committed by others. |
|
|
| |
|
A Standard for Communication between Victims, Witnesses and
the Prosecuting Advocate (February 2006) |
| Victims
and witnesses have a right to be treated with respect and
decency when fulfilling their public responsibility of attending
court to give evidence. This guidance, developed in partnership
by the Bar Council, the Law Society and the CPS, sets out
the standards of behaviour required by prosecuting advocates
in order to meet their responsibilities to ensure victims
and witnesses are treated with respect and dignity throughout
the legal process. |
|

|
| |
| Hampshire
and Isle of Wight Victim and Witness Care Protocol (December
2006) |
| Local
protocol on victim and witness care covering the geographical
boundaries of the Hampshire Constabulary, CPS Districts, Victim
Support, Magistrates' Courts, Crown Courts, and Hampshire
& Isle of Wight Probation Area. |
|
|
| |
| Disclosure
- Protocol for the Control and Management of Unused Material
in the Crown Court (February 2006) |
| This
document is key to the effective operation of the disclosure
system and it is expected that those who the CPS instruct
to prosecute will have read it and be willing to apply it. |
|
|
| |
| Disclosure
- Attorney General's Guidelines (April 2005) |
| The
application of proper and fair disclosure is a vital component
of a fair criminal justice system and these guidelines set
out common standards and procedures to be followed. |
|
|
| |
| Attorney
General's Points for Prosecutors (September 2000) |
| Developed
to assist prosecutors in providing a consistent response to
challenges to a selection of legislative provisions where
European Convention on Human Rights issues are likely to be
raised. |
|

|
| |
| Farquharson
Guidelines (2002) |
| Guidelines
that outline the role and responsibilities of the Prosecution
Advocate. Intended to provide practical guidance for all prosecutors,
the Guidelines build on, and develop, the principles established
by the Farquharson Committee in 1986. |
|
|
| |
| NEW
Instructions for Prosecuting Advocates (Sep 2008) |
| CPS
instructions incorporated into every prosecution brief, which
any advocate prosecuting on behalf of the CPS is expected
to be familiar with and to apply. |
|
|
| |
| Advance
Sentence Indication |
| CPS
guidelines that amount to the introduction of a formalised
procedure of advance sentence indication. Their objective
is to put in place a common process that will enable a defendant
to make a better informed decision as to whether to plead
guilty or not. See R-v-Goodyear
CCA under Recent Judgments. |
|
|
| |
| Unduly
Lenient Sentence Appeals |
| CPS
instructions and template for prosecution counsel (November
2005). |
|
|
| |
| Application
for inclusion on the Attorney General's list of CPS Higher
Court Advocates |
| Open
to barristers who have completed 12 months pupillage who wish
to receive prosecution work from the CPS. |
|
|
| |
| Application
for Re-grading |
| All
advocates on the Attorney General's list of CPS High Court
Advocates are entitled to apply for re-grading to a higher
grade. |
|
|
| |
| Re-grading
guidance notes |
| Guidance
notes for advocates applying for re-grading to a higher grade. |
|
|
| |
| Re-grading
Annex A |
| An
explanation of the different grades, including the competences
expected at each of the grades. |
|
|
Family
Law
| Distance
Learning qualifying for CPD hours |
| Each
of the series of FLBA lectures held in London during the winter
of 2004 and 2005 is available on CD via the "CPD
on CD" page. |
Fees
The
Bar Council Graduated Fee Payment Protocol
(April 2007) (37 pages). |
|
|
| |
|
|
| CBA
Guidance Notes on the Revised Advocates Graduated Fee Scheme
(2007) (68 pages). |
|
|
Legal
Services Commission (LSC)
| Quality
Mark for the Bar (QMB) |
| The
quality standard for legal information, advice and specialist
legal services. It comprises a set of standards designed to
ensure that a service is well run and has its own quality
control mechanisms that assure the quality of the information
that the service provides. |
|
|
| |
| Quality
Mark for the Bar and BARMARK® |
| Launched
in 1999, BARMARK® is the Bar Council's scheme designed
to recognise good practice management within chambers. All
holders of BARMARK® can move into QMB subject to them
meeting a small number of additional requirements. |
|
|
Mediation
| EU
Code of Conduct for Mediators |
| The
principles to which individual mediators can voluntarily decide
to commit and intended to be applicable to all kinds of mediation
in civil and commercial matters. |
|

|
Recent
Judgments
| R-v-Goodyear
CCA
(20 April 2005) |
| The
appeal against sentence which effectively resulted in permitting
the judge to give an indication of sentence in advance of
a guilty plea. See CPS guidelines under Advance
Sentence Indication. |
|
|
Very
High Cost Cases (VHCC)
Cases with
regard to which if they proceed to trial that trial would be likely
to last for 41 days or longer
| Very
High Cost Criminal Cases Arrangements 2004 |
| The
arrangements made by the Legal Services Commission that apply
to cases that are, or are likely to become, Very High Cost
Cases - so that such cases may be covered by individual case
contracts. |
|
|
| |
| Very
High Cost Cases Contract Specification |
| Legal
Services Commission's Complex Crime Unit specification on
how contract work is performed and, to some extent, what work
is performed. |
|
|
| |
| Terms
of Appointment in VHCC cases (June 2005) |
| Defines
the services expected of counsel in the preparation and invoicing
of VHCC fees and all other cases falling outside the Graduated
Fee Scheme, including requests for advice, Court of Appeal
and higher court cases. |
|
|
| |
Adobe
Reader® 7.0 - New or Upgrade version
Invented
by Adobe, Portable Document Format (PDF) files look exactly
like original documents and preserve the fonts, images,
graphics, and layout of any source file - regardless of
the application and platform used to create it. PDF documents
can be shared, viewed, and printed by anyone, on any system,
using free Adobe Reader® software - regardless
of the operating system, original application, or fonts.
|
|
Click the Adobe Reader® graphic to access the Adobe
download site. The Western Circuit will not be responsible
for any technical difficulties that users may experience.
|
|
| |
|