The Law Society Gazette, 26 October 2006

Breaking the monopoly

The current government has done much to shine the light of transparency on the judicial appointments system, having appointed a body to ensure fair and open selection. Now the Judicial Appointments Commission is contemplating taking meaningful measures to widen the pool of candidates. It is encouraging to see the commission chairwoman exploding the myth that the best judges are necessarily professional advocates.

29 October 1986

An ‘overwhelming consensus’ for a family court

The Family Courts Campaign has said that there is now an overwhelming consensus, among those who have a legitimate interest in the subject, for the creation of a family court. This is the main thrust of the message in the campaign’s response to the lord chancellor’s consultation paper on the Family and Domestic Jurisdiction.

Britain benefits from lawyers’ invisibility

The legal profession is making an increasingly valuable contribution to Britain’s balance of payments. In 1985 the estimated earnings of the profession are said to have totalled £88m, compared to £19m in 1975. The position of London as an international commercial centre and as a centre for international commercial arbitration is cited as a factor.

October 1966

Conveyancing charges

For almost a decade and particularly during the last three years the profession’s remuneration for conveyancing work has been news. Thousands of words on the subject have been written. Much has been good sense; some would have been good sense if based on accurate facts and a good deal of the rest has been rubbish.

The recent decision of the lord chancellor to place our conveyancing charges under close scrutiny may do much to clear the air and let the man in the street know something of the problems involved.

October 1956

A solicitor in China

In an intermediate court in Peking we saw a counter-revolutionary case brought against a man charged with spying for the Japanese in 1942. He had confessed before trial and was defended by a young counsel who argued in mitigation that the accused had informed the authorities of several other spies. He had a good character before 1941 and, since 1942, he had contributed to his re-education by hard work in farming.

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