Julian’s criminal practice encompasses murder, fraud, terrorism and other serious offences. His expertise extends to criminally-related regulatory work including international mutual legal assistance, asset restraint and money laundering.  Julian is regularly instructed by large City firms and specialist white collar criminal firms to provide strategic advice to corporate clients during the investigatory and pre-charge stages of a case.

Julian’s cases make headlines on a regular basis and he is currently instructed in two especially high profile cases.  In the first case he was junior counsel for Corporal Donald Payne, a soldier accused of committing war crimes in Iraq, whose court-martial commenced in September 2006.  In the second case, Julian is instructed as junior counsel for the Crown in the prosecution of the Metropolitan Police Commissioner arising from the shooting of Jean Charles De Menezes in 2005.

From 2004-2006 Julian acted for Siôn Jenkins, the former deputy headmaster accused of the 1997 murder of his foster daughter Billie-Jo Jenkins.   In 2004, with Clare Montgomery QC, Julian successfully challenged Mr Jenkins’ 1998 conviction on the basis of fresh evidence.  There followed two trials at the Old Bailey, at the conclusion of which Mr Jenkins was acquitted.   These trials featured a large quantity of forensic evidence including forensic pathology, aerosol science, lung physiology, lung pathology, blood and paint spatter analysis, footprint examination, and environmental science.  They are generally regarded as two of the most complex murder trials ever held.

Julian also has particular expertise in appellate work including, in particular, CCRC references to the Court of Appeal. He is frequently instructed to advise in cases that involve particularly difficult or novel legal issues and he regularly appears in the Court of Appeal, House of Lords and the Privy Council.  He also undertakes pro bono appeals on behalf of prisoners sentenced to death in the Caribbean and has appeared in most of the leading cases of the last ten years.

Other recent criminal cases include: R v. Smith (House of Lords, jury misconduct); HSBC Bank PLC v Brown (private prosecution of major political donor); R. v. Lyons and others (House of Lords, the Guinness appeal); R. v. English (House of Lords, murder and joint enterprise); R. v. Cooper and McMahon (the Luton post-office murder); R. v. Meziane and Benmerzouga (alleged membership of al-Queda); R. v. Macdonald and others (alleged terrorist offences by members of the Real IRA); al-Megrahi (the Pan-Am Lockerbie bombing case).

Julian is generally regarded as one of the UK’s leading extradition counsel and a substantial proportion of his practice involves advising on international criminal law issues.  He acted for General Pinochet in the extradition proceedings brought by Spain between 1998 and 2000 and has appeared in a number of other high profile extradition cases including Russia v. Temerko and Russia v. Chernysheva (successful defence of former executives from the Yukos oil company); Russia v. Zakaev (former Deputy Prime Minister of Chechnya); United States of America v. Abdelbary (alleged Al-Queda conspiracy to bomb US Embassies in Africa); R. v. Secretary of State ex parte Ramda (conspiracy to cause explosions on the Paris Metro).

Julian is the author of Blackstone’s Guide to the Extradition Act 2003 (OUP, 2004) and he co-authored the leading extradition textbook, The Law of Extradition and Mutual Assistance (Cameron May, 2002) (with Clive Nicholls QC and Clare Montgomery QC).  He is currently working on the Second Edition, which will be published in 2007 by Oxford.  He is also a contributing editor of Asset Recovery (Oxford, 2007). 

As well as constitutional work in the Privy Council, Julian’s public law practice includes challenges to prosecutorial and regulatory authorities’ decisions; licensing; prisoners’ rights; youth justice issues; and mental health.  Most recently, Julian acted for the family of Private Harry Farr, who was shot for cowardice during World War I.  Julian advised and drafted the grounds of challenge to the Government’s refusal to give Private Farr a conditional pardon.  This challenge led directly to the Government’s decision in August 2006 to place before Parliament a pardon for all the 306 soldiers shot for military offences during the Great War. 

Other cases include: R (Chief Constable of Lancashire) v. Preston Crown Court (whether licensing courts are article 6 compliant);  R (Hussain) v. Derby Magistrates Court (unlawful detention and bail);  Cedeno v. Logan (Privy Council, reasons/due process); Taylor v. Director of the SFO (House of Lords, immunity from suit of prosecuting agencies); R. v. Criminal Injuries Compensation Board ex parte K (causation in the CICA scheme); R (Bushell) v. Newcastle Magistrates Court (licensing and articles 6 and 8).

The Scotsman newspaper described Julian as being among a group of  'the world's most formidable lawyers' and in April 2004 a survey of the legal profession by The Lawyer nominated him as the youngest ‘silk’ in its ‘alternative silks list’.  A panel of experts in the Independent on Sunday described Julian as ‘demonstrating all-round brilliance’.  He is regularly asked to appear on BBC News, Sky News, and BBC Radio.