H.M. PROCUREUR, CHIEF PLEAS SPEECH 2018
The Court of the Chief Pleas met on 1 October in the traditional start to the legal year. To read the speech made by Megan Pullum, H.M. Procureur, please click the Read More button.
'Sir, Your Excellency, Lady Corder, Members of the Royal Court, distinguished guests and ladies and gentlemen.
Making a speech at Chief Pleas has long been a tradition for HM Procureur, and is one which, Sir as noted, has not happened for the last 2 years owing to ceremonial events. However, I also personally consider that the ancient traditions which distinguish this Bailiwick from other jurisdictions, should be respected and therefore, for those of you who had hoped that HM Procureur's speech might be discontinued, going forward, I offer you an apology - I have prepared a speech for 2018 (but will try to keep it fairly short!)
As Sir you have outlined, the principal function of the court of Chief Pleas, is a reporting function, and it is the one occasion in the year where all Advocates should be faithful to their duties owed to the Royal Court and answer the Roll call.
In attending Chief Pleas, Advocates give up our cases, our time and our practice for much of a morning and I suggest in doing so that we take the time collectively, as a profession, to pause and consider the coming legal year and the demands and challenges that lie ahead. This year, I would like to consider some of the pressures local Advocates work under and to emphasise the importance of pro bono work in an ever changing and more uncertain society.
For centuries, jokes have endured about the legal profession, and none other than Winston Churchill once said that "Lawyers occasionally stumble on none other than the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.".
These days, there are unprecedented demands for legal services, leading to increased opportunities for jokes to be made. It is thus more important than ever that members of our Community understand these pressures and the valuable role that lawyers play in our local community.
In the last 25 years, the demand for and provision of legal services has expanded across the Bailiwick and internationally, not least with the recent impact of Brexit. For example, in the UK, the number of lawyers has increased significantly, year on year (35,770 practising solicitors in 1978, 142,286 in May 2018 - a fourfold increase), this trend albeit on a different scale, has continued in Guernsey, with an increase in the number of Guernsey Advocates from 11 in 1970, to 220 in 2018.
There is also a growing trend with regards to adapting law to fit with general political and jurisdictional trends (i.e. public, criminal, social welfare, tax and financial law reform), the same sex marriage and assisted dying debate being just 2 examples within the Bailiwick in the last 2 years.
All this has led to an increasing awareness that people have of the legal rights and obligations due to them coupled with the creation of additional rights and duties over recent years (e.g. via human rights legislation, data protection legislation etc.). These issues, when taken with other factors, have created an environment in which people and businesses are more likely and able to question matters and to challenge administrative and other decisions that affect them.
It has thus arguably never been more important for lawyers to be available, affordable and approachable in the community. The Bailiwick's justice system, in which advocates play such an integral part, is part of the glue which binds the local community together. It is therefore important to consider that wider role, it is part of our inherent obligations as Advocates to uphold the rule of law within society and to uphold our duties to the court.
It is timely here to mention that the cost of legal aid, particularly civil legal aid has gone up significantly in recent years. Increasingly, members of our local community struggle to afford the costs of legal advice meaning access to justice is impeded. This brings me to the subject of pro bono work.
This year is the 4th year in which the Law Officer's pro bono award is to be presented at Chief Pleas dinner, but, somewhat disappointingly, we received fewer nominations this year. I know many local firms do regularly undertake pro bono work, (with Mourants being the first to offer a pro bono clinic for example), but unless the legal profession is prepared to receive some public credit for this work, much of it remains under local radar. Pro bono work has a positive reputational and business impact on our local Community, as well as enhancing the skills of advocates by encouraging them to give advice in different areas of Bailiwick law. I thus urge all firms, whatever their size, to consider sending in nominations next year, so that we can better publicise this important work within our local community.
Moving on, it is only right, as we approach the end of this second decade of the 21st century to briefly consider the changes that globalisation and technology have wrought upon the legal profession.
Whilst the Guernsey Bar is a profession in which tradition is generally respected and change sometimes not welcome (unlike in IT and technology), it cannot stand still. Recent increases in computing power and new devices have driven legal technologies such as document automation, e-discovery tools and legal research tools, to name but a few, and without counting the act that most legal instructions are today sent by email, not post.
These recent technological advancements, have reshaped client demands. Clients expect lawyers to offer more streamlined and efficient legal services and for them to be accessible whenever and wherever they may be. As 2020 approaches, the creation of artificial intelligence and technology in the legal field will continue to evolve. This may lead to the possibility of new non lawyer services being created within this jurisdiction, which has traditionally so closely guarded the provision of local legal services to qualified Advocates.
Besides technological changes, the qualification route to the Guernsey Bar itself is changing, and is being reformed, as Sir you have mentioned. Increasingly, the Bar is adapting and being more flexible and it will continue to need to adapt, not least to face the additional challenges posed by technology but also by Brexit. Brexit presents a number of unknowns, both to law firms and their clients. For example, Financial-services firms, in particular, are a big source of local legal services, but Brexit may cause parts of that industry to relocate from London, which may have a knock on effect for Advocates here. The EU announced just last year that after Brexit it will move its main bank regulator from London to Paris and Dublin is now being mooted as a new hub both for financial services and lawyers. One can only speculate as to how these changes might affect Bailiwick lawyers and their clients, in future, but by continuing to adapt, reform and modernise, the Guernsey Bar increases its resilience.
In closing, and having outlined some of the recent challenges currently facing our local profession, it is perhaps worth mentioning the need to recognise that with any demanding profession, a balance of support, whether psychological or physical, should be available. In the last decade, a survey by UK Charity Lawcare found that over half the legal profession in the UK suffered from stress, with one fifth suffering from mental illness. There has never been a similar study within this Bailiwick, but this year, following internal feedback, the Law Officers launched its own mental health and wellbeing strategy for staff working in St James Chambers. Whilst I know this subject is something which different local firms give different weight to, I hope that by raising this issue here, the Guernsey Bar might consider adopting a formal strategy for all Guernsey Advocates. Withstanding the pressures of professional life in an increasingly complex and uncertain world, even in a beautiful place such as Guernsey is not a given and more support may be needed in future to help Advocates achieve a more sustainable work/life balance.
As a profession, the Guernsey Bar has a central part to play in facing the various demands I have outlined, but as individuals, we all have an interest in the outcome. On that note and with a wish to perhaps instantly improve everyone's well being in one quick step, I now end my speech and wish you all Bouanne Chànce for the year ahead.
Thank you'