The second seminar will guide attendees through how to best represent their clients at oral hearings. This session will be split into two parts. In the first part attendees will hear from experienced panel members from the Parole Board regarding what they view as effective advocacy. This session will be followed by a Q&A. In the second part trainers will discuss with attendees their top tips on advocacy before the Parole Board.

Trainers will include speakers from SL5 and No5 Barristers’ Chambers plus two special guests from the Parole Board:

  • HHJ Peter Rook KC the Judicial Vice Chair of the Parole Board. Peter was called to the Bar in 1973 and appointed a Queens Counsel in 1991. In June 2005 he was appointed a Senior Circuit Judge to sit at the Old Bailey retiring at the end of March 2017. He also sat as a judge in the Court of Appeal. He sat as a coroner between 2017 and 2019. He was Chair of the Criminal Bar Association from 2002 until 2003. He was head of chambers at 18 Red Lion Chambers from 2002 until 2005. He is the co-author of a leading textbook now in its fifth edition “Sexual Offences: Law and Practice”.
  • Fiona Ainsworth a Chartered Forensic Psychologist and member of the Parole Board. Her career began in the Prison Service where she specialised in working with men who had been convicted of sexual offences and intimate partner violence. She is experienced in the risk assessment and treatment of high-risk individuals, progressing on to become the National Clinical Lead for the Core Sex Offender Treatment Programme and the Healthy Relationship Programme in England and Wales. Fiona joined the Parole Board in 2017, working on the generic parole process as well as being a specialist member working on TACT cases. In addition to working for the Parole Board she works part-time in the community working therapeutically with adults and children who have been affected by trauma.”

Topics that will be covered include:

  • How to persuasively argue your client’s case.
  • Top 10 Parole Advocacy Do’s and Don’ts.
  • How to deal with intervention by the panel.
  • Dealing with professional ethical issues that may arise.
  • A practical scenario for consideration.