Issue 415  13th September 2025

“Decisive and radical” steps need to be taken to change a “culture of denial” which permits bullying, harassment and sexual harassment among barristers in England and Wales, a report has found. The report, authored by Labour peer Baroness Harriet Harman and published on Monday, also found there was a culture of “impunity” and “collusive bystanding” at the Bar which prevented victims from speaking out, out of fear for their careers. The Bar Council, which represents barristers in the two nations, commissioned the review last year, after research suggested they were experiencing increasing levels of inappropriate behaviour at their places of work and in courts...

In a 129-page report, Baroness Harman said a “cohort of untouchables” has been created as those who commit misconduct “can be pretty confident that nothing will be done about it”. She continued that victims “dare not complain for fear of losing out by becoming known as a troublemaker”, which enables “power to be abused” as there was a “wholesale lack of confidence in the complaints system”.The report also said that “WhatsApp groups abound” among junior and pupil barristers, “comparing notes on predatory barristers”, and that there was a “deep-rooted ‘culture of silence” preventing misconduct from being reported. Bullying of barristers by judges was also “clearly a problem” which “undermines the justice system”, the report added, and there was “little to no accountability for judicial conduct in the courtroom”.

Baroness Harman made 36 recommendations to improve standards, including establishing the role of a new Commissioner for Conduct, introducing mandatory training, a “complete overhaul” of the complaints process and proscribing sexual relations between senior barristers and pupils as serious misconduct...

Non-crime hate incidents should stop being recorded by the police, the policing watchdog has said. Sir Andy Cooke, His Majesty's Chief Inspector of Constabulary, said current legislation places police in an "invidious position" with "discretion and common sense" not always prevailing. "I think we need to separate the offensive from the criminal," he added. The head of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he agreed with Sir Andy's call and highlighted the "limited" levels of discretion available for officers when policing this area, adding: "We need more flexibility." The remarks form part of wider discussions about the policing of comments made on social media, sparked by certain high-profile incidents...

Non-crime hate incidents are alleged acts perceived to be motivated by hostility or prejudice towards people with certain characteristics, such as race or gender. They are recorded to collect data on "hate incidents that could escalate into more serious harm" but do not amount to a criminal offence, according to Home Office guidance, external. Police guidance on the recording of NCHIs was first published in 2005, following recommendations by an inquiry into the murder of Stephen Lawrence...

Artificial intelligence is being tested to monitor offenders on licence to 'prevent crimes before they happen'. In a pilot of new monitoring procedures announced by the government, offenders on licence will have to answer to remote check-in surveillance on their mobile devices. Offenders will be required to record short videos of themselves, AI will then be used to confirm their identity. Offenders will also be required to answer questions about their behaviour and recent activities. Any attempts to ‘thwart the AI ID matching or concerning answers will result in an instant red alert…sent to the probation service for immediate intervention, helping prevent crimes before they happen’, the Ministry of Justice said. The system is being trialled in four probation regions, the south west, north west, east of England and Kent, Surrey and Sussex, before it is to be considered for further rollout with additional tech add-ons such as GPS location verification...

The latest Banksy mural, depicting a judge beating a protester, has been erased from the wall of London’s Royal Courts of Justice. Unlike many of the elusive artist’s other works, often carefully removed for gallery display or sold for millions, this latest piece was scrubbed from the historic building on Wednesday. The stencilled spray-painting showed a judge in a traditional wig and black gown striking a protester, who lay on the ground holding a blood-splattered placard, with a gavel...

Removing juries from complex fraud trials is a ‘red herring’ that risks exposing judges to personal attack and creating added delay, City lawyers have warned. The City of London Law Society was responding to proposals by retired judge Sir Brian Leveson, for judge-only trials for serious and complex fraud cases along with other measures to help reduce the backlog of cases in the criminal courts. The society, which represents more than 22,000 lawyers at some of the largest firms in the world, said that the removal of trial by jury for fraud is a ‘red herring’ that will do nothing to resolve the ‘crisis’ in the ‘broken’ criminal justice system...