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African Advocate Award |
The 18 Red Lion Court Award
In addition to offering pupillages to those wishing to practise at the criminal bar in England and Wales, for the last five years 18 Red Lion Court has made an annual award of a 3-month, all-expenses-paid opportunity for a young practitioner from an African country to benefit from an organised programme of forensic observation in the UK. This is designed to hone their legal skills, develop their confidence and broaden their outlook. The award was initiated by Linda Dobbs QC – now Mrs. Justice Dobbs – through her own links with South Africa. She has said:
“In our jurisdiction one tends to assume that those accused of murder and other very serious crimes will be afforded representation by experienced counsel. It was only when I did my first Privy Council appeal that I realised that often those accused of capital crimes were represented by very inexperienced counsel, not long out of training. A similar trend was apparent when I came to meet young advocates in South Africa, who regularly defend in rape cases very early on in their careers because such legal aid as there is does not attract the senior practitioners. It struck me that it would nice if chambers could do something to help.
We set out the criteria for application, and applicants were short-listed and then interviewed by me during my long vacation in South Africa. They were chosen because of their background, promise and commitment to helping other young lawyers on their return.”
Previously the award has been offered to South African advocates. In 2009 it is being offered to a Tanzanian lawyer from the office of the DPP. The Award is made on the basis of a written application and interview.
Our 2006 awardee, SA Advocate Sandile Khumalo, was provided with a 13-week programme that included time spent with a cross section of chambers’ membership and instruction on legal research from our librarian. A number of Crown Court and High Court Judges also generously contributed, allowing him to sit with them in court and taking time to discuss and explain their work. We also considered that it was important that he experience other sets of chambers and our thanks are therefore due to the members of Doughty Street and Matrix Chambers, with each of whom he spent a valuable week.
After he left, Sandile wrote about his experience. These are some extracts from his letter:
“Some time last year I stumbled across a notice in my chambers’ photocopy room inviting junior members of five years call or less to apply for a Red Lion Court Award. ... The first thing that caught my attention was that 18 Red Lion Court is a set of chambers that strictly specialises in criminal law. As you may or may not know there isn’t a single group in Johannesburg that specialises in criminal law ... secondly, none of the senior members of my group do any criminal work, so there really isn’t anyone to learn from if you wanted to improve your skills as a criminal lawyer. ... I was fortunate enough to be selected for the award following an interview conducted by Mrs. Justice Dobbs (a former member of chambers).
All the trials that I attended were with members with more than ten years experience at the Bar. So, as far as I was concerned, I was getting exactly what I had hoped for.
There is something I would like to mention which I think none of you actually even considered. To someone for whom English is a third or fourth language, attending court with native speakers and listening to how they use the language improves your understanding and use of the language too.
I do hope the 18 Red Lion Award continues for many years to come. It is a wonderful idea which can change lives.”
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