Big nights out with Lord Neuberger and Joshua Rozenberg – Emily Allbon
Lord Neuberger speaking at The Institute for Government
This month has been packed full of interesting events and debates for those of you lucky enough not to STILL be doing exams like my poor GDLs.
On Tuesday 18th there was Lord Neuberger at the Institute for Government speaking on Judges and Policy: A delicate balance. @ifgevents tweeted the whole event and the speech is available via the Supreme Court website.
Lord Neuberger’s lecture covered a range of subjects; staying in the EU, the changes brought in by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, devolution, the flood of legislation and need to improve ethnic representation within the profession. Lord Neuberger also spoke on legal aid: flagging up that the cost structure involved would push out the best lawyers and makes the grave mistake of rewarding for longer trials. He warned that it must be appreciated that a knock-on effect on the courts was inevitable.
You can view the whole lecture via YouTube.
Joshua Rozenberg’s Law in Action programme centred on the legal aid cuts, entitled Lawyers in Revolt and this debate continued with Legal Aid Question Time in Westminster, hosted by the Bar Council.
Panelists included:
- Lord McNally, Minister of State for Justice, responsible for legal aid
- Andy Slaughter MP, Shadow Justice Minister
- Steve Hynes, Director, Legal Action Group, and
- Maura McGowan QC, Chairman of the Bar.
You can check out any tweets relating to this event via #legalaidqt but there are a number of bloggers who have given their views on the event already. @danbunting has also made available his extensive notes.