Tinessa Kaur (Tish)

Mary Prior KC, who chairs the Criminal Bar Association, says that for those who stay it is about public service. “Last Thursday at 10am, I received a message from my sister to tell me that our beloved aunt had died. I was due in court at 10.15. I was representing a man who had stabbed his mother to death in front of his father. He took the view, because of his severe schizophrenia, that his mother was an alien. It was a very difficult case with huge emotional outpourings from the family. I took 30 seconds to read my own news and process it, then I went into court and did my day. I didn’t even consider asking for time out of court because the family and the defendant came first. @thetimes “That is the thought process, I think, for all members of the Bar. The person you are representing who’s accused of a crime, or the victims and witnesses of that crime, come first. Preparing for that trial comes before family time, before tidying your house, going to medical appointments or anything else, because you can’t waste a moment of a precious court day.” ‘In 2018 or 2019, most cases got dealt within six months. We’re not living in that world now’ Defending and prosecuting cases is, she argues, “vitally important” and often “very rewarding”. “We believe the vulnerable should be heard. We want to ensure that victims of crime and those accused of crime have a fair trial. Twelve members of the public make decisions about fellow citizens. The outcome for barristers is not what matters. What matters is that cases are presented to the best of people’s ability.” She says the court system is at the “accident and emergency firefighting” stage. “In 2018 or 2019, most cases got dealt within six months. We remember that time. We’re not living in that world now,” she says. “We know when we decide to do crime, we’re going to earn less than other people do. That’s always been the case. But we now earn much less than other people do because there hasn’t been any real uplift. The reality is that almost any other area of law will pay you a lot more.” The most successful barristers can earn seven or eight times more if they go into commercial law or take on wealthy individuals to defend than if they stay in the publicly funded system. One senior criminal KC warns that the “enormous gap” risks undermining confidence in the entire legal process. “When I qualified in 1986, all sorts of barristers did crime and pretty much everybody both prosecuted and defended. That was the norm. “People who were representing banks in multimillion-pound highly paid cases one week would do a murder at the Old Bailey the next week. That was because legal aid was comparatively well paid,” he says. “The massive difference now is that your chances of acquittal as a defendant are significantly higher if you’re rich and that wasn’t the case when I started being a barrister. Everyone has access to justice; it’s just that the quality of the representation they get can be very different.” thetimes.com/uk/law/article…

Mary Prior KC, Chair @TheCriminalBar Criminal Barristers respect the Criminal Justice System and the rule of law. We act according to the law. We are independent and it is that independence which is at the heart of the work that we do. When barristers prosecute, giving a voice to the vulnerable, we must not strive for a conviction at any cost, but must prosecute fairly and impartially. When barristers defend, we must test and probe the evidence, and do so fearlessly, regardless of gravity of the crime or the understandable public outrage at it. Criminal Barristers present the evidence that we are provided with and, whatever the result, the public can have confidence that that evidence was explored fully, rigorously tested and where there has been a conviction, that it follows a fair trial, giving closure to victims and witnesses alike and where there has been a not guilty verdict, that the verdict was right in fact and law.  In order to make best use of every precious hour of Court time, our criminal barristers have worked long into the night and often most of the weekend. This comes at a cost to our social and family lives, our health and our wellbeing. We have to consider the wellbeing of all the barristers from pupils, juniors, senior juniors and Silks of the Criminal Bar of England and Wales. The CBA has a Wellbeing Protocol and we urge all our members to follow it where they can. Whether we can persuade them to remain and whether we can recruit and retain the next generation depends on what happens this year and in the years that follow it. We respect and appreciate the independence and skill of the Judiciary. Judges, Barristers, Criminal Solicitors and Paralegals, the Crown Prosecution Service, Court staff, Witness Service, Probation Service, Intermediaries, Interpreters, Court Security and Prison Staff all work together to ensure that the vulnerable can be heard and trials are fair and properly conducted. But we can only do so at the pace that the long term lack of financial investment into the system permits.   Respect works both ways. There has been a growing lack of respect towards criminal barristers and an assumption from the previous Government, Court administrators and the civil service that this garden of public service never needs watering or tending. We want our profession to continue but there is a price to pay. When praise was rightly being handed out to the Police, the Judiciary and to the CPS for their managing of the recent public order offences within the criminal justice system, little or no mention was made of the Barristers or Solicitors with Higher Rights of Audience who conducted the prosecutions and defences of those cases in court. Being Chair of the Criminal Bar Association is a matter of public service. It is my honour and privilege to work with the Vice Chair, Riel Karmy-Jones KC, our Treasurer, James Gray, our Secretary, James Oliveira-Agnew and our Assistant Secretary Chloe Ashley. The entire CBA relies on the brilliance of our Administrator, Aaron Dolan, and our talented Director of Communications, James Rossiter. We are assisted by our excellent committees who work tirelessly for us all. Together, we will all be working for you, representing the interests of the Criminal Bar. We will all do our best to ensure that your dedication and talent is respected.

A young barrister who was thrown out of her home as a teenager and left homeless has become the first Sikh woman to win the prestigious legal award, Young Pro-Bono Barrister of the Year. bbc.in/3VeRyPe

One of the best things I've been involved in. Covered on radio, TV and online- deservedly. I first met @SherniBarrister quietly doing stall seva for @ActivistsUk and 8 years later she's a pure standout sevadaar doing so much for the community. Much love and respect always sister!

It is great to see a story we pitched to has been covered extensively on TV, radio and online. @SherniBarrister's Sikhi inspired journey from homelessness to award winning barrister is a fantastic tale of a respected community sevadaar (selfless servant) we are humbled to share.

You can hear Tinessa Kaur share her inspirational story in full here: bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0… Scroll to 02:37:30 @SherniBarrister @BBCRadioLondon

A young barrister who was thrown out of her home as a teenager and left homeless has become the first Sikh woman to win the prestigious legal award, Young Pro-Bono Barrister of the Year. bbc.in/3VeRyPe