The Lord Chancellor has appointed Sir Christopher Bellamy QC to chair an independent review of the Criminal Legal Aid system.

Launching in January 2021, the far-reaching review will look at the criminal legal aid market in its entirety, and will seek to ensure that it:

·       continues to provide high-quality legal advice and representation

·       is provided through a diverse set of practitioners

·       is appropriately funded

·       is responsive to defendant needs both now and, in the future,

·       contributes to the efficiency and effectiveness of the Criminal Justice System

·       is transparent

·       is resilient

·       is delivered in a way that provides value for money to the taxpayer.

Sir Christopher Bellamy is an arbitrator and mediator at Monckton Chambers and one of the UK’s foremost experts in competition law.

Read full Ministry of Justice press release here.

The Lawyer has selected Paul Harris QC, who led for the claimants in Walter Hugh Merricks CBE v Mastercard Inc in £14bn Mastercard consumer claim which is now set to proceed after an historic Supreme Court ruling (see website news 11 December), as its “Barrister of the Week”.

The Lawyer heralds 2020 as “the most successful 12 months” of the Monckton Silk’s career, because Paul Harris “not only triumphed for his beloved football team but also for 46.2 million adults.” The football team is Manchester City which Harris represented back in June, in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), taking on UEFA in a bid to appeal a two-year ban from the Champions League. CAS overturned the previous decision and reduced Manchester City’s fine from £30m to £10m.

Harris admits of the Mastercard case that “To be the guy that sets the field in that core area of practice, that is really satisfying,” with the dam now bursting on the logjam of CPO applications. The Lawyer confirms that he is currently also involved in three other collective proceedings-type cases and he has already since been asked to do another.

“Barrister of the Week” is selected by The Lawyer’s Litigation Tracker team. Subscribers can access the full article here.

Monckton Chambers is delighted to announce that Anneli Howard will take silk in 2021.

Anneli Howard is recognised by the legal directories in six different disciplines: Competition, EU law, Consumer law, Public Administrative law, Aviation and Telecommunications. In 2018 Anneli won The Legal 500 award for EU/Competition Junior of the Year and was one of the Lawyer’s “Hot 100” in 2016. As a Junior she was a member of the AG A panel for Public Administrative law and WTO/International Trade.

The members and staff of Chambers warmly congratulate Anneli on her appointment to Queen’s Counsel.

The new status for all 116 new QCs will be effective from March 2021.

The full list of QC appointments, announced on the17 December, can be viewed on the QCA website.

Anneli’s appointment was mentioned in Global Competition Review.

At the last meeting of the Bar Council this year, held virtually on 14th December 2020, Philip Moser QC of Monckton Chambers was elected as Co-Chair of the Bar Council EU Law Committee and Anneli Howard of Monckton Chambers was elected as Vice-Chair, both from 1st January 2021.

The EU Law Committee monitors and addresses legal issues emanating from the European Union including policy and legislative proposals from the EU institutions, and its remit will now include the Withdrawal Agreement, future UK-EU relations law and the (still awaited) outcome of the trade deal negotiations, in what promises to be an eventful and busy year for the profession, its regulator and its clients.

Monckton barrister Alan Bates has been appointed by the Lord Chancellor as a member of the independent expert review of the Human Rights Act (HRA).

The Review, which was announced today by the Lord Chancellor, will be chaired by former Lord Justice of Appeal Sir Peter Gross. Its task will be to review how the HRA is being interpreted and applied in the courts, and to make recommendations as to whether any legislative or other changes are needed. Its terms of reference do not call into question the United Kingdom’s continuing to be a party to the European Convention on Human Rights.

Alan brings to the Review his specialist knowledge of EU law. He has represented the United Kingdom – and also the European Commission – in cases in the EU Courts. Prior to coming to the Bar, he worked on an audit by the Law Commission of the compatibility of the English law of bail with the HRA.

Commenting on his appointment, Alan stated: “The UK’s future relationship with the EU interacts in multiple ways with the mechanisms for the protection of individuals’ ECHR rights. I am looking forward to working with Sir Peter Gross and the other members of the Review, which will be independent of Government and will approach all questions with open minds.”

The other members of the review are former Law Society President Simon Davis, Professor Maria Cahill, Lisa Giovannetti QC, Sir Stephen Laws QC, Professor Tom Mullen, and Baroness Nuala O’Loan.

For further information, see the Ministry of Justice press release here.

At last night’s virtual awards ceremony, Monckton Chambers and its members won three awards. Mark Brealey QC won Silk of the Year for Competition and Monckton Chambers was also awarded Competition Set of the Year. In addition, for the first time in the history of the awards, Monckton Chambers also picked up the Set of the Year award for Tax.

Although not winners on the night, we were also delighted that Alan Bates was in the shortlist for Competition Junior of the Year and Andrew Macnab for Tax Junior of the Year.

The awards are based on research for the 2021 edition of Chambers UK Bar reflect a set’s pre-eminence in key practice areas. They also reflect notable achievements over the past 12 months including outstanding work, impressive strategic growth and excellence in client service.
For further details, see Chambers and Partners website.

George Peretz QC and Imogen Proud have become members of the 22-strong committee of ALBA (the Administrative Law Bar Association). ALBA is the professional association for barristers in England and Wales practising in public law. Monckton’s Khatija Hafesji is an existing member of the committee.

ALBA is a specialist association of the Bar Council with which it works closely, and with the Bar’s regional Circuits, to promote access to justice and the concerns of public law practitioners.

The association is an accredited provider of Continuing Education with the BSB, offering events to meet many barristers’ and solicitors’ CPD requirements. Recent events have included a lecture from Lord Sales on the subject of proportionality and a discussion with Joshua Rosenberg of his new book ‘Enemies of the People’. As part of ALBA’s remit, it responds to consultations by the Ministry of Justice and other organisations about matters affecting public law practice and procedure. In October 2020, it responded to the Independent Review of Administrative Law.

It is with great sadness that the members of Monckton Chambers share the news of Tarlochan Lall’s sudden passing this weekend.

Our thoughts are with Tarl’s wife Kim and all their family.

At its Annual General Meeting on 22 October, the British Insurance Law Association announced that Brendan McGurk’s “Data Profiling and Insurance Law” has been awarded BILA’s prestigious annual book prize for the best work on the law of insurance in 2019-2020. The book, which explores the impact of big data and predictive analytics on the provision and substantive law of insurance, was published by Hart in March 2019, has received a five star review in the Insurance Law Journal and has sold extremely well in the UK and the USA. Hart are offering a discount on the book to mark the award, which is available here and here. The announcement on BILA’s website is here.

 

Sir Christopher Bellamy QC has returned to his former chambers, Monckton Chambers and will be focusing on arbitration and mediation, with a particular emphasis on competition and regulatory matters.

Sir Christopher joins Monckton from leading international law firm Linklaters where he has been since 2007; from 2011 he was Chairman of the firm’s global competition practice. Before Linklaters, he was instrumental in setting up the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) and held the post of its first President from 1999 to 2007. Prior to joining the CAT, from 1992 to 1999 he was one of 15 judges of the Court of First Instance (CFI), now the General Court of the EU, and President of a five-judge chamber from 1996 to 1999.

Sir Christopher is considered to be one of the most influential competition lawyers in Europe.   He is co-author of the earlier editions of Bellamy & Child, European Union Law of Competition, now in its eighth edition.

Philip Moser QC and Tim Ward QC, joint heads of Monckton Chambers, welcome Sir Christopher back to Monckton:

“The joint Heads and all members of Monckton Chambers are delighted to welcome former CAT President and Judge Sir Christopher Bellamy QC back to Monckton Chambers.  As a doyen of the competition law field, Monckton’s clients will benefit from his years of experience at the Bar, Bench and at one of the world’s most respected law firms.

“Following the recent re-recruitment of former CJEU Judge Christopher Vajda QC and FCA Independent Reviewer John Swift QC, Monckton has added considerable weight to its arbitration offering, which we expect to go from strength to strength.”

Sir Christopher Bellamy QC recommences his practice at Monckton Chambers on the 2^nd November 2020.