Congratulations!
Judicial promotions and an unsung hero
These days, it’s not difficult to write about things that have gone wrong. So, just occasionally, I like to bring you good news. First, the latest judicial promotions. And, secondly, recognition for helping others.
New appeal judges
Seven new appointments to the Court of Appeal were announced on Friday. In alphabetical order, they are:
Mr Justice Butcher,
Mr Justice Chamberlain,
Mr Justice Fancourt,
Mrs Justice Farbey,
Mrs Justice Lieven,
Mr Justice Meade and
Mr Justice Saini.
All will be well placed for further promotion in their respective specialisms. But Martin Chamberlain is the judge I have tipped for the very top since his appointment six years ago:
He also takes a refreshingly relaxed approach to judicial portraiture:
A well-deserved honour
Dr Camilla Darling was appointed OBE in the King’s birthday honours. Currently director of research development in arts and sciences at King’s College London, she was honoured for her work at the Kalisher Trust. Founded to support those who aspire to become criminal barristers, the trust helps, encourages and inspires young people to achieve their potential through the development of positive advocacy skills.
Her five-year stint as vice-chair of the trustees was the culmination of nearly 20 years of volunteering. When I was involved with the trust some years ago, it was run by criminal lawyers and Old Bailey judges who remembered working with Michael Kalisher QC until his death in 1996 at the early age of 55. These days, the trust also draws its leadership from those involved in the world of education.
Sir Ralph Waller KBE, director of the Farmington Headteachers Institute at Jesus College, Cambridge, chaired the Kalisher Trust from 2019 to 2023. Of his vice-chair at the time, he says:
She was totally committed to the aims of the trust, which are to encourage young people from diverse backgrounds to think of applying for the criminal bar. She realised that too often many young people do not think they have the ability and the talents to apply.
She took Kalisher to disadvantaged schools all over the country and helped transform many young lives. One young woman had underestimated her ability and was aiming at a career below her talent. With the right encouragement and mentoring, she is now a solicitor and a partner in her firm.
Camilla built a six-week advocacy course for pupils and bar finalists, engaging professionals in voice and stagecraft — as well as barristers and judges — to teach delivery, reaction and composure under pressure. The final all-day clinic at the Old Bailey is run by young trustees, with a senior judge giving feedback on pupils’ cross-examination and pleas in mitigation. Every graduate is a stronger ambassador for the profession.
In primary schools, videos produced by the Kalisher Trust demonstrate fairness, morality and justice in a way that seven year-olds can understand. Familiar stories have been adapted with the help of psychologists. Children watch them and then discuss the issues they raise with their teachers.
Very early on, Camilla recognised knife crime as a nationwide problem. She set up a research collaboration with the University of Derby and helped to create a short video documentary to widen understanding of the consequences of knife crime — human and legal — for the trust’s audience of secondary school students
In 2020, Camilla instituted an annual clothing fair. She persuaded a lady justice of appeal who was about to retire to donate her formal wardrobe. Other professionals were encouraged to follow suit. The clothes go without charge to young people starting at the criminal bar. This has been a huge success.
Camilla had been involved with the Kalisher staged readings since she was an undergraduate. Well-known actors read plays at Middle Temple to raise funds and promote the work of the trust. She commissioned new pieces on major issues to give young writers an opportunity to establish their reputations by writing works for professionals.
National recognition of Darling’s work, Waller added, would make all her friends and colleagues very happy. “She thoroughly deserves this honour for the hard work and dedication she gave to the Kalisher Trust and through it to the criminal bar, to young people and to wider society.”
Thank you, Joshua, for telling us all about good special people in the heart of our legal world who are making a difference to people’s lives. We are living in the most difficult times and the legal backlogs must be conquered because it is our English Common Law which is the bedrock of our Society around which we should all co-hese!
And Richard Moorhead?