I, like many others, am disappointed with the Supreme Court’s (SC) ruling on #ShamimaBegum

This has nothing to do with her as an individual or her beliefs, which (of course) I do not agree with.

BUT imo the importance of a fair trial & human rights have been undermined. The SC found that the Court of Appeal (CA) was wrong to make its own assessments about national security. “There was no evidence before the Court as to whether the national security concerns about Ms Begum could be addressed and managed by her being arrested and charged upon her

Black people are OVER-CRIMINALISED throughout our criminal justice system.

Black history month may be over but our conversations should not be.

A THREAD. Black people are OVER-POLICED.

Black people are stopped and searched at a rate of 38 per 1000 people

...which compares to a rate of just 4 per 1000 people.

ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/crime-justice-…

New BSB research on income at the bar by gender and ethnicity.

Female barristers from minority ethnic backgrounds being the lowest earning group and white male barristers being the highest earning group.

barstandardsboard.org.uk/resources/new-… Chambers MUST monitor work allocation. In my opinion it should be a compulsory to do so.

Make sure the women, particularly the ethnic minority women, are getting a fair share of the unallocated junior briefs that are coming into chambers, or the reallocated ones.

I know a lot of journalists are trying to contact me and I really appreciate everyone trying to raise awareness. I think the replies and comments from my black colleagues and other black professionals highlights how much of a problem this is. I’m sorry I don’t have time to get back to everyone today. My thread details what happened. I felt humiliated and by the end I was almost in tears to be honest.

There is no doubt that more training is needed for court staff and legal professionals.

I thought I’d explain what happened today because I’m absolutely exhausted and tbh I think a light needs to be shone on this. Especially given so many people like me seem to experience the same thing. First, the security officer asked me what my name was so he could ‘find [my] name on the list’ (the list of defendants). I explained I was a barrister. He apologised and guided me through security.

At this point I tried to shrug it off as an innocent mistake.

Still looking for black owned bookshops in the U.K.! Lots of people have asked me for recommendations and I don’t know very many. Would really appreciate Twitter’s help x

https://twitter.com/EssexBarrister/status/1290181153232625668

Thank you @chloe_lee93 💕

My Uncle Pat & Aunty Sue were victims of severe police brutality in this country.

Sir David Tudor Price, the Old Bailey judge presiding over the case ruled that the police had been ‘disgraceful’ and behaved ‘oppressively and in abuse of their powers.’ My Uncle was a Rastafarian who was confined to a wheelchair... he was dragged from his car, dropped to the floor in a police van and verbally and physically assaulted. My aunt was verbally, physically and sexually assaulted.

I’m very keen to get a Black a Women in Law network started. @BMLnetwork has been an excellent support network for many of my black male lawyer friends 🖤

I’ll start a WhatsApp group for those who are interested. DM me!

Open to ALL Black women in law 💜 Ps: if there already is one that I’m just not part of, please let me know and invite me 🤣

Until 2015, UK taxpayers money was still being used to pay off the sums pledged to slave owners to free slaves in the U.K.

Slave OWNERS were compensated but the black people enslaved were not.

2015! My taxes, your taxes... 🤯

#BlackLivesMatterUK theguardian.com/commentisfree/… @DavidOlusoga is a brilliant historian and author. I recommend reading his book ‘Black and British’

Little story of my mother helping me with my online shopping today...

A story about ‘bum’ vases (with pics)

I saw this cool vase on @MelsWardrobe Instagram page and was determined to find it... (1/4) I located it (with some help) and found out that Anissa Kermiche designs them... but they were out of stock so I had to keep on looking. (2/4)

*BAME Barristers Zoom Session*.

Speakers will be sharing their experiences in a safe space & provide encouragement and inspiration for aspiring barristers from BAME backgrounds.

This session is what many of us wish we’d had. I can’t thank the speakers enough! ❤️

👩🏽‍⚖️👨🏾‍⚖️🧑🏿‍⚖️👩🏻‍⚖️ @Andrew_Powell1 @4PBFamilyLaw @AmandaAdeola @BHPLaw @33BedfordRow @Metienne12 @No5Chambers @NShotunde @gardencourtlaw @CamilaZBesso @MalvikaJaganmo1 @stiveschambers @5SAHLaw

The impact of Covid19 on the ‘newly’ self-employed. A thread.

The government are basing all support for the self-employed on previous tax-returns, which means that most ‘newly’ self-employed people (April 2019 onwards) receive no financial support from the government. #COVID19 Even if you did file a tax return for 18-19 (if you started pre-April 19) HMRC take that sum as your *yearly* earnings. If you started midway through the tax year, your tax return will be smaller than your annual earnings. You’ll get 80% of that as an *annual* sum, split monthly.

Here are notes of the pupillage application session (6 pages). I’m sharing them on here because we all want to help as many people as possible ❤️

Remember that these are the speakers’ subjective views (not gospel) if other barristers want to add anything, please feel free 🤗 Pages 1-3

I just want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to the barristers who have been so generous in giving up their time for these sessions to help aspiring barristers. I’m so grateful (and so are the students!) because these Zoom sessions wouldn’t work without you all ❤️

Special thanks below🌟 Crime/ Family session:

Jamil Mohammed @33BedfordRow
Rabah Kherbane @RabahKherbane @2BedfordRow
Hannah Edwards @HannahREdwards1 @DrystoneChamber
Callum Church @StIvesCriminal
Sophie Kay @SophieAliceKay @5PumpCourt

I am SO EXCITED to share that I’ve written a book that will be published in September 2020! 👩🏽‍⚖️ 📚

I’m so grateful to everyone around me for their love and support❤️

https://twitter.com/Octopus_Books/status/1248173843426021378

Link to pre-order here:

In Black and White: A Young Barrister's Story of Race and Class in a Broken Justice System amazon.co.uk/dp/1913068285/…

❤️❤️❤️

Following in the footsteps of the amazing barristers offering their time... I'm happy to set up some zoom sessions to speak to any aspiring barristers or pupil barristers about to get onto their feet. Like if you would be interested and I'll do a doodle poll depending on demand x Sign up here: doodle.com/poll/sgyd74fgk…

I will be trying to offer more slots on a regular basis!

If it's full, please feel free to sign up to the group session here: doodle.com/poll/usgrkwb2r… - me and some other junior barristers will be live and ready to answer your questions!

What is the only country that has a non-rectangular national flag?

@5SAHLaw quiz master caused controversy with the answer
🇳🇵🇨🇭

And there’s some confusion over cats & dogs!

Looking forward to our quizzes in the coming weeks, keep your eyes peeled 👀🍷

(Sorry the previous clip wasn’t the full clip)

Keeping positive, many of us have more time to read now 📚

For anyone who is interested, here’s a reading list of DIVERSE and BRILLIANT books ❤️

I’ve compiled some of my favourites (and some that I’ve just bought and I am excited to read)

Please feel free to add to it! 🥰 @tayari

I’m reading this at the moment and LOVING IT 🥰

“The risk of force being used might also be greater in encounters with people who are male, younger, NON-WHITE... ”

@CollegeofPolice why is your guidance for ‘conflict management’ suggesting using force more frequently against non-white young men? @sfairbairn90 raises the very important point that officers are being trained to go into a situation with a young non-white male expecting there to be conflict. Even if it is subconscious, they will approach the situation differently.

The judgment from the full appeal Re H v F has been handed down.

This case has already attracted a lot of media attention (see linked tweets below)

I’ll be writing about this case for @seethrujustice & will provide a link to the judgment once it is publicly available online. independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…

Today I found out that barristers’ wigs came about because of SYPHILIS

“Wigs began to catch on in the late 16th century when an increasing number of people in Europe were contracting the STD. Without widespread treatment with antibiotics... ...people with syphilis were plagued by rashes, blindness, dementia, open sores and hair loss. The hair loss was particularly problematic in social circles. Long hair was all the rage, and premature balding was a dead giveaway that someone had contracted syphilis.”