News & Events
News & Events
We are delighted that chambers director, Christine Kings collected her Lifetime Achievement Award at the Chambers UK Bar Awards yesterday evening. Christine’s achievements at the Bar are many, and over the years she has contributed to numerous initiatives particularly around pupillage recruitment, equality and diversity and quality standards. She has been part of the Barmark panel and later became chair. She was a member of the Organising Committee for the Bar Conference, and was active on Bar Council and BSB committees and working groups. A previous treasurer of the Bar Pro Bono Unit and trustee of Bar in the Community, Christine was co-founder and joint chair of the Legal Practice Management Association until July 2017. She is a former chair of…
News 26 Oct, 2018
On 26 October 2018 Mr Justice Morgan handed down Judgment in Lloyds Banking Group Pensions Trustees Limited v Lloyds Bank PLC & Others. Andrew Short QC and Nicholas Hill acted for the Representative Beneficiaries, instructed by Ivan Walker of Walkers Solicitors. This landmark decision settles the longstanding question of whether Pension Scheme Trustees are required to adjust non-GMP benefits (“Excess”) in order that the total benefits received by male and female members with equivalent age, service and earnings histories are equal. In summary, the Judge held that: Pension Scheme Trustees are obliged to adjust the Excess payable under schemes in order that the total benefits received by male and female members with equivalent age, service and earnings histories are equal.…
News 26 Oct, 2018
Alex Haines to give presentation at the International Court of Justice on the application of international human rights law to international organisations. On Wednesday, 28 November 2018, Alex Haines will give a presentation in the Historical Reading Room of the International Court of Justice (“ICJ”) in The Hague on the application of international human rights law to international organisations and their internal justice systems. Discussion and Q&A will follow the presentation. The invitation to the event has been extended to the employees of the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the Peace Palace Library. Abstract International Administrative Tribunals (“IATs”) settle the internal disputes of international organisations (“IOs”) relating to employment issues and exist in the realm of the public international law…
News 25 Oct, 2018
Tim Nesbitt QC in the Privy Council on appeal from a decision of the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal in relation to the test of “good character” for entry to the legal profession. Tim has been appearing today (on instructions from Simons Muirhead & Burton) in the Privy Council on an appeal from a decision of the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal, upholding the denial of admission of someone to the Bar of Grenada. The background to the case, which is very high profile in the Caribbean, is the Grenada Revolution of 1983, and specifically the conviction of 17 Defendants, known as the “Grenada 17” of the murder of the then Prime Minister and nine others in the course of…
News 24 Oct, 2018
Yesterday evening, Michael Bowes QC appeared in ITV’s ‘The Parachute Murder Plot’ with Fiona Bruce. He was later on hand to answer questions about the highly unusual case in the itv hub after the programme. Emile Cilliers, 38, of the Royal Army Physical Training Corps was accused of trying to kill his spouse by tampering with her parachute and thought he would get a £120,000 life insurance pay-out. He was also accused of attempting to kill his spouse by means of a gas explosion and recklessly endangering the lives of his children. He had previously denied both charges of attempted murder. Michael successfully prosecuted Cilliers earlier on this year in a retrial, following much media interest. Cilliers was then convicted at Winchester Crown Court on 24 May 2018 and…
News 18 Oct, 2018
Outer Temple Chambers’ barristers delivered a ‘quick fire’ seminar to delegates from City firms on ‘The Anatomy of a Financial Services Organisation’ last week at the Law Society. The event was the ideal opportunity to showcase the strength and depth of the OTC Financial Services team – with short segments covering: thematic reviews, criminal and civil investigations under FSMA 2000, the RDC, legal professional privilege and the international elements of investigations in different jurisdictions, plus the impact of Brexit on investigations and enforcement. The team spoke to a high-profile and varied audience made up of solicitors at City firms and is looking forward to running another similar set of seminars in 2019. “…very informative”, “…provided insight and advice, beyond just explanation of…
News 12 Oct, 2018
Fiona Horlick, instructed by Jane Lang BLM Cardiff, has again successfully defended a consultant psychiatrist charged with historic sexual abuse with regard to his male patients. She has appeared for the doctor in all three sequential Crown Court trials. Fiona ran a successful Abuse of Process argument to stay proceedings in the latest trial. Also, Fiona, instructed by Julie Matheson at Kingsley Napley, headed up the prosecution team on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (the IFoA) in the disciplinary hearing of Mr Oketch, a South African actuary. The IFoA is the global regulator of actuaries. The case involved pensions litigation in Kenya and serious professional misconduct on the part of Mr Oketch. Mr Oketch was erased at…
News 11 Oct, 2018
The long-awaited judgment in Ashers v Lee was today handed down by the UK Supreme Court, with OTC Silk Sarah Crowther. More widely known as the ‘gay cake’ case, this is a landmark free speech victory for Ashers Bakery over whether Christian owners of a bakery can lawfully be required to ice a cake with a message promoting same-sex marriage. The background: In 2015, Ashers Bakery was found to have discriminated against a customer on the grounds of sexual orientation and political opinion. The complicated case seemed to be nearing its conclusion, when the last-minute postponement of the hearing extended the appeal issues. Then, the Attorney General intervened into the case claiming there was a potential conflict between Northern Ireland’s…
News 10 Oct, 2018
Samantha Presland represented the family of RW, a 77-year-old man suffering from end-stage dementia, in the Court of Appeal. The family were challenging a High Court judgement by Parker J, which granted an application by Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to withdraw all medical treatment from RW. RW was accepted by all parties to lack capacity to make decisions regarding his medical treatment, but to be in a more than minimally conscious state. Sam was instructed by Rodica Pintea-Austin of Appleman Legal. The focus of the dispute was whether it was in RW’s best interests, following his planned discharge from hospital into the care of his family, that his hydration and nutrition should continue to be facilitated by…
News 8 Oct, 2018
Outer Temple Chambers is pleased to bring the short article below to the attention of all our clients in health and safety/environmental work. Written by Tim Green and Gus Baker, this commentary provides an essential guide to the use of civil undertakings in environmental enforcement proceedings including an analysis of the following: what makes up a civil undertaking including admission, penalty and remediation the Environment Agency’s enforcement policy when a civil penalty might be an alternative to prosecution how civil undertakings are being used by the Agency negotiating strategy and tactics Please follow this link to read more.
News 3 Oct, 2018
The Nottinghamshire Investigation opened this week with Patrick Sadd as Lead Counsel to the Investigation. Patrick is the only non-Silk running a strand of the many investigations making up the Inquiry. Patrick Sadd heads up a team of four Outer Temple barristers made up of Paul Livingston, Imogen Egan and Olinga Tahzib at the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), led by Professor Alexis Jay. The investigation is focusing on three case studies – the institutional responses to and barriers to disclosure of sexual abuse at Beechwood Community Home, in foster care and between children. The first day of this national inquiry gave the overall background to the inquiry, including some of the concerns about abuse of children which were…
News 2 Oct, 2018
Alex Haines, barrister, gives presentation on internal justice systems at the annual Conference of Staff Associations of International Financial Institutions (“COSIFI”) in Washington DC. On 18 and 19 September 2018, Alex attended the COSIFI annual conference which took place in Washington DC. Eight International Financial Institutions (“IFIs”) were represented: the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the European Central Bank, the Caribbean Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. A representative from the Federation of International Civil Servants’ Associations (“FICSA”) was also present. The conference covered current IFI challenges, compensation, the issue of international staff and local staff, and the different models of Staff Association…
News 2 Oct, 2018
