The Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) has appointed Christopher Vajda KC to its Panel of arbitrators.
Established in 1991 as an independent, not-for-profit organisation, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) provides neutral arbitration services to the global business community.
For further information please click here.
Congratulations to Julian Gregory and James Bourke on their appointment to the CMA’s panel of counsel following an open competition. They join Rob Williams KC, Ben Lask KC, Josh Holmes KC, Julianne Kerr Morrison, Michael Armitage and Daisy Mackersie, current Standing Counsel members from Monckton Chambers.
The CMA, the UK’s primary competition and consumer authority, is an independent non-ministerial government department with responsibility for carrying out investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries and enforcing competition and consumer law. The panel of counsel is intended to provide the CMA with a strong team of advocates and external legal advisers, who are enthusiastic about and committed to its work – but also able to give it detached and objective advice. The CMA has expanded its Standing Counsel to make sure it has the right number of members to assist in its work going forward. This reflects the growth in litigation undertaken by the CMA across all areas of activity as well as in anticipation of an increase in workload, following the UK’s departure from the EU and the establishment of the Office for the Internal Market and the Digital Markets Unit.
These appointments were made following an open competition with the consent of the Attorney General. They are for an initial period of 3 years.
Further information is available here.
The Council of Europe Convention for the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer was adopted yesterday in response to increasing reports of attacks on the practice of the profession, whether in the form of harassment, threats or attacks, or interference with the exercise of professional duties, such as obstacles to access to clients.
The Convention covers lawyers and their professional associations, whose role is vital in defending lawyers’ rights and interests as a profession. The Convention addresses entitlement to practise, professional rights, freedom of expression, professional discipline and specific protective measures for lawyers and professional associations. Under the Convention, states must ensure that lawyers can carry out their professional duties without being the target of any form of physical attack, threat, harassment or intimidation or any improper hindrance or interference. Where such circumstances could amount to a criminal offence, parties must conduct an effective investigation. Parties must also ensure that professional associations can operate as independent, self-governing bodies.
The Convention will be opened for signature on 13 May, on the occasion of the Council of Europe Foreign Affairs ministers’ meeting in Luxembourg. At least eight countries, including six member states of the Council of Europe, must ratify it for it to enter into force. Compliance with the Convention will be monitored by an expert group and a committee of the parties.
Jeremy McBride acted as the consultant for the preparation of the Convention and its Explanatory Report after having produced a feasibility study on a new instrument relating to the profession.
Monckton Chambers is delighted to continue supporting Advocate through being a Silver Circle Pro Bono Patron.
Advocate is the Bar’s national pro bono charity that makes it possible for barristers to balance a dedicated practice and make a significant contribution to the community, making access to justice available to all.
In addition to this patronage, our members already frequently donate their time and expertise to those who may otherwise be unable to obtain legal aid and who cannot afford to pay for legal advice and representation.
We are proud and committed to champion this worthwhile cause, and to support Advocate to continue to provide this important service.
You can read more about the work of Advocate here.
On 7 March 2025, the Competition Appeal Tribunal held that the alleged failure of six water and sewage companies to supply accurate information for the statutory regime of price control under the Water Industry Act was an essential ingredient of the proposed class representative’s claim for breach of statutory duty under the Competition Act. Accordingly, the Tribunal concluded that the claims for alleged abuses of dominance in alleged breach of the Chapter II prohibition were excluded by s.18(8) of the Water Industry Act 1991.
Accordingly, subject to any appeal, Professor Caroyln Roberts’ proposed collective proceedings have failed at the certification stage and will not proceed further.
The Tribunal explained that if the claims for abuse of dominance were not so excluded, the Tribunal would have granted CPOs in each set of proceedings.
The Judgment is available here.
Anneliese Blackwood, Daisy Mackersie and Jack Williams represented various of the successful water and sewage companies at the certification hearing (instructed by Freshfields, Herbert Smith Freehills, Slaughter and May, Linklaters, Norton Rose Fulbright and Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner).
Julian Gregory, instructed by RPC, represented Professor Roberts (funded by Benchwalk).
Other Monckton counsel involved in these proceedings include Tim Ward KC, Paul Harris KC, Anneli Howard KC, Antonia Fitzpatrick and Hugh Whelan.
The Court of Appeal today gave judgment in R(British Gas Trading and E.ON) v Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, the first case before it dealing with the post-Brexit UK subsidy control regime. The case concerned the then government’s package of subsidy to facilitate the acquisition in 2022 by Octopus of Bulb, a major retail supplier of electricity that went into special administration in 2021. British Gas and E.ON brought judicial review proceedings in the Administrative Court claiming breach of the subsidy control provisions in the UK/EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement (“TCA”), which has been incorporated into domestic law by the EU (Future Relationship) Act 2020. (The Subsidy Control Act 2022, which now regulates grants of subsidy by UK authorities, had not at that stage come into force.) They claimed that defects in the tender process leading to the selection of Octopus as the acquirer meant that the subsidy could not properly be regarded as the minimum necessary and that subsidy had been granted to Octopus as well as to Bulb: they also claimed breach of the specific TCA provisions relating to restructuring subsidies. The Divisional Court rejected their claims in March 2023, refusing permission to bring judicial proceedings on the ground of delay and also finding that the graunds of judicial review failed in any event. British Gas and E.ON appealed to the Court of Appeal.
In its judgment, the Court of Appeal finds that the Divisional Court was wrong to refuse permission on the ground of delay in relation to the claim for financial relief (a recovery order), both on domestic law principles and because of provisions of the TCA that required the claimants to be provided with sufficient information about the subsidy, information that was not provided until very shortly before they brought their claim. However, the Court of Appeal rejected the appeal on the merits, holding that the decision to grant subsidy was subject to review only on conventional domestic law principles of judicial review, including rationality. It went on to hold that the Secretary of State was entitled to take the view that the process followed to select Octopus was open, transparent and non-discriminatory so as to provide the basis for a conclusion of minimum subsidy to Bulb (and no subsidy to Octopus) and that he was also entitled to take the view that the subsidy responded to a global or national economic emergency: a conclusion that made it unnecessary for the Court to decide whether the subsidy complied with the specific rules on restructuring subsidy.
George Peretz KC and Harry Gillow, instructed by Pinsent Masons LLP, acted for E.ON in the appeal to the Court of Appeal.
Chambers Global 2025 has just been published, ranking the top lawyers and law firms in over 200 jurisdictions across the world.
Monckton Chambers is once again ranked as Band 1 in Competition Law and in addition, individual barristers, 42 in all, are ranked across four practice areas: Competition Law (UK), Dispute Resolution: Commercial (UK), International Arbitration – The English Bar and Shipping and Commodities
Competition Law in UK
Individual Monckton members ranked for this category are:
SILKS: Tim Ward KC, Philip Moser KC, Mark Brealey KC, Jon Turner KC, Paul Harris KC, Daniel Beard KC, Kassie Smith KC, George Peretz KC, Meredith Pickford KC, Josh Holmes KC, Ronit Kreisberger KC, Rob Williams KC, Anneli Howard KC, Ben Lask KC and Philip Woolfe KC.
JUNIORS: Ben Rayment, Julian Gregory, Alan Bates, Fiona Banks, Anneliese Blackwood, Laura Elizabeth John, Ligia Osepciu, Julianne Kerr Morrison, Nikolaus Grubeck, Conor McCarthy, Alison Berridge, Michael Armitage, Stefan Kuppen, Daisy Mackersie, James Bourke, David Gregory, Jack Williams, Alexandra Littlewood and Ciar McAndrew.
Dispute Resolution: Commercial (UK)
Steven Gee KC, Gregory Pipe, William Buck, Drew Holiner, Kristina Lukacova and Harry Gillow for the category of Dispute Resolution: Commercial (UK) in the Global Guide.
International Arbitration – The English Bar.
Drew Holiner and George Hilton are ranked for the first time in the category of International Arbitration – The English Bar in the Global Guide.
Shipping and Commodities
Francis Hornyold-Strickland is ranked in the category of Shipping and Commodities in the Global Guide.
Every year, The Lawyer Hot 100 recognises a diverse mix of legal professionals who have been the standout lawyers in the UK over the previous twelve months. This year, Daisy Mackersie is listed amongst the 13 “Hot 100” barristers mentioned.
Daisy is described as follows:
“Class action matters will swamp the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in 2025, with judges scrutinising the collective action regime in England and Wales. Monckton Chambers is the go-to set for competition matters and Daisy Mackersie is fast becoming one of its most in-demand barristers.
Mackersie finished 2024 on a high, having secured a victory for BT in the UK’s first full collection action trial to come before the CAT. The run of high-profile cases will continue in 2025 with Mackersie acting for Fortnite creator Epic Games in its mammoth dispute with Google. When she’s not in court for international clients, Mackersie is regularly instructed by public bodies and regulators, including the Competition and Markets Authority for which she has been on the standing counsel panel since 2021.
Mackersie is considered a leading junior in competition law, someone who is actively shaping the new regime that is being created through the courts. With her ferocious analytical skills and ability to explain the most complex legal arguments in a straightforward yet persuasive manner, Mackersie is barrister clients are lucky to have on their side.”
You can read the full article and details of the Hot 100 list here.
The members and staff of Monckton Chambers are proud to announce that Azeem Suterwalla will be appointed as King’s Counsel.
Azeem has a well-established practice across Chambers’ core areas, offering expertise in Judicial Review, Public Procurement, Competition, Information Law, and general commercial work. He is a member of the Attorney General’s A Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown, advising and representing the UK government in his areas of practice. Azeem is recommended in the Legal 500 and Chambers UK as a leading practitioner across four practice areas: Administrative/Public Law, Public Procurement, Civil Liberties and Human Rights, and Community Care. Azeem appears regularly in the High Court and Upper Tribunal. He has undertaken cases in the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and European Court of Human Rights. In addition to acting as a trial and appellate lawyer, a significant part of Azeem’s practice is advisory.
Joint Heads of Chambers Tim Ward KC and Philip Moser KC commented: “We congratulate Azeem on his well-deserved appointment. He brings further strength to the senior ranks of Chambers across a range of our core practice areas.”
Azeem will be sworn-in at the official King’s Counsel Appointments Ceremony at Westminster on 24th March 2025.
The full list of KC appointments, announced today the 24 January, can be viewed on the KCA website here.
