News & Events
News & Events
We are delighted to announce that Paul Rogers has been appointed as a Fee Paid Judge of the First Tier Tribunal. He will be assigned to the Health, Education and Social Care Chamber. Appointed after a competitive process, he is now authorised to sit in the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Tribunal. This adds to his recent appointment as an Assistant Coroner. Paul remains in full time practice, and as a specialist in Health & Safety matters both in the Coronial Courts and in Criminal Enforcement action. Paul Rogers’ practice Paul has a proven track record in handling complex investigations, trials and appeals as lead counsel, at both the domestic and international level. He represents company directors and individuals charged…
News 8 Mar, 2023
Outer Temple Chambers is delighted to announce that Paul Rogers has been appointed as HM Assistant Coroner for the Inner West London Coroners area. Paul will continue to practice as a full-time barrister. Paul appears regularly in Coroners Courts across the Country, as well as in the Criminal Courts concerning Regulatory Enforcement, particularly in respect of Health & Safety at work and the defence of Corporates and/or their Directors/Employees. Find out more Paul Rogers has a proven track record in handling complex investigations, trials and appeals as lead counsel, at both the domestic and international level. Paul has significant experience in the international field as a senior prosecutor at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (UNICTY), and…
News 18 Oct, 2022
Paul Rogers and Sophie O’Sullivan both spoke at London International Weekend 2022. This is an event providing lawyers with the opportunity to come together, network, and hear talks on a variety of topics. This weekend, the London Young Lawyers group, The Bar Council of England and Wales, European Young Bar Association, Junior Lawyers Division, and Middle Temple Young Barristers’ Association, held London International Weekend 2022 which took place from 22nd – 25th September 2022. This is an annual event providing lawyers with the opportunity to come together, network, and hear talks from a variety of speakers on several different topics. Outer Temples Paul Rogers and Sophie O’Sullivan both gave talks at the event on Saturday 24th September 2022. Paul Rogers joined barrister Toby Cadman…
News 26 Sep, 2022
Outer Temple’s Paul Rogers acted for Sussex police in the Inquest into the death of Ms Blessing Olesegun. This involved the tragic death by drowning of a 21-year-old woman. In September 2021, A 21-year-old woman was found dead on the shore of Bexhill seafront. She was found clothed on the beach and further along the beach her shoes, mobile telephone and some other personal items were found together. It was confirmed by her post-mortem that she had unfortunately drowned. Dr Rycroft, Consultant Pathologist has said that “There is nothing to suggest there was a third-party involvement that caused her to be in the sea”. H.M. Senior Coroner Alan Craze recorded a conclusion of accidental death. Paul Rogers was instructed by…
News 27 May, 2022
Paul Rogers provides a health & safety perspective on how to manage a safe return of spectators to elite sport in his article for LawInSport. The Department for Culture Media & Sport announced a series of pilots to trial the safe return of spectators to stadiums. The aim of the pilots was to prepare for the full “socially distanced” return of sporting events from 1 October 2020 in England as stated in its guidance “Elite sport – return to competition: safe return of spectators”. Paul’s article considers the : How the safe return of spectators will be managed; What the implications are for sporting venues under Sections 2, 3 and 4 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974;…
Legal Blogs 17 Aug, 2020
Paul Rogers considers what the HSE has said about enforcement, and what guidance there is to assist employers to make decisions about protective measures, and raises some questions about the difficulty of proving a material risk of transmission in relation to the so-called ‘two metre rule’. Paul Rogers of our Health & Safety Team has recently had an article published in LexisPSL exploring HSE guidance, enforcement and social distancing at work. The Guidance The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has said it will look closely at concerns about social distancing and coronavirus (COVID-19) to secure compliance with the law, and has made clear that duty holders have a responsibility to protect workers and others against the risk of coronavirus infection…
External Publications 4 Jun, 2020
Paul Rogers answers the vexing question of what PPE should be worn when resuscitating a person using CPR during Covid-19, given the conflict between PHE and the UK Resuscitation Council on whether chest compressions are aerosol generating procedures. Paul Rogers of our Health & Safety Team has recently had an article published in LexisPSL exploring what PPE should be worn when resuscitating a person. The Guidance PHE publication ‘COVID-19, infection prevention and control guidance’ explains that the transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19) is thought to occur mainly through respiratory droplets generated by coughing and sneezing and by contact with contaminated surfaces. During AGPs however, it recognises that there is an increased risk or aerosol spread of infectious agents and advises airborne…
Covid-19 11 May, 2020
In response to the Governments measures currently in place to combat the threat that Covid-19 poses Paul Rogers has analysed what impact this might have on an employer’s duty to its employees under HSWA 1974. First published on LexisPSL on 1 April 2020, this piece looks at the risks for employers and the steps they might take along with the position of homeworkers and existing HSE guidance. What is the impact of Covid-19 on employer’s duties under the HSWA 1974? On current scientific information and based on the extraordinary measures undertaken by government, it would be reasonable to assess Covid-19 as presently posing a significant risk to the health and safety of all persons coming into close (under 2m) contact…
Covid-19 3 Apr, 2020
The Supreme Court today handed down judgment in the case of R v TRA in which it explained the scope of who a person acting in an official capacity will be for the international crime of torture under the Criminal Justice Act 1988. In accepting the prosecution’s arguments the Court, by 4-1 majority, made clear for the first time that this could extend to the activities of insurrectional forces (eg rebel armed groups) where those acting in an official capacity do so on behalf of an entity exercising governmental control over a civilian population in a territory in which it exercises de facto control. In particular it found there was no justification for restricting the conduct to such done on…
News 13 Nov, 2019
Paul Rogers appears on behalf of the Crown, as Respondent in a landmark interlocutory appeal hearing before the Supreme Court today and tomorrow (24th and 25th June 2019). The appeal centres on the definition and scope of the international crime of torture under the universal jurisdiction provisions of section 134 Criminal Justice Act 1988. The specific issue is what is the correct interpretation of the term ‘person acting in an official capacity’ in section 134(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1988? In particular, does it include someone who acts otherwise than in a private and individual capacity for or on behalf of an organisation or body which exercises or purports to exercise the functions of government over the civilian population…
News 24 Jun, 2019
Paul Rogers leading counsel for the Crown, successfully represented the prosecution in a landmark appeal – focused on the definition of who can be held responsible for the international crime of torture under section 134 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988. This appeal followed events during the Liberian Civil War in 1990 between the NPFL rebels (National Patriotic Front of Liberia – led by Charles Taylor) and the government of Samuel Doe. Background The Appellant had argued that the term “public official or person acting in an official capacity”, which defines the type of perpetrator caught under the Act only applied to those persons acting for entities that were either tolerated by or were acting under the authority of a state.…
News 17 Jan, 2019
Oliver Powell instructed by Pinsent Masons, appeared for Golden Touza Ltd (‘the Operator’) and Paul Rogers instructed by Berbés Abogados, appeared for Alberto Vazquez Seijo (‘the Master’). Following a catch verification in Stanley in May 2017, it became apparent that the Master of the FV Hermanos Touza had furnished a return, namely a FISHEND report, that was inaccurate. It was alleged that the Master was reckless as to whether the return contained a statement that was false or misleading in a material respect, namely by stating in the return that the vessel held 82,198 kilograms of Loligo squid, when in fact the vessel held 147,108 kilograms of Loligo squid, a variance of 79%. The case involved a number of points…
News 19 Feb, 2018
