News

The High Court has handed down a judgment dealing with the future public hearings in 200 unlawful killings if Iraqi civilian cases and up to 800 cases of torture ad cruel inhuman degrading treatment of Iraqi civilians. A public process will now take place that will lead to hundreds of public hearings that will be to all intents inquests in each individual case and a public examination of all systemic issues arising from these cases. Danny Friedman QC and Dan Squires of Matrix were involved in this case along with Michael Fordham QC and James Maurici QC. They were instructed by Phil Shiner of Public Interest Lawyers. For further information please see press release below. For the judgment please click here.

On Friday the Commercial Court dismissed applications brought by MasterCard Inc and other MasterCard entities for a stay of damages claims brought against them by a number of major retailers in relation to the interchange fee arrangements which apply each time a credit or debit card is used to pay for goods or services.  MasterCard had argued that the claims should be stayed immediately, prior to service of defences, pending the outcome of their appeal to the Court of Justice of the EU against the judgment of the General Court dismissing their appeal against a relevant infringement decision of the European Commission.  The claims will now proceed to close of pleadings and a CMC to consider the further progress of the claims.  Christopher Brown was involved in this case for the claimants.  For the judgment please see below.

Claire Darwin represented Arriva North East Limited. For coverage from the BBC please click here. For the judgment please see below.

The Court of Appeal declined to reverse a High Court ruling that Dresdner Kleinwort and Commerzbank should pay certain discretionary bonuses to more than 100 bankers because of contractual entitlement. The Court stated that the onus had been on the defendants to show that there was no intention to create legal relations when announcing the bonus pool scheme. Thomas Linden QC was involved in this case. For coverage from the Independent please click here.

In CF v SSHD [2013] EWHC 843, the first variation appeal brought under the Terrorism Prevention Investigations Measures Act 2012, the Administrative Court has acknowledge the need for the subject of the order to have ordinary social relations with the students on his university course without prior authorisation from the Home Office. Danny Friedman QC was involved in this case. For more information please see the BBC and The Guardian. For the judgment please click here.

Andrew Bodnar has been appointed as a registered practitioner for the Dubai International Financial Centre Courts.  Andrew is registered in Part II of the DIFC Courts Register of Legal Practitioners giving him rights of audience before the Court. For more information about the DIFC Courts please click here.

The original challenge in Edwards & Anor v Environment Agency & Ors was in relation to the approval of a cement works and waste incineration facility. The claimants argued that the project had not been subjected to an environmental impact assessment. The claim was unsuccessful and the UK Supreme Court referred questions to the CJEU on how a national court should approach the award of costs against a member of the public who is an unsuccessful claimant in an environmental matter. It was held that the prohibitive nature of costs must be assessed as a whole, taking into account all the costs borne by the party concerned. The CJEU rejected an approach solely based on the subjective position of the unsuccessful claimant and explained that the costs must neither exceed the financial resources of the person concerned nor appear, in any event, to be objectively unreasonable. David Wolfe QC was involved in this matter. Please see judgment below.

The new edition of ‘Monaghan on Equality Law’  by Karon Monaghan QC was published on 21 March. The book combines a comprehensive survey of UK equality law with an analytical critique of the legal framework and the concepts that underpin it.  For more information please click here.

Lord Daniel Brennan QC has successfully represented families of the 29 victims of the Omagh bombing in suing two men who have been found liable for the terrorist attack in 1998, the deadliest attack in four decades of Northern Ireland bombings.
 
The judge found that both defendants, Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly were involved in assisting with the preparation, planting and detonation of the bomb. This decision means that the families of the victims of the Omagh bombing have established that victims of terrorist attacks can sue the terrorists who were personally responsible in civil action and be vindicated. This landmark case is the first time terrorists have been successfully sued in a civil action.

Last week the High Court dismissed nine grounds of challenge to the Transport Secretary’s decision to proceed with the High Speed Two (HS2) rail scheme but has upheld a separate challenge to the Government’s proposed compensation scheme on the grounds that its consultation process was so unfair as to be unlawful. David Wolfe QC appeared for HS2 Action Alliance in the successful challenge.  For more information please click here. For the judgment please click here.

Sarah Hannett has been appointed to the advisory board of the UCL Centre for Access to Justice. The Centre, located within the UCL Faculty of Laws, launched on 14 March 2013. It will provide clinical legal education to law students and pro bono advice to vulnerable communities, predominantly in the area of social welfare, employment and education law. For more information please click here.

The UKSC Blog has launched its annual essay competition this year in conjunction with the Supreme Court and The Guardian. The competition is open to anyone studying an undergraduate or post-graduate degree at a UK university, and short-listed entries will be judged by recently retired Supreme Court Justice Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood. For details of topics, prizes and how to enter please click here. The deadlines for entry is 5pm on Friday 26 April 2013.

An employment tribunal hearing the first claim for unfair dismissal on the grounds of caste discrimination has collapsed. Vijay Begraj, a former practice manager at Heer Manak Solicitors, and his wife, a former solicitor at the same firm, had claimed they were discriminated against because he is from a lower Sikh caste than she is. On February 5, after sitting for 36 days since August 2011 to consider 110 separate allegations, the tribunal was abandoned after the judge recused herself in the wake of a private visit from two West Midlands police officers. After the judge had told both parties of the police visit, Heer Manak’s lawyers made a successful application for the tribunal to recuse itself on the ground of apparent bias. James Laddie QC acted for Heer Manak Solicitors. For more information please click here.

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has refused to accept the Government’s appeal against the Court’s decision of 18 December 2012. Following the judgment of the Fourth Section of the Court on 18 September 2012, which held that the detention of the applicants pursuant to IPP sentences when no or no proper provision for offending behaviour courses had been made, breached their rights under Article 5(1) of the Convention, the Justice Secretary Chris Grayling told Parliament he would seek to appeal. That appeal has now been rejected. Tim Owen QC and Nick Armstrong acted for Wells and Lee, instructed by Mike Pemberton of Stephensons and Rachael Walsh of Russell & Russell. For further information please click here. For the judgment please click here.

Matrix Chambers is delighted to welcome back Laura McNair-Wilson to full time practice following a period of maternity leave. Laura practices in the fields of Employment, Discrimination and Equality, Media, Commercial and Tax Law. To find out about Laura’s availability please contact her practice team.

As of 31 January 2013 the standard default terms on which barristers have offered their services for many years have been withdrawn by the Bar Standards Board. These have been replaced by The (new) Standard Contractual Terms for the Supply of Legal Services by Barristers to Authorised Persons 2012. These terms replace the Terms of Work on which Barristers offer their Services to Solicitors and the Withdrawal of Credit Scheme 1988.
 
The new Standard Contractual Terms will be adopted by all Matrix barristers in respect of all new instructions where services are supplied to or at the request of any authorised persons, (solicitors or other persons authorised and regulated by the Law Society or the SRA).
 
Details of the new terms can be found here.

The Court of Appeal led by the Master of the Rolls Lord Dyson has today handed down judgment in three linked cases concerned with the circumstances in which applicants for jobs will have their past criminal history disclosed.

The Divisional Court heard five lead cases concerning the effect of the decision in R (Adams) v. Secretary of State for Justice [2011] UKSC 18, in which the Supreme Court determined whether and in what circumstances a person whose conviction has been set aside should be awarded compensation. The Divisional Court upheld the Secretary of State’s determination in four of the five cases, including the case of Barry George. Sarah Hannett appeared as junior counsel for the Secretary of State. For further information please click here.

KA v Essex County Council [2013] EWHC 43 (Admin), handed down today, establishes an important protection for those who have been refused leave to remain in the UK, but who cannot presently appeal that refusal because removal directions have not yet been set. The High Court held that such persons – who essentially have a claim for leave to remain that cannot yet be put to the immigration tribunal because no decision to remove them has been taken – cannot simply be refused support by local authorities on the basis that there is no outstanding claim and that they can therefore be expected to simply leave the UK. Authorities have to have regard to the claim that will be put. To do otherwise would be to breach Convention rights, in this case, by stripping away the procedural protections of Article 8 of the ECHR. The case represents an extension of the principle confirmed in R (Clue) v Birmingham City Council [2011] 1 WLR 99, namely that arguable claims must be allowed to be put, and applies it to those who have no formal claim or appeal, but will do when the Home Office makes a decision.
  
Nick Armstrong instructed by Adam Hundt of Deighton Pierce Glynn acted for the claimant. For the judgment please see below.

Sara Mansoori has been added to the team of counsel led by Matthew Ryder QC to represent Chris Huhne’s partner Carina Trimingham. Tringingham is appealing a judgment from May 2012 that dismissed her claim against the Daily Mail publisher Associated Newspapers for media harassment. Associated Newspapers was successfully represented in the High Court Hearing last year by Antony White QC. For more information please click here.

Today the Lord Chief Justice sitting with Mr Justice Burnett and the Chief Coroner quashed the original inquest verdicts on the 96 Liverpool fans who died in the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster. This follows the publication of a report on 12 September by the Hillsborough Independent Panel. Exceptionally the Attorney General made the application personally, recognising the intense public interest in ensuring that the inquests were quashed.  Jonathan Glasson advised the Attorney General throughout and was led by him at the application today. For more information please click here.

Richard Hermer QC has successfully represented Sami al-Saadi and his family who say that MI6 was involved in their illegal rendition. Mr Al Saadi and his family said that they were forcibly transferred to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s Libya in 2004 and Mr Al Saadi was subsequently held and tortured.  The UK government has agreed to pay £2.2m to Mr Al-Saadi and his family. The instructing solicitor was Sapna Malik of Leigh Day. For more information please click here.
 
Alex Bailin QC, Mark Summers and Alison Macdonald act for Mr Al-Saadi and his family in the criminal investigation arising from the rendition and torture allegations. They are also instructed by Leigh Day. For more information on the criminal investigation please click here.

Today is Human Rights Day. This is an opportunity to celebrate Human Rights and advocate Human Rights for everyone everywhere. Here at Matrix as part of our Access Programme with Parliament Hill School we have assisted the school to ensure that students are aware of Human Rights Day and what it is all about. Working together to  empower the next generation to be aware of Human Rights and how important they are for them personally and for everyone around them. For more information about Human Rights Day please click here.

Three members of Matrix chambers are involved in this case which concerns the use of the wheelchair space in buses, and the competing rights of mothers with babies and passengers in wheelchairs. The case, which opened at Teesside County Court in Middlesbrough, is due to last five weeks. Aidan O’Neill QC leading Laura Prince is representing the Claimants and Claire Darwin is representing the Defendant, Arriva North East Limited.

Elizabeth Prochaska will be a keynote speaker at  the Childbirth and Law Forum to be held in Parramatta, Australia on Friday 12 October. Elizabeth is launching Birthrights, an organisation devoted to protecting and promoting women’s rights in childbirth and she regularly advises women and health professionals in this area. The Childbirth and Law Forum is being hosted by the Australian College of Midwives, Maternity Coalition and Homebirth Australia.  For further information please click here.