Wales Circuit Society

Greetings from Wales/Cyfarchion o Gymru. What news to report to you all from the Principality over the last 12 months?

On Friday 8 October 2021 Legal Wales hosted a hybrid conference from the historic Law Library at the Law Courts in Cathays Park, Cardiff, a building which was opened by the 3^rd Marquess of Bute in October 1906 and which, despite its history, if I may also comment along with my fellow practitioners, the building could also do with, at the very least, a fresh lick of 2022 paint. 

Legal Wales is a forum which assembles all the elements of the Welsh legal community in Wales and beyond, organising annual Legal Wales conferences which looks at initiatives to open ways for a career in the law to everyone with ability and aptitude. The conferences also provide a platform for significant contributions to the ongoing discussion on constitutional and legal developments in Wales. The Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, Master Ian Burnett, gave a closing keynote address upon the technological advancements in the courts due to the Covid-19 pandemic over the last two years which, I am sure we would all agree, may have taken a lot longer to implement if it were not for the obvious and critical need to keep the courts running. As the saying goes, ‘necessity is the mother of invention’. Whether it was Aristotle, Plato or Barry John who coined that phrase, it is just as apposite today when looking at ways to best advance the justice system. For my part, having spoken to fellow counsel across England and Wales along with other court users, this technology is a game changer, if there is the proper investment in it. For the right type of hearing, it has obvious advantages for everyone involved in the court process, not just expediting cases through the courts but ensuring that everyone affected by it, particularly those who are vulnerable or feel disconnected, have a voice, and one that is absolutely and clearly heard. That, in my view, is essential here in Wales given the more rural and remote parts of the country.

The timing of the Conference coincided with the annual Legal Service, which marked the opening of the Legal Year in Wales and which alternates between Cardiff and Bangor, bringing North and South Wales together. The next Legal Wales Conference will be held at Venue Cymru in Llandudno on Friday 7 October 2022. 

A key recommendation in the 2019 independent Commission of Justice in Wales, chaired by Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, was to establish a Law Council of Wales to, amongst other recommendations and aims, set out a vision for justice in Wales, how best to deliver justice in Wales, promote the interests of legal education and the awareness of Welsh law, ensure proper provision of teaching the law in Welsh, and assist students in their education and training as future practitioners. It was announced at the Legal Wales Conference that Master David Lloyd-Jones will serve as the inaugural President of the Law Council of Wales. As we all know, Master Lloyd-Jones has been a Justice of the Supreme Court since October 2017, and, amongst his other achievements and appointments, served as a Presiding Judge on the Wales Circuit and Chair of the Lord Chancellor’s Standing Committee on the Welsh language from 2008 to 2011. He is also a Welsh speaker so there can be no finer person to take an active lead on these significant legal developments in Wales. 

So, what of our efforts to engage and embrace Middle Templars and students with our beloved Inn within Wales? 

The 2021 Middle Temple Wales Circuit annual dinner was held on Friday 12 November 2021. I was privileged to introduce our MT Wales Society President, Master David Lloyd-Jones, to the students who attended. Master Lloyd-Jones spoke about his background, hailing as he does from Pontypridd, spoke of his academic and practising career, his journey to the Supreme Court and about the role of the Privy Council in contemporary society. Notwithstanding Master Lloyd-Jones’ considerable professional achievements, the detail that drew the biggest gasp from the students was when Master Lloyd-Jones told them, in an aside, that his father once taught the superstar singer Tom Jones in school in Pontypridd! Who can compete with that? My only connection to all this is that a good friend of my mother and father took Master Lloyd-Jones to school every day; who said Wales is a small country!

On Friday 6 May, the 2022 MT Wales Circuit annual dinner took place at the Park Plaza Hotel in Cardiff and was, again, well attended by practitioners and students alike. Our President attended with his wife, Annmarie. Annemarie is, as ever, an absolute life enhancer and a reassuring presence to speak with, whether you are a hardened practitioner or a self-doubting student. It was a truly joyful, inclusive, and successful evening in bringing our Inn to those outside London, which is, surely, the aim of our respective various Circuit Societies. The 2022 Qualifying Session topic was Call to the Bar: What Happens Next? Master James Tillyard (Chair), David Hughes, and Melissa Jones, who all practice on the Wales Circuit, discussed their routes to the Bar and their career development all of which was very well received by our Middle Temple students in Wales. We very much hope to engage with MTYBA into our 2022/2023 events. They are the future of Middle Temple.

In the spring of 2022, the Wales Circuit finally voted to permit members of the Employed Bar to join the Circuit, the last Circuit to have had such a prohibition. Other Circuits had already embraced members of the Employed Bar amongst their number, such as academics and those working in local government, and it is hoped that by removing this exclusion, the ethos of ‘One Bar’ as promoted, as ever, by the Chairman of the Bar, Mark Fenhalls QC, will flourish. The Employed Bar is diverse in every conceivable definition of that word. What we all have in common is that each one of us was Called to the Bar and we are all Members of our respective Inns of Court. We just practise in different fields in different ways, irrespective as to whether you are employed or self-employed. It is particularly apposite given the Law Council of Wales and Legal Wales are proactive in drawing in and relying upon every aspect of the legal profession. One example – a champion of Middle Temple, a fellow Bencher and a friend, the Reverend Professor Thomas Glyn Watkin QC honoris causa, the first person to be appointed to the post of First Legislative Counsel to the Welsh Government, is just one illustration as to how a Circuit can be enriched by his inclusion and insight.  

On Friday 20 May 2022, the Wales Legal Awards took place at the Mercure Hotel in Cardiff. The Awards recognise the excellence of the Welsh legal community. Chambers of the Year were 30 Park Place (I obviously think that my having a door tenancy there made all the difference!) but, in all seriousness, it showcases the depth and breadth of talent of the legal sector here in Wales. The Special Commendation Award was presented to members of the NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership Legal and Risk. They received a much-deserved standing ovation for working in one of the most challenging environments any legal team could have faced in recent years. This year’s outstanding contribution award went to Gerard Elias CBE QC who, amongst his other significant accomplishments, acted as Leading Counsel to the Waterhouse Enquiry (abuse at Children’s Homes in North Wales), the Bloody Sunday Enquiry and the Baha Mousa Enquiry. Perhaps his most famous case (and his last before retirement in 2011), was as Leading Counsel for the prosecution in the Pembrokeshire coastal path murders, which was recently dramatised for television by ITV. I was privileged to see him work at first hand as his two juniors in that case were his son, David, and I.  

In other, non-legal, Welsh news, Sunday 5 June 2022 will be a day etched on the minds of many a Welsh sports fan. On that day, at the Cardiff City Stadium, the Welsh National Football team qualified for the football World Cup 2022, thus ending a 64-year football World Cup want. The last time Wales qualified for the World Cup was in 1958 when they made it to the quarter finals, only to lose against Brazil (1-0) by a goal from a certain 17-year-old called Pele. Whatever happened to him? In June 2022, in Cardiff, Wales beat Ukraine 1-0 following Gareth Bale’s deflected freekick. There was both elation and incredulity in Wales as qualification for this tournament is something that we thought we would never experience. The net result is that football is now more popular in Wales than rugby, particularly amongst the younger generation! Hopefully the respective Welsh teams can perform well at the football World Cup and at the forthcoming Autumn rugby Internationals. It’s also not lost on us in Wales that, at the football World Cup, one of our initial group matches will be against England. Who else? The joy in the success of the Welsh team was, of course, tempered by the controversies surrounding the location of the tournament in Qatar and the fact that Wales’ qualification came at the expense of Ukraine missing out. Having the Ukraine football team at the World Cup would have undoubtedly gone some way to lift the spirits of Ukrainians everywhere given what is happening in their country.

A personal note to end, if I may, being the recent news, that Master Leslie Joseph sadly passed away on Thursday 16 June 2022, aged 96. Master Joseph was Master of the Revels from 1988-2000. Twice a ‘Reveller’ myself, I will never forget his support, kindness, hospitality, warmth, and wonderful sense of humour. He was so proud and supportive of the Revels and particularly encouraging towards the new arrivals, such as I was then, as we walked wide-eyed into Hall to write and rehearse sketches in readiness for the Christmas shows. I remember writing a sketch about a pupillage interview at a new ‘mafia’ set of Chambers that specialised in ‘contract’ and ‘personal injury’ work. The fact that Master Joseph found it funny and included it in the show remains one of my proudest achievements to date. A wonderful man who enhanced life at our Inn and who will be greatly missed.     

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