Guilty until proved innocent-it`s cheaper.

[basalte]

It used to be that the principle of English law :  "innocent until proven Guilty" was one deserving of the highest respect as a central bulwark of our tenets of individual freedom and democracy.

 

The right of a citizen to a fair trial with able, competent representation was regarded as a basic; as a given, it was not for sale. 

 

Those of exceptional academic and analytical brilliance -not to say the gift of the gab-(ie I am not a barrister  BTW ) would accordingly seek the life of a criminal-law Barrister as a challenging and rewarding aspiration.

 

Not any more !

 

Jump to November 2013 :

 

"Nobody in their right mind would advise a son or a daughter to to become a criminal barrister...last year there was one criminal pupillage (traineeship) in the whole of Birmingham".  

 

Sir Richard Henriques QC

 

The liveliehoods of  Criminal law barristers are now being exterminated every bit as thoroughly as those of a Yorkshire miner in 1984.  A 30% pay cut is now proposed. It follows a 40% cut in the last ten years. The sums simply no longer add up for them. The people in wigs are angry for the first time this century. 

 

As the Daily Telegraph comments today :

 

" There`s an unholy political bust-up on the horizon and the Ministry of Justice appears to be coasting towards it with all the speedy insouciance of the captain of the Titanic"

 

Yes, the fat cats of tabloid myth still abound....in one square mile of London. The lawyers for Shell, McDonalds etc are still doing extremely well thankyou.  15% of  current UK law graduates will go on to find a job as solicitor or barrister . You expect to see those kind of figures for Ethiopia or Senegal. I am not asking for special pleading for lawyers-we all know people who are doing plenty worse -just to be forewarned of the crisis that is about to engulf English justice and the Rule of Law. 

 

 

 

    

[Bibs]

A friend of mine (and ex-Esprit owner) studied the required 20 hours a day for many years to become a barrister. He is now very senior in marketing for Mercedes having never practised law despite passing all the required elements 5 years ago! 

[basalte]

Now that sounds like a very wise move !

[pete]

perhaps they have milked the cow dry

[basalte]

Remember the 3,500 new criminal laws passed by the last Government ? Maybe not.  Lawyers had to prosecute and defend people charged with those 3,500 new laws. That`s why criminal legal aid spending really went up in the last decade

- not because the lawyers involved were charging more  !

[Kimbers]

All I know is that the CPS won't prosecute someone unless they are virtually 100% sure that they can obtain a satisfactory outcome. This has resulted in a much larger number of warnings, official Cautions, on the spot fines (for assault etc) and RJ's. Maybe this doesn't help as Defence Lawyers rarely get involved with these (It's normally the duty lawyer), whereas it used to be that an assault case would go before the Magistrates and a lawyer would get paid.

 

I don't agree with this BTW. I think the CPS should prosecute if the chance is more than 50% but unfortunately monies have been cut for them as well, so much, that they don't have a bottomless pit for charging/following through with cases.

 

If you don't believe me see todays report that Sex offenders, who admit guilt, are getting away with Cautions, up by 29%. Loads of articles about it too.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24333093

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24231927

[basalte]

If people in general only knew the colossal amounts of money wasted by the CPS in delays in bringing cases to trial,  and in their myriad woeful failures to prepare for trial (regardless of the strength of the case), it puts all talk of  "greedy lawyers" in the shade !         

[softlips]

A friend of mine (and ex-Esprit owner) studied the required 20 hours a day for many years to become a barrister. He is now very senior in marketing for Mercedes having never practised law despite passing all the required elements 5 years ago!

Most of my colleagues studied successfully to become Doctors of Medicine and now work as medical reps as it pays more, doesn't make sense.

[Kimbers]

My daughter had a choice of Law or Medicine and went with the latter too. Maybe because her mom was already a senior nurse but the prospects were definitely better.