President’s Jottings

AUTUMN 2020

The leaves that started to appear on the trees in those bewildering March days, when we all hurried home at the beginning of lockdown, are now about to turn brown. It has been a long and strange summer.

It has also been a concerning time for the rule of law in this country. We have seen an attack on the integrity and independence of the legal profession, when the Home Office published a video at the end of August which referred to immigration lawyers as “activist lawyers” abusing the system, and we have heard a Cabinet minister tell the House of Commons that the government’s proposed Internal Market Bill, which could re-write parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, breaks international law. With the end of the Brexit transition period fast approaching, such a move by government threatens to not only undermine the rule of law, but it could seriously damage our country’s standing in the world and its position as a centre for international practice and the global use of English law.

As solicitors or lawyers, we must uphold the constitutional rule of law and the proper administration of justice. The rule of law is a founding principle of our country. It ensures that individuals, companies and government remain accountable to each other, and that fundamental rights are protected and enforced. I was, therefore, pleased to see that the Law Society launched a campaign action making it easier for solicitors and members of the public to voice their concern over potential breaches of international law to their MP and I would ask you to consider writing to your MP as well, if you have not already done so.

Some of you may have returned to the office during the summer months as lockdown measures were relaxed and life began to feel a little bit more normal. We were encouraged by government to return to work, to “eat out to help out” and children returned to school. During this time, the SLS has continued to provide guidance via its website to help you navigate the Coronavirus pandemic and return to work safely, and has continued to provide online courses to help you to meet your continuing competence requirements. I have continued to attend virtual meetings of the County Societies Group and others to share experiences and ideas and the SLS has been planning for the immediate future and what the next 12 months might look like.

However, it is fair to say that planning has been extremely difficult this year. With so many of the SLS events for 2020 having had to be postponed due to lockdown, we had hoped to be able to put on one or two face to face events during the autumn, albeit with social distancing measures in place. But, with the government recently introducing the “rule of six”, and the country reaching a critical point in the pandemic, with fears of a second wave and further lockdown measures, any chance of us doing so before 2021 looks extremely unlikely now.

In fact, with the virus expected to be more severe over the winter and government officials looking at bringing in measures that could last until the spring, together with a professional indemnity insurance renewal period in the toughest market in years, the next few months are no doubt going to be a very worrying time for many and it is likely to be a very long and challenging winter.

Having said that, the SLS will be here to support you as best it can and we must of course hold an annual general meeting (AGM) between the members and the committee because it is important for so many reasons, not least because it is a constitutional requirement. It is clearly challenging for such a meeting to go ahead as normal in the face of current legal requirements and guidelines restricting movement and gatherings. The government has relaxed some of the requirements which would make it difficult, if not impossible, to hold a meeting but, at the time of writing, it is unclear whether such relaxations will be extended beyond the current expiry period of the end of September 2020. Chances are that they will be extended because people’s safety and well-being is paramount, but we will keep an eye on things as matters develop over the next few weeks and will update you on the plans for this year’s AGM in due course.

By the time you read this, I will have attended the Law Society’s virtual Presidents’ and Secretaries’ conference and also had a call with the Law Society President, Simon Davis. I will also have attended a virtual meeting with committee members of Surrey Junior Lawyers Division to discuss a potential new careers support initiative as we are exploring ways of working more closely with junior lawyers in the county.

I will update you on these and other SLS matters next time. In the meantime, if you are interested in getting involved in the work of Surrey Law Society, please do get in touch with me or Helen Opie.

With my very best wishes. ■

Nick Ball President