UK-Korea trade agreement
The Law Society’s response to the UK-South Korea trade talks is covered by the Gazette, which notes we said an enhanced free trade agreement (FTA) could liberalise the Korean legal market for UK solicitors and usher in a new era of joint practice between lawyers from the two countries.
Solicitor judges
The Gazette reports two city solicitors have been appointed to the High Court bench and mentions the Law Society’s criticism of the Judicial Appointments Commission’s track record in appointing solicitors to senior judicial roles.
A Law Society spokesperson said: “Solicitors bring particular skills and experiences to the judicial process and decision-making. We hope to see many more following in Richard’s footsteps.”
CPS case handling
Ian Kelcey, of the Law Society's Criminal Law Committee, speaks to BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat (from 1:00) about how the CPS handle criminal cases when key witnesses withdraw their involvement, in context of Mason Greenwood’s dropped case.
Released on licence
Stuart Nolan, chair of the Law Society’s Criminal Law Committee, explained to LBC (from 00:37:05) about how sentencing works after Gary Glitter was released on licence after serving half of his 16-year sentence.
Crown court delays
Swindon Advertiser, Gazette and Herald, Wiltshire Times and Yahoo News report the growing backlog of cases in Swindon Crown Court, based on the most recent release of government statistics on the criminal courts backlog.
The piece notes the Law Society said the impact of years of budget cuts is "plain to see" in the latest figures, which reveal the backlog of crown court cases reached a new national high last summer.
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