Briefs: Spy chief smoothie, Grigory Pasko, beefed up anti-racism laws

The spy chief Stephen Lander gave a silky-smooth performance in his first ever on-the-record press conference when he was appointed as the new independent complaints commissioner for the Law Society this month. But asked what he thought of lawyers, the director general of MI5 appeared for a moment to be unsure of how to respond. One glance at the woman sitting next him, Janet Paraskeva, chief executive of the Law Society and the official responsible for giving him his new job, and Lander was back on track. All the solicitors he had worked with had been of excellent quality and beyond reproach. "You won't get me on that one," said the spy catcher-turned-complaints watchdog.

¿ Journalists who face the possibility of imprisonment for refusing to hand over documents to the Belgian brewery giant, Interbrew, should spare a thought for Grigory Pasko. Pasko is a respected Russian reporter who was sentenced to four years in prison by a military court in Vladivostok for taking notes during a meeting of Russian naval commanders. The court ruled that he intended to pass the notes to the Japanese media. But Pasko and his supporters believes the case is revenge for his reports on the illegal dumping of radioactive waste into the Sea of Japan.

¿ The Crown Prosecution Service appears to be turning the tide on racist crime. Latest figures show racist-incident prosecutions were up by nearly a third last year, and conviction rates had risen to 83 per cent. Commenting on the figures, the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith QC said: "This rise in prosecutions shows that police and prosecutors are getting to grips with recent legislation, which offers additional protection against racist incidents. It sends out the message loud and clear that offenders will not get away with racially aggravated offences."