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IfJ Conference and AGM
IfJ training: Seminar and Conferences
Event details
Dates
Details
Friday 26th September 2025
Location
Multiple Locations - See BelowEvent Fees
Rukiya Stein
PhD Candidate, University of New England School of Law Accredited Witness Intermediary Independent Communication Intermediary Certified Speech and Language Pathologist
In 2018, I was appointed as a communication intermediary for an autistic defendant in sexual assault and domestic violence trials, marking the first case of its kind in Australia where an intermediary was appointed for a vulnerable defendant. Subsequently, I was appointed by Legal Aid to facilitate communication for three vulnerable defendants in a murder trial, with appointments limited to evidence-giving phases. Most recently, in 2024, I was appointed to assist a defendant throughout his entire trial proceedings—another Australian first.
Judge Philip Statman
Called to the Bar in July 1975, Judge Philip Statman specialised in criminal defence law. His highlights include defending in the Ealing Vicarage rape case which led to the law being changed to allow an unduly lenient sentence to be reviewed by the crown. He was also on the defence counsel representing members of the Durham mechanics during the national miners strike.
Judge Statman was appointed as an assistant recorder in 1997 and then full recorder in 2000. He was finally appointed to the circuit bench in October 2002. He oversaw the headline case implementation of “Tony’s law” leading to a review and increase in the maximum sentence for offences involving cruelty to children.
He was a diversity judge from 2003 until his retirement in March 2025.
Lucy Barnes
Lucy Barnes is a Pupil Barrister at East Anglian Chambers and Co-Founder and CEO of Lawyers Who Care, the UK's first organisation for care-experienced aspiring lawyers. Lucy is proudly care-experienced herself and an advocate for social mobility. Lucy appeared on BBC 4 Women's Hour in December 2023 and has been featured in The Times and Counsel magazine and as one of the #100 faces of the Universities UK social mobility campaign. In March 2025, Lucy won Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champion of the Year at the Women and Diversity in Law Awards.
In 2023, Lucy passed the Scottish Law Society ‘Trauma-Informed Law’ accreditation course and is passionate about making legal practices in England and Wales trauma-informed. As part of this aim, Lucy co-designed and facilitated the UK's first 'Care Aware' and 'Trauma-Informed training' course for Lawyers Who Care as part of mandatory training for its mentorship scheme, and she wrote alongside Amanda Weston KC and Amanda Meusz for Family Law Week. In May 2025 Lucy also wrote on the important judgment of Re M (A Child: Intermediaries) [2025] EWCA Civ 440 for her chambers alongside barrister Charlotte Youdan.
Audrey Mogan
Audrey Cherryl Mogan is a criminal defence and human rights barrister with experience in serious complex cases, including firearms, terrorism, fraud and serious drug offences. Audrey is also sought after for her expertise in protest law, working with victims of trafficking, and the criminalisation of refugees and asylum seekers.
Her background in international armed conflict, European human rights law, deportation, and asylum makes her well-qualified to advise on these matters within a criminal context. She has successfully represented clients at all levels, including the High Court and Appellate Courts.
Dr Kimberly Collins
Dr Kimberly Collins is a chartered psychologist. She is a qualified Senior Lecturer in Forensic Psychology who specialises in developmentally appropriate and trauma informed questioning of children and young people in Forensic settings.
Dr Collins has worked as an intermediary for 12 years and is often asked as an expert witness evaluating the performance of police officers during forensic interviews with children. Finally, Dr Collins trains criminal justice practitioners on different aspects of communication and trauma.
Course requirements: IfJ Member (any type) - free of charge IfJ non member - £100
Attendance Information
- In person:
The Bridge, 73-81Southwark Bridge Road, London, SE1 0NG
Or
The Dunes Café, Crimdon Dene Beach Car Park, Hartlepool TS27 4BL
- Virtually by zoom
Timetable
- 9:00 Arrival and Registration
-
9.15-9.25 Opening Welcome to Conference and AGM: Catherine O’Neil
- 9.25-10.00 Case Presentation 1: Rukiya Stein ‘Innovation Within Limitations: Australia's First Defendant Intermediary Appointments in the New South Wales Criminal Justice System’
The witness intermediary scheme in New South Wales, Australia, commenced in April 2016 under the Child Sexual Offence Evidence Pilot (now a Program; CSOEP), providing legislative support for intermediary assistance exclusively for child and adolescent complainants and witnesses in prescribed sexual offences. This narrow legislative framework excludes adult witnesses and defendants with disabilities. Given the over-representation of defendants with speech, language and communication needs—many of whom have cognitive disabilities—in the Australian criminal justice system, this legislative exclusion represents a critical barrier to procedural fairness. In the absence of specific adult intermediary legislation, several groundbreaking appointments have occurred in NSW.
This presentation will examine these pioneering case studies, exploring the appointment processes, the legislative frameworks utilised in the absence of specific adult intermediary legislation, and my direct experience working with vulnerable defendants in this emerging area of Australian intermediary practice. These cases provide unique insights into the practical implementation of intermediary support for adults with disabilities and highlight both the possibilities and limitations of current approaches to ensuring equitable participation in criminal proceedings.
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10.00-10.35 Presentation 1: Judge Statman 'The deckchair man, the intermediary and the judge'
This presentation will include:
- The preparation of intermediary reports
- S28 and the preparation of questions to be asked in cross examination
- The vexed issue of the presence of an intermediary for the whole trial as opposed to assisting a defendant in the course of his/her evidence
- Pre trial visits by vulnerable children/witnesses to court and in particular meeting the judge
- Continuity of intermediary, counsel and judge
- Choice of special measure
- What impact back to back work trying grave crime has on the judge
- What to do when it all goes wrong
- 10.35-10.50 break -
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10.50-11.50 AGM and Election of Officers
- 11.50-12.40 lunch (networking zoom rooms option for those who wish) -
-
12.40-13.15 Presentation 2: Lucy Barnes (Lawyers Who Care) 'Communication barriers are barriers to justice: The importance of communication and intermediaries in the family courts'
This presentation will include:
- The importance of effective communication for vulnerable people, with emphasis on the care-experienced and neurodivergent communities (of which I am a part of both)
- The judgment of Re M;
- How, when 'necessary to achieve a fair hearing', intermediaries can support access to justice, especially in relation to trauma and neurodivergence.
- I will also speak on the important trauma-informed principles and training and ways to authentically connect with, and support, care-experienced people/people with experience of the care system.
- 13.15-13.50 Presentation 3: Audrey Mogan (Barrister)
- 13.50-14.05 break -
- 14.05-14.40 Case Presentation 2: Dr Kimberly Collins ‘Facilitating the communication of pre school children during forensic interviews’
In this presentation Dr Collins will reflect on her experiences as a Registered Intermediary, academic and expert witness on what she views as the biggest barriers to effective communication with pre school children during forensic interviews, and how to overcome these barriers. She will briefly explain her ‘building blocks of communication’ framework and how she applies this to practice with very young children. The explanation of the framework will be supported with reference to case examples.
- 14.40- 15.00 Group Discussions: Please bring your favourite visual resources to show in small group discussions or within break out rooms and inspire colleagues
- 15.00-15.10 break -
- 15.10-15.45 Presentation 4: TBC
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15.45 Close