News & Events
News & Events
Joshua Hitchens appeared as sole counsel for the Claimant, the first mono-British national to be sanctioned under the UK’s post 2018 autonomous sanctions framework. Judgment was handed down on 12 January 2024 in the third s.38 Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (SAMLA 2018) delisting challenge brought under the Russian Sanctions Regulations. Mr Justice Johnson held: (a.) SAMLA does empower the Secretary of State to interfere with the right to freedom of speech/expression; (b.) The Regulations are lawful and have the effect the Secretary of State contended they have; and (c.) The interferences with Mr Phillips Convention rights were lawful and proportionate. The Claimant is expected to seek permission to appeal. Background to this case Josh was instructed in this…
News 15 Jan, 2024
Josh Hitchens appears in third ever de-listing claim against the FCDO under the UK’s post-Brexit sanctions framework and the second to be brought under the Russia Regulations. On 15 and 16 November 2023, the High Court heard the second claim brought against the FCDO under s.38 Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 in respect of the Russia Regulations. Josh Hitchens appeared as sole counsel for the Claimant. The case before Swift J concerned the lawfulness of interferences with the right to freedom of expression through sanctions designations and the proper approach to rational connection and proportionality when considering whether interferences with Convention Rights are lawful in a sanctions context. Outer Temple barristers have represented the Claimants in two out of the…
News 17 Nov, 2023
Outer Temple’s John McKendrick KC and Josh Hitchens have been instructed in a judicial review of the Lord Chancellor’s refusal to hold a public inquiry into abuse at Medomsley Detention Centre (“MDC”). A new investigation has been launched into the abuse at Medomsley Detention Centre after thousands of inmates have reported being attacked at the County Durham facility between 1961 and 1987. John McKendrick KC and Josh Hitchens, instructed by David Greenwood of Switalskis solicitors, were instructed in a judicial review of the Lord Chancellor’s refusal to hold a public inquiry into abuse at Medomsley Detention Centre (“MDC”). MDC was a detention centre for young offenders operating between the 1960s and 1980s. It is estimated that nearly 2,000 young people…
News 9 Nov, 2023
Robert Dickason and Joshua Hitchens have secured the dismissal of Contempt Proceedings arising out of the widely reported case of Muyepa v Ministry of Defence [2022] EWHC 2648 (KB). Robert Dickason and Joshua Hitchens, instructed by Marc Livingston, Simon Barker and Catriona Virden of Janes Solicitors, have secured the dismissal of Contempt Proceedings brought against their clients, Brian and Racheal Muyepa. The Proceedings, which arose out of Mr. Muyepa’s record £3.7m claim for non-freezing cold injuries against the Ministry of Defence, will now not proceed to trial, meaning that Mr. and Mrs. Muyepa will not be found guilty of Contempt of Court and will not face the prospect of being committed to prison for Contempt of Court. Find out more…
News 12 Oct, 2023
Following successful appeals before the Islamic Development Bank Group Administrative Tribunal (“IsDBGAT” or “Tribunal”) in 2022 (see below), members of OTC’s International Organisations Team have been instructed in four cases before the IsDBGAT. The team have been instructed before the IsDBGAT in its October docket (11th to 23rd). The Tribunal will sit en banc with judges from Tunisia, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Senegal and Malaysia. Victoria Brown represents the Applicant in a case against the Islamic Development Bank (“IsDB”) Alex Haines and Victoria Brown represent the Applicant in a case against the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (“ICIEC”). Alex Haines and Victoria Brown represent the Applicant in a case against the Islamic Corporation for the Development…
News 3 Oct, 2023
Josh Hitchens has been instructed in a claim by the first ever mono-British citizen to be made subject to an asset freeze under the UK Sanctions regime. The claim brought under s.38 Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018 (“SAMLA”) alleges that the decision to sanction the Claimant, a British video journalist operating from the Donbas region was: (a) Unlawful on the ground of illegality as neither SAMLA nor the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 authorise designation in response to lawful political speech by a UK national;(b) That in the alternative, that Regulation 6(3)(a) of the Russia Regulations is Ultra Vires and stands to be quashed; and(c) That the designation decision was a breach of Article 10 and Article 1…
News 21 Jun, 2023
Outer Temple Chambers’ Sanctions Team is instructed in the most high-profile and cutting-edge cases in the UK’s new sanctions framework. The Sanctions Team has unrivalled expertise in challenges to UK sanctions designations and High Court applications relating to, and arising from, the UK’s sanctions framework. This experience – twinned with instructions to act for and advise the UK Government and with ongoing high-profile sanctions advisory services – has put the team at the forefront of sanctions law and practice in the UK and its overseas territories. Comprised of seven specialist barristers; John McKendrick KC, Oliver Powell, Alex Haines, Sophie O’Sullivan, Josh Hitchens, Jeremy Scott-Joynt and Henry Reid, supported by members of the wider Business Crime and Regulation and Commercial teams…
News 20 Jun, 2023
Alex Haines and Joshua Hitchens have been instructed for the Applicant against the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Export Credit before the Islamic Development Bank Group Administrative Tribunal. The newly established Islamic Development Bank Group Administrative Tribunal (IsDBGAT or Tribunal) is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and hears cases brought by international civil servants who work at the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDBG). The IsDBG is comprised of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Islamic Research & Training Institute (IRTI), Islamic Corporation for Development of the Private Sector (ICD), Islamic Corporation for Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), and International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC). The IsDBG is a regional International Financial Institution (IFI) whose mission includes the promotion of social and economic development…
News 18 Apr, 2023
![Case Analysis PJSC National Bank Trust & anor v Mints & ors [2023]](https://www.outertemple.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/Case-Analysis-PJSC-National-Bank-Trust-anor-v-Mints-ors-2023-550x370.png)
Joshua Hitchens, along with Annabel Thomas, Gavin Costelloe and Bethany Histed (of Greenberg Traurig LLP) consider one of the first major judgments on the effects of the Russian sanctions regime on commercial litigation involving parties subject to asset freezes following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On 27 January 2023, Mrs Justice Cockerill handed down judgment in PJSC National Bank Trust & anor v Mints & ors [2023] EWHC 118 (Comm) in which she considered the effect of the Russian sanctions regime on commercial litigation involving parties who are designated persons. Under the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (the “Regulations”), all assets of a designated person are frozen, meaning no person may deal in them, and no person may make available any…
News 9 Feb, 2023
Outer Temple’s Joshua Hitchens’ book, Forced Marriage Law and Practice, has come Runner-Up for New Author’s prize in the Inner Temple Book Prize 2022. Josh Hitchens, jointly with Niamh Daly of 1GC Chambers, recently published Forced Marriage Law and Practice and we would like to congratulate them both for coming Runner-Up in the New Author category of the Inner Temple Book Prize 2022. The Inner Temple Book Prizes are described as “one of the highest honours that legal authorship can aspire to”. The Prizes are intended to recognise and to encourage the writing of books which make an outstanding contribution to the understanding of law as administered in England and Wales. The long term aim of the Prize is to…
External Publications 5 Jan, 2023
Joshua Hitchens was instructed by Janes Solicitors to represent the Defendant in contempt proceedings before Mr Justice Nicklin, who described the case as “a sobering reminder of the obligation on parties’ lawyers to read very carefully and to understand the effects of injunction orders”. The Defendant was subject to an injunction which restricted his use of the Claimant’s documents in proceedings. Contrary to the Claimant’s solicitor’s understanding, the injunction did not prevent the identification of the Claimant. The Defendant was accused of providing an exhibit he had introduced into proceedings to a US attorney who then made use of it in proceedings in the United States. The Claimant brought a contempt application on the basis (1) that the Defendant had…
News 22 Nov, 2022
Join Outer Temple Chambers and guests on the 6th December 2022 for a Sanctions & Export Controls breakfast seminar hosted at The Reform Club. You are invited to join our Business Crime and Regulatory Team and our esteemed guests for a discussion on navigating sanctions regimes, designations and export controls in civil, administrative and criminal proceedings. The event will be co-chaired by Outer Temple’s John McKendrick KC and Fiona Horlick KC. Speakers include Oliver Powell, Alex Haines, Sophie O’Sullivan, Jeremy Scott-Joynt, Joshua Hitchens, and Henry Reid. Guest speakers include; Tristan Grimmer, Partner at Baker Mckenzie; Elizabeth Robertson, Partner at Skadden; and Tom Cornell, Associate at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. The conference will take place at The Reform Club in London…
Events 14 Nov, 2022
