Barrister and Judge Records of Request/Application

[BubblePerm]

Hi all, I am going to be annoyingly vague so as not to jeopardise the prosecution case, but if a bereaved family had repeatedly asked that court not sit on a sensitive date via their barrister and the barrister says that they had requested this of the judge, would there be a record of them asking?

Would a formal application from barrister to judge be standard and can family access this?

I'm basically asking if we can access proof? This comes on the back of court not sitting on an adjacent day to this sensitive date as the judge had blocked the date to attend a memorial service for a friend.

The family has been treated with such disregard and I don't know if we can trust the barrister or if the judge is just an absolute monster.

I have tried so hard for this family in my work capacity and am seriously reconsidering my career choices once this case has reached its conclusion. I want all available information around what the barrister and the judge did before I quit this sociopathic shit show because I have no idea what I will do after this to earn a living.

I know I am emotional in this post, I have to act professionally and compassionately so as not to exacerbate the pain of the family going through this, so I am letting it out here.

I'd be grateful for any response, whether it's a constructive dressing down, some cold hard facts or anything really.

Struggling to understand this.

You mention a Prosecution so presumably a criminal matter; the King (Rex) v the alleged perpetrator of a crime (murder?).

Obviously the prosecution and defendant are represented by Barristers.

How is it that the bereaved are represented? Sure they have an interest but other than as witnesses they play no part in the actual process.

Yes, this is correct. I am fast at the disregard and double standards shown towards the family. They might have no say, but judge going to memorial service meaning court is not sitting on one day and the next is the victim's birthday with the pathologists scheduled to give evidence on that day.
They want to know if the barrister had the decency to ask/make an application for the court to not sit on their child's birthday.

And thank you for replying.

I guess they would need to ask the Prosecution to make an application to adjourn. Would the defence agree?

Judge's decision whether to allow it. They will have to weigh up the interests of the family with a duty to allow justice to proceed in the interests of all, including the defendant.

Not sure how the Judge not sitting plays either way. It's possible the trial was timed to take account of that, i.e. the date was known when the start and expected end days of the trial were set. As a professional you might want to be wary of going too far down the dual standards/hypocrisy rabbit hole.

If the day lost at the family's request means the court runs out of time and final submissions have to be postponed to a (much?) later date then are the interests of justice served?

The family have been asking since the trail date was set. The superintendent has asked....
Yes, these are my feelings away from the family and I would never do anything to jeopardise the outcome. All involved are doing everything and toeing every line so that there will be no conceivable reason for the defence to challenge the process or verdict.
I will be seriously reconsidering my career choice after this, though, unfortunately.

The courts are on their knees with backlogs and closures left right and centre. I’m sorry but no they will likely not decide to adjourn for a day even if it is a sensitive date (presuming anniversary of victims death or similar). The family does not have any role to play in a criminal trial and certainly can’t determine when the court hears the matter. They can of course say they are unable to give evidence on a particular date.

They might have no say, but judge going to memorial service meaning court is not sitting on one day

I presume the judge is going to a memorial service that has nothing to do with the case (would be very weird if it was) and is therefore having a day off work for a funeral. That’s totally normal. Asking the judge not to sit because the day means something particular to the family is not. I’m guessing the birthdays of most of Lucy Letbys victims would have taken place during her nearly year long trial but it would have been total chaos if the parents had wanted the court not to sit on those days.

I will be seriously reconsidering my career choice after this, though, unfortunately.

I don't know what your career is, but that would be a shame. However, if your career involves contact with this sort of case you need to get some perspective.

As others have pointed out, the judge going to a memorial service is irrelevant. Judges are entitled to days off, just like the rest of us. How the judge uses their day off is up to them.

Expecting the judge to avoid sitting on a particular day because it coincides with the birthday of a deceased child would add to the backlog in the criminal courts. Unless the barristers are able to take on other cases for the day, they would lose a day's pay. It may cause problems for the jurors. It would have be at least a day longer for the defendant before they find out the verdict, and it would probably delay other trials. I would therefore have been very surprised if the judge had granted this.

No, the judge is not a monster for refusing this, assuming that is what happened. The courts do their best for victims and families of victims, but their focus is, quite rightly, on determining whether the prosecution has proved its case. Unless they are witnesses, the family of the victim does not play any role in that. Their part comes in sentencing, where they can provide a victim personal statement.

However, to answer your question, unless the application was heard in open court there is no way of checking whether the application was made.

Thank you all. We are out the other side with very positive results.
The judge is not a monster and has done very well by the victims and their families.
I am taking some time out now from this to get my head together and then on I will plough.
I will be having a break from family liaison duties for a while.