Opinion

The Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill had its second reading last month. It is the latest instalment in a programme of constitutional reform, which the government has been pursuing in a leisurely and random fashion since it came into power in 1997.

Let us remember the names of the reviewers and researchers of legal aid since 1997: Sir Peter Middleton, Frontier Economics, Matrix Consultancy, Lord Carter of Coles, the (hapless) in-house Fundamental team and now Sir Ian McGhee. As Labour came into office, it asked a retired banker what to do. As it seemed likely to leave, it asked a former civil servant the same question.

The Bar Council attended all three major political party conferences this year. Our involvement in these events provided us with useful opportunities to meet various politicians and to share our ideas about the justice agenda. In these recessionary times, and given that we are, in the words of the Legal Services Commission, “celebrating” 60 years of legal aid, it will come as no surprise that I used these opportunities to brief ministers and opposition portfolio-holders on access to justice, legal aid funding, and the impact that cuts to the legal aid budget will have on vulnerable members of society who may be unable to obtain the representation they need.

Unprecedented difficulties faced many firms during this season’s round of insurance renewal. Yes, they were mainly small firms, but some larger firms had problems too, and it may not be long before even large international firms start feeling the pressure too.

Piracy has always had a spurious glamour. Since the 17th century no case has appeared in Europe. The “Brethren of the Coast” had effectively been controlled even in the Caribbean. However the saga of the Arctic Star, which disappeared at the end of July, has proved more surreal than the Hollywood film, Pirates of the Caribbean.

Anyone interested in the future of legal services or in the management of a law firm should grab a copy of Lord Hunt’s Review of the Regulation of Legal Services.

The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) recently published its policy on dealing with UK companies suspected of having committed offences involving overseas corruption.

On the very day that the spanking new Supreme Court opened for business, legal tradition reasserted itself. Over the flagstones that had witnessed the trial of Charles I in Westminster Hall walked the elite of the legal world as they made their way to lunch after the traditional service for the opening of the legal year.

Recent cases have raised questions about the safety of chip and pin cards from fraudulent attack, for example by cloning. Typically, in such cases, the claimant is an individual whose account has been debited as a result of one or more allegedly unauthorised card transactions; the defendant is a bank or building society.

The Heyday litigation ended with the publication of the High Court’s judgment last month. After various name changes it now goes by the title R (on the application of Age UK) v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation & Skills [2009] EWHC 2336 (Admin), [2009] All ER (D) 141(Sep).