Justice Week 2022

I attended a reception to mark Justice Week 2022 on Monday 20 June, hosted by The Bar Council, the Law Society of England and Wales and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX). Justice Week serves as an opportunity to highlight issues confronting the sector and recognise the contribution made by legal services to national life. 

I am pictured with the Chair of the Justice Committee, the Secretary of State for Justice, the Chair of the Bar Council, the President of the Law Society and the Shadow Justice Minister. 

The Bar Council, Law Society and CILEX work to ensure access to justice for all. Being able to access a justice sustem with fair, efficient and timely hearings is paramount in a legal culture where everyone’s rights are respected and enforced. 

Legal services contribute £60 billion a year to the UK economy, supporting the employment of 552,000 people. Legal services consistently generate trade surplus, helping to offset the UK’s overall trade deficit. In 2020, net exports of UK legal services stood at almost £5.6 billion, increase of 3.2% on 2019. 

A 2021 Oxera report found that English law is a key part of what makes England and Wales an attractive place to do business for internationally mobile activity and underpins a vast amount of economic activity both in the UK and globally. For example, in 2019 English law governed around £250 billion of global mergers and acquisitions and 40% of corporate arbitrations. 

Justice Week is an opportunity for the legal community to recognise and celebrate the significant increase in the diversity of the legal professions. All involved in the law are encouraged to play a role, raising awareness, collecting data, offering new routes into the profession or running mentoring schemes.