been put in place so far, bring on board
the views of both the communities
concerned and the practitioners tasked
with identifying the problems at ‘ground
level’ and examine the reasons why, for
all the undoubted good intentions, the
FGM law as it stands at the moment
has proved, in the truest possible
sense, ineffective. Actions such as
introducing the offence of failing to
protect a girl from FGM, guaranteeing
lifelong anonymity for victims of FGM
and the extension of the extra-territorial
reach of the 2003 Act all show a
positive direction of travel, as does the
mandatory reporting duty which will
commence this month (October 2015).
The key to taking the next step and
actually preventing and prosecuting
cases of FGM will lie in ensuring that
the current consultation process takes
in as broad a spectrum as possible, to
ensure that the communities wherein
this practice is till entrenched can, to at
least some degree, take ownership of the
process of rooting it out once and for all.
Above all else, the eagerness to be seen
to be acting on the problem, however
well founded it might be, must not (as
was sadly the case in the single FGM
prosecution to date) be allowed to cloud
clear thinking and good judgement.
The ability of untold women who have
not yet even been born to live to their
full potential may rest upon the right
voices making themselves heard during
the current consultation.
Ali Hussain
Ali Hussain is an experienced criminal
defence lawyer who specialises in
criminal, regulatory, administrative
and female genital mutilation (FGM)
matters. He is regularly involved in the
preparation of appeals to the High Court
and Court of Appeal.
About Stokoe Partnership
Stokoe is a criminal litigation practice
that specialises in defending very serious
crime.
Barristers and the barriers
to long-term saving
It can be hard enough for the average British household to build a long-term savings habit, but barristers often face an even
greater set of challenges to their financial planning, says Penny Lovell, Head of Private Client Services at Close Brothers
Asset Management
W
e are not yet a nation
of savers. The average
British household
saves just around five
per cent of income
each year. This alone is not enough to
prepare for long-term goals such as
funding retirement. However, even this
effort is primarily dominated by those
that that have a regular income to plan
around. For those who do not have a
consistent monthly pay cheque, such
as barristers, long-term saving is even
more challenging. But the challenges to
financial planning do not end there for
barristers. We examine what obstacles
they face, and how they can account for
these to foster a saving habit that will
provide them with longer-term financial
security.
Cash flow is a significant consideration
for barristers when it comes to setting
aside money for the future. 80%
of barristers who aren’t’ primarily
employed by commercial institutions are
self-employed . Paid on a case-by-case
basis, inconsistent income can be a real
issue, and it is difficult to plan ahead
without concrete knowledge of where
the next pay check will be coming from,
no matter how much that pay check
could eventually be. Despite not having
regular payments, there are still regular
financial commitments they must adhere
to: mortgage repayments, school fees
and household bills are all likely to be
given preference over saving, and make
longer-term planning more daunting.
the minimum wage. All of this impacts
how much barristers feel they should be
setting aside each month, and indeed,
highlights the impact that their finances
face through legal aid cuts.
For those pursuing the criminal bar,
there are additional financial challenges
to consider. When it comes to legal aid,
defence and prosecution are publicly
funded, leaving barristers at the mercy
of cuts and changes to fees. This has
been a contentious issue of late, with
solicitors and barristers alike boycotting
the move to cut the £1.7 billion budget
for legal aid in England and Wales. This
is, essentially, a pay cut, and has led to
mass walk-outs by criminal barristers
since the start-of the year.
Barristers also face substantial busines