The Bar Council has submitted written evidence to the inquiry on reducing backlog in Criminal Courts led by the Public Accounts Committee. The written evidence highlights how reduction in funding has caused structural problems in courts, resulting in an unprecedented level of backlog of cases awaiting trial. Areas for improvement identified by the Bar Council include early legal advice, early guilty pleas, prison transportation and interpretation services, use of remote hearings, judicial recruitment, community resolution, scheduling and listing, recruitment and support for legal aid professionals and lastly, targeting assistance to specific areas and court centres.

The Bar Council has welcomed the Ministry of Justice's announcement of increased Crown Court sitting days, totalling 111,250 days for 2026, while calling for uncapped sitting days and long-term investment to address the criminal court backlog. The Chair of the Bar Council, Barbara Mills KC, described the increase as 'a positive step' but warned that limiting sitting days means the backlog is only being slowly reduced, with some trial dates set as far ahead as 2029. She called for the removal of limits on court sitting days to achieve a more immediate impact on delays. Mills KC also responded to Sir Brian Leveson's review recommendations, which propose removing jury trials for certain offences and establishing a Crown Court Bench Division. She argued that, rather than creating new courts, the focus should be on investing in uncapped sitting days, increasing resources for legal professionals, strengthening rehabilitation programmes and out-of-court disposals to reduce the number of cases entering the court system.

Law360, London: The Bar Council called on 8 August 2025 for an investigation into reports that IT bugs in case management software caused information and evidence used in court cases to be hidden, overwritten or disappear, potentially affecting the outcome of litigation.

Law360, London: A formal independent review called on 8 September 2025 for the appointment of a new conduct commissioner and an overhaul of the complaints system to tackle bullying, harassment and sexual harassment at the bar amid rising levels of inappropriate behavior in the profession.

1. What is the applicable legislation? There is no specific legislation on foreign direct investment (FDI) which is in place in Barbados. Barbados offers various investment opportunities, including investment in international banking, international insurance and private trusts. All business entities, including external companies, must first register with Business Barbados, formerly known as the Corporate Affairs and Intellectual Property Office in Barbados. Unincorporated business entities such as sole proprietorships and partnerships are required to register under the Registration of Business Names Act 1940, Cap. 317 of the laws of Barbados and the Limited Partnerships Act 1913, Cap. 312 of the laws of Barbados, respectively. Entities may be incorporated (or registered in the case of external companies) under the Companies Act 1985, Cap. 308 of the laws of Barbados. Investors must consider the provisions of the Exchange Control Act 1967, Cap. 71 of the laws of Barbados that can impact investment activity. For example: • incoming investment funds must be registered with the Exchange Control

This table summarises all completed investigations by Barbados’ competition authority (the Fair Trade Commission—the FTC) into alleged cartels, anti-competitive agreements and abuses of dominant positions since 2010. Note—only investigations that have been made public are included in this table. 2025 Investigations under section 13 of the Fair Competition Act CAP 326C The FTC did not issue any decisions under s13 in 2025 Investigations under section 16 of the Fair Competition Act CAP 326C The FTC did not issue any decisions under s16 in 2025 2024 Investigations under section 13 of the Fair Competition Act CAP 326C The FTC did not issue any decisions under s13 in 2024 Investigations under section 16 of the Fair Competition Act CAP 326C The FTC did not issue any decisions under s16 in 2024 2023 Investigations under section 13 of the Fair Competition Act CAP 326C The FTC did not issue any decisions under s13 in 2023 Investigations under section 16 of the Fair Competition Act CAP 326C The FTC did not issue any decisions

NOTE—to see whether notification thresholds in Barbados and throughout the world are met, see further: Where to Notify. 1. Have there been any recent developments regarding the Barbadian merger control regime and are any updates/developments expected in the coming year? Are there any other ‘hot’ merger control issues in Barbados? There continues to be a growing trend of acquisitions in the commercial sector and consequently an increase in the number of merger applications which are being filed with the Barbados Fair Trading Commission (Commission). There have been no recent legislative developments which have modified the merger control regime. The Commission is, however, attentive to the trend in acquisitions and monitors such transactions in their respective markets. Although the Commission has permitted mergers in various markets, it has not done so in all circumstances such as in the recently publicised matter involving the denial of an acquisition of an ice-cream manufacturer BICO Ltd. by a Trinidad & Tobago based company HADCO Ltd, through its Barbados subsidiary, on the basis that the merger would substantially

A bond investment strategy that concentrates holdings in both very short-term and extremely long-term maturities. The idea is that one part of the portfolio minimizes risk and the other achieves high yields so that on average, the investor can have the best of both worlds. There are dangers in averages.

An investment strategy applicable primarily to a fixed income portfolio. To maximize liquidity, a portfolio concentrates the bulk of assets in bonds or other securities with very long or very short-term maturities. Frequent adjustments are necessary to minimise the impact of short-term issues and to maintain the desired asset mix. The long-term debt typically gives the highest return.

The name of a famous European Court of Justice judgment on 17 May 1990 which required the application of equal pay law to pension schemes – requiring benefits to be levelled up.

The Barcelona Arbitration Court (Tribunal Arbitral de Barcelona) has implemented new regulations for applications submitted on or after 1 January 2025. The new regulations aim to modernise and improve institutional arbitration, with key changes including: the establishment of an independent Recusals Commission, streamlined procedural processes, recognition of third-party financing, and the incorporation of advanced technologies and artificial intelligence tools.

Corporate Crime analysis: In February 2020, the Serious Fraud Office’s (SFO’s) long running Barclays Qatar fraud prosecution was brought to a close with the acquittal of three of Barclays' former senior personnel, who had been charged with fraud relating to how the bank had raised money during the 2008 banking crisis. The investigation and prosecution cost millions and resulted in no convictions. In a three-part series, barrister Shiv Haria-Shah and solicitors Rubi Palmieri and Ed Pearson, all of Fulcrum Chambers, look at four earlier judgments which had previously led to the acquittal of the bank and its chief executive officer. In the first part, they consider the factual background to those judgments.