Memory lane

Law Society Gazette, 24 June 2013

Bar chief calls for royal commission

More than two decades after the Runciman Commission was set up following high-profile miscarriages of justice, the chairman of the Bar Council has called for a root-and-branch review of the criminal justice system. Maura McGowan suggested that the system be reviewed holistically, as the government embarks on a programme of reform to legal aid and the courts system.

19 June 2003

Clean slate as new ministers sweep in

The Department of Constitutional Affairs began life last week with a clean ministerial slate as three junior ministers joined the new lord chancellor, Lord Falconer QC, in charting a course for the law and legal profession. The new parliamentary undersecretaries are David Lammy, Christopher Leslie and Lord Filkin. Barrister Lammy, called in 1994, is the only lawyer.

23 June 1993

High Court bench gains first solicitor

The historic appointment last week of Judge Michael Sachs as the first solicitor High Court judge has heartened the profession at a time when good news is thin on the ground.

22 June 1983

Obituary

Tom Harper, the distinguished legal journalist who was the first full-time editor of the Law Society’s Gazette, has died after a long illness. Tom was born in 1922. He joined the Law Society as assistant editor of the Gazette in 1950, becoming editor in 1956. Although he had no legal training, his perspicacity, allied with considerable journalistic ability, earned him widespread respect and established his pre-eminence among legal commentators.

June 1943

Compensation fund: applications for exemption

It is believed there are still some solicitors who intend to apply on the ground of their having been engaged on national service during the practice year 1941-42. Members are reminded that such application should be made as soon as possible and should not be deferred.