Clare Ashcroft

Barrister who practises in crime; keeping my own Counsel. Expressed views my own.

[Jonathan Pie @JonathanPieNews]

Ultimately, it’s always the customers who pay the fines.

[. @jdpoc]

Reminder today that Yaxley again crowd-funded his “defence fund“, then pleaded guilty.

So that cash? Yeah, that’s his now.

This is what he does for a living.

[The CBA @TheCriminalBar]

#IWD in @CounselMagazine
If we fail to nurture women’s collective talent, half the population of this country will not be properly represented – from the junior Criminal Bar right up to the senior Judiciary. We cannot let all the hard work be undone, says Tana Adkin KC on International Women's Day 

https://t.co/0rpcLvvAPB

Four years ago we were rightly celebrating 100 years at the Bar with greater than ever numbers of women holding senior positions across the Bar and Judiciary. However, some of us worried at the time whether a generation of hard work to break glass ceilings was going to stall. As we mark this year’s International Women’s Day on 8 March – and while I still celebrate a seismic shift in the progress of women at the Criminal Bar – we need to re-charge the batteries. The view from the top may seem rosy but further down the future is less certain.
I am the fourth woman in the past seven years to hold the position of Chair of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA). By the end of 2025, the CBA will have had women continuously in post back to 2021.

The RASSO crisis
I have witnessed increasing numbers of RASSO (rape and serious sexual offences) barristers, including many women, turning away from this work due to a combination of poor remuneration and the heavy toll these types of cases take on an individual barrister’s wellbeing and practice. From the other side of the fence, having been involved in negotiating additional funding for the Criminal Bar as CBA Vice Chair in 2022/23 and now as Chair, I am in constant meetings discussing ways to improve things for the Criminal Bar, the criminal justice system and for the public. Criminal barristers have never been in such high demand, but I do feel frustrated at the slow progress. The backlog in the Crown Court is sitting at approximately 65,000 cases, double what it was just five years ago. Of these almost 10,000 are RASSO cases that call for specialist counsel.
I hope that what I have to say about my career at the Criminal Bar will encourage people from ordinary backgrounds like mine to undertake a career in publicly funded criminal work, but I recognise that in the current climate this is not easy. I did build a career conducting RASSO cases and achieved silk based on this important work. My message remains that wherever you are from and whoever you are, if you have a commitment to access to justice and a strong work ethic, the Criminal Bar is still for you.

The proportion of female KCs has increased and female pupils outnumbered male pupils in 2023. Now should be a good time to come to the Criminal Bar. There is work that needs to be done. In order to supply a pool from which a more diverse Judiciary can be drawn, we will need more women to train, pursue a career and stay at the Criminal Bar.
I have found my career to be all things to me – challenging and worthwhile, stressful but rewarding, and importantly the camaraderie at the Criminal Bar, which was never more evident than at the demonstrations during the barristers’ action, reminds me every day that I work alongside a band of diverse professionals who are devoted to our criminal justice system. I am truly privileged to serve alongside them and would encourage anyone with justice in mind to join us at the Criminal Bar.

[The CBA @TheCriminalBar]

Representation without identification. Fair trials. Justice.

Criminal barristers provide independent legal expertise in the courts of England and Wales and pride themselves on that independence. Any criminal barrister that also brings their own personal or political views into the court is in danger of failing in their duty to represent either side independently and it is this independence that preserves the fairness of our justice system.

Equal access to justice for all citizens and organisations, regardless of background or political persuasion means criminal barristers putting aside their personal or political views.

Criminal barristers continue to accept instructions under the "cab rank" rule, namely the next case to be accepted by a chambers which is a great tradition of the Bar. This ensures no matter what the offence, no matter what the person or views of the barrister, justice will be served according to the law.

Lord Reid, House of Lords,
Rondel v Worsley, 22 November 1967
“There is no doubt about the position and duties of a barrister or advocate appearing in Court on behalf of a client. It has long been recognised that no counsel is entitled to refuse to act in a sphere in which he practices, and on being tendered a proper fee, for any person however unpopular or even offensive he or his opinions may be, and it is essential that that duty must continue: justice cannot be done and certainly cannot be seen to be done otherwise. If counsel is bound to act for such a person, no reasonable man could think the less of any counsel because of his association with such a client, but, if counsel could pick and choose, his reputation might suffer if he chose to act for such a client, and the client might have great difficulty in obtaining proper legal assistance.

Every counsel has a duty to his client fearlessly to raise every issue, advance every argument, and ask every question, however distasteful, which he thinks will help his client's case. But, as an officer of the Court concerned in the
administration of justice, he has an overriding duty to the Court, to the standards of his profession, and to the public, which may and often does lead to a conflict with his client's wishes or with what the client thinks are his personal interests. Counsel must not mislead the Court, he must not lend himself to casting aspersions on the other party or witnesses for which there is no sufficient basis in the information in his possession, he must not with-hold authorities or documents which may tell against his clients but which the law or the standards of his profession require him to produce.”

Lord Denning, Court of Appeal
Rondel v Worsley
June & 20 October 1966
“A barrister cannot pick or choose his clients. He is bound to accept a brief for any man who comes before the courts. No matter how great a rascal the man may be. No matter how given to complaining. No matter how undeserving or unpopular his cause. The barrister must defend him to the end. Provided only that he is paid a proper fee, or in the case of a dock brief, a nominal fee. He must accept the brief and do all he honourably can on behalf of his client. I say “all he honourably can” because his duty is not only to his client. He has a duty to the court which is paramount. It is a mistake to suppose that he is the mouthpiece of his client to say what he wants: or his tool to do what he directs. He is none of these things. He owes allegiance to a higher cause. It is the cause of truth and justice. He must not consciously mis-state the facts. He must not knowingly conceal the truth. He must not unjustly make a charge of fraud, that is, without evidence to support it. He must produce all the relevant authorities, even those that are against him. He must see that his client discloses, if ordered, the relevant documents, even those that are fatal to his case. He must disregard the most specific instructions of his client, if they conflict with his duty to the court.”

[The CBA @TheCriminalBar]

CBA chair Ms Adkin KC called the 24/7 idea "almost laughable" due to "decades and decades of underfunding" in the criminal justice system. @SkyNews
“But is prioritising protest cases the right way to go when the problem in court backlogs is so much wider?
Prominent KC and chair of the Criminal Bar Association, Tana Adkin, told Sky News: "The principle that you deal with people as quickly as possible and get them out on bail [and] you set conditions so they don't go back onto the M25 and glue themselves to the road, the principle is fine.
"But why should they have that while everyone else in the criminal justice system doesn't?"
She also questioned the overall impact of protest cases on the courts, adding: "If you are putting pressure on a system that is already on its knees, it is obviously going to show up more clearly.
"Our system should be perfectly able to deal with protesters as we have in the past. We have always had protests and the courts have always managed it.
"I think when you are in strained times and you are dealing with a system that is, as I say, on its knees, that's when it is going to show up."

https://t.co/VZpOCEBvoK

There is a more practical element that could cause a headache for Lord Hogan-Howe's suggestion - running the actual courts.

CBA chair Ms Adkin KC called the 24/7 idea "almost laughable" due to "decades and decades of underfunding" in the criminal justice system.
Figures released by the CBA in 2022 showed 22% of barristers had left the profession since 2016 in protest at low pay for legal aid cases and a crumbling system as money-saving measures took their toll.
"The whole shape of things has completely changed since 2011," she told Sky News. "Back then we had a lot more barristers than we do now. We're down to about 2,500 from 4,000 or 5,000 - at one stage we had 6,000 barristers.
"But now we don't have enough people to do 24/7 courts, it would be impossible... asking people with families, people that are already on their knees, that we want even more from them."
Image: Chair of the Criminal Bar Association, Tana Adkin KC. Pic: CBA
And it isn't just about the barristers and the judges, the KC said. "It is the court staff, it's security staff, it is everybody being expected to do longer and longer hours for no extra pay or reward.
"And because we have been beaten down for so long, all you would do is be driving more people away."
She added: "It is not about playing a game of chess. It is about investing in human beings."

[Garden Court North @gcnchambers]

Seven people arrested during a demonstration at a UAV Tactical Systems site in Leicester had their cases dismissed on Friday following a successful submission of ‘no case to answer’ from GCN’s @MiraHammad10 & @amccollpg.

Read more:
https://t.co/Wq0QvTytSY

[Clare Ashcroft @AshcroftClare]

@neill_bob As you know, Bob, I’m definitely of the Left. But thank you for all you have done - forensic, reasoned and principled have been the hallmarks of your tenure. Time to enjoy family a bit more x

[WICL Manchester @WiclManchester]

Calling all Manchester ladies���

Sign up to this event for advice/tips on the next round of submissions to the legal directories!

⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

[Brian Moore @brianmoore666]

Unless this is sufficiently widely disseminated via social media, it will never gain traction. Few, if any, mainstream papers or news outlets will touch the subject.

[The CBA @TheCriminalBar]

“It’s not a question of harsher sentencing, or softer sentencing, that’s a sterile question Madam deputy Speaker, what we really ought to be talking about is smarter sentencing…”
@neill_bob, chair @CommonsJustice, to @HouseofCommons on
the Sentencing Bill
and
#rehabilitation

[The CBA @TheCriminalBar]

CBA vice-chair Mary Prior KC highlighted the ever-changing nature of RASSO work. ‘There is no area of criminal law which develops as quickly,' she said. 'A combination of changes in governmental approach to offences and sentencing, combined with developments in case law requires constant learning of the law.' 

https://t.co/nDutCX8c7S

[Dr Rachel Clarke @doctor_oxford]

Yes these are far right nationalist thugs literally storming the Cenotaph on Armistice Day.

Suella Braverman whipped up this frenzy.

I call on her to resign, immediately.

Please RT if you do too.

[Clare Ashcroft @AshcroftClare]

@itsbenknight RIP, James. One of the good ones.

[Chris Wild @ccwild79]

Here's another for you @SuellaBraverman. 18 year old boy from Enfield. His Mum dies and he has no family. He ends up homeless living in a shed. He gets my contact details and I help him. I put him in the Travelodge on the A10 for 2 weeks until I can find him a room in a housing association. I knew the staff so this was possible. He was scared, cold, wet, and starving when I picked him up. He cried for hours. Anyhow we looked after him and now he's doing a degree in engineering. It was not a lifestyle choice for him. And I'm sure he'd be more than happy to educate you on this.

[Neil Yates @neilayates]

I wonder what the Home Office will say when they realise a large number of those sleeping on the streets are ex-servicemen and women, often with PTSD. Might be a tougher culture war than usual.

[Yvette Cooper @YvetteCooperMP]

Tories have been in power 13yrs

Rough sleeping is up 75% (Labour cut it by 75%)

Homelessness up, housing in crisis

Support & addiction services cut

Neighbourhood policing cut

And Suella Braverman thinks the answer is to pick a fight over tents…..

[Jonathan Pie @JonathanPieNews]

Last weeks headline V this week’s headline. It’s almost like water privatisation and profiteering combined with zero accountability hasn’t really worked.