the barrister
#52
ESSENTIAL READING FOR BARRISTERS
17 th APRIL - 1 st June 2012 EASTER TERM ISSUE
www.barristermagazine.com
Fusion or Fission – will solicitors remain a separate profession? In January I delivered a speech to the Said Business School, Oxford on my view of the legal services market, but also on the professions within that market. This has opened the debate on whether there might be scope for some kind of fusion between barristers and solicitors. While I concluded that we, as a sector, were perhaps not united in support of such a move, the subsequent response perhaps suggests that the solicitors and barristers are warming to the idea. It was interesting to read that Baroness
Deech, chair of the Bar Standards Board, delivered a speech to Oxford U n i v e r s i t y s t u d e n t s proposing that barristers and solicitors should share most of their training. The arguments for change are strong.
Features judicial 3 De-mystifying appointments Explaining and building confidence in the judicial appointments process, with a particular focus on testing and references, is a key priority for me in my new role as a Judicial Appointments Commissioner. Martin Forde QC, barrister at One Crown Office Row Subletting: 12 Criminalising A Step Too Far ... Or not Far Enough? Housing tenancy fraud is one of the most significant types of fraud affecting the lives of families most in need, and is the largest category of fraud loss across local government at 900 million pounds Selena Jones, Barrister and Magistrate
John Wotton President of the Law Society
In the current market there are
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price £2.80
ISSN 1468-926X
research could play 34 Brain growing role inthe criminal justice system but must be used with caution
DNA after Lawrence The admissibility of DNA evidence is a topical subject which is rarely out of the news. Recently saw Gary Dobson and David Norris were convicted after a “cold case review” of the Stephen Lawrence murder unearthed microscopic fragments of previously undiscovered DNA evidence linking them to the murder. But we need only look to the acquittal of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito in Italy, after the reliability of DNA evidence was successfully challenged, to know that DNA evidence must be approached with care.
presence at a scene. The recovery of DNA can, for example, be used to rebut an alibi or to prove 2 people had sexual intercourse when such activity is denied.
It is important to understand the role DNA evidence can play in criminal trials and how practitioners ought to be approaching it.
Forensic science is used to independently prove an issue without necessarily relying on direct witness evidence. It is rarely conclusive as, generally, it still needs interpretation in the context of an allegation. In a criminal trial p.8
DNA is generally used in cases to prove
E st . 1999
It tends to be controversial when there is no direct evidence of identification or where the amounts of DNA are so small that there could be some scientific or storage error but, these days it is admissible evidence as part of any criminal case and, subject to proper presentation and judicial direction, we trust juries to evaluate it properly
Neuroscientists seek to understand how the brain underpins our behaviour, thoughts and feelings. The law is also, of course, concerned with human behaviour, albeit for rather different reasons Professor Nicholas Mackintosh University of Cambridge
News 22
Introducing fees in the employment tribunals consultation response
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Law Society, APIL and MASS urge re-think on Government civil litigation reforms
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