Is anyone watching SILK on BBC? I'm confused.

Cafe Society
1

I just watched the first two episodes and I’m not really sure what is going on. At first I thought the two main characters were the British equivalent of an Assistant District Attorney and a Public Defender. Their work environment seems like a bit of a job mill, with criminal cases coming in and being parcelled out but there was a reference to showing a loss on fees and there seemed to be a competition amongst other companies [Chambers?] for cases. And the prosecutors and defence attorneys work out of the same office on the same cases.

So are they government employees or is prosecution and public defence farmed out to the private sector?

Also in the second episode the prosecutor didn’t or couldn’t speak directly to the rape complainant…communication passed from him to a female police officer to the victim.

Can anyone explain how the court system is run here? Assuming of course the BBC is portraying the system as it actually works.

2

I’m not qualified to answer, but I can recommend a course in “Rumpole of the Bailey” to clear up many of these confusions.
Roddy

3

Hi! I may be able to help you out. My mother worked for one years ago you see and she explained it all to me!

The way I see it, you kinda have to look at it as an employment agency working backwards.

a group of barristers gather together to form the chambers. They then take it upon themselves to employ a clerk whose duty is to respond to case queries approached by a solicitor and to choose an appropriate barrister. The barrister in question will then look at the case and say ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ The barrister is paid via the solicitor and the clerk takes his share before giving the rest to the barrister. Hope this helps! :slight_smile: