Chambers takes great pleasure in welcoming Thomas Sebastian. Thomas joins Chambers after recently accepting an offer of tenancy.

Thomas has a diverse practice, which spans Chamber’s specialist areas of EU law, competition law as well as public international law (in particular WTO law and investment treaty arbitration).  He also acts in international commercial arbitrations.

Prior to transferring to the Bar in 2012, Thomas practiced for 10 years as a Senior Associate at Allen & Overy LLP’s International Arbitration Group in London and as a Counsel at the Advisory Centre on WTO Law (an international organisation which represents States in WTO disputes) in Geneva.  During pupillage he acquired experience across all of Chambers’ major practice areas.

Thomas comments:

“I am delighted to be joining Monckton and to have the opportunity to develop a diverse practice which ranges across Monckton’s specialist areas as well as the complementary areas of WTO law and investment treaty law.  I very much look forward to working with David and his team, as well as Members of Chambers, in the years ahead.”

Mr Justice Ouseley handed down judgment today on a number of judicial review challenges to the Government’s decision to proceed with a high speed rail link from London to Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester.  The Judge held that the Government’s consultation on the property compensation scheme was flawed and the Government will have to carry out a fresh consultation on that issue.  The Judge dismissed the other challenges to HS2, including, those brought by 15 local authorities located along the route of HS2.  The local authorities contended that the Government’s decision to proceed in Parliament by way of the hybrid bill procedure breached EU environmental law (the EIA Directive), that the consultation leading to the decision was faulty, that the Government failed to comply with its public sector equalities duty and that, in a number of respects, the decision was irrational.

However, following submissions made in court today, the Judge granted permission to the local authorities to argue before the Court of Appeal that the Government’s decision failed to comply with the SEA Directive and that the Government’s failure to reconsult with the local authorities (51M) on their Optimised Alternative to HS2 was unfair and unlawful.

The case has been widely covered in the media, including on the BBC and in The Independent

Kassie Smith appeared for the local authorities

Kassie Smith will be appearing in the Supreme Court today acting for Defra on an appeal concerning the breach of air  quality limits for nitrogen dioxide in Greater London and other zones in the UK.  ClientEarth is appealing against the Court of Appeal’s decision in May last year to refuse judicial review of the Government’s plans to improve air quality. The lobbying organisation says that under the EU’s Air Quality Directive, the Government should be forced to provide the European Commission with plans for reducing nitrogen dioxide levels by 1 January 2015 in 17 regions of the UK.  Defra has previously been successful in arguing that it is not required to produce such plans under the terms of the Directive.

The case is reported in the Lawyer.

The Irish Prime Minister, Enda Kenny, has formally apologised on behalf of the State for its role in the Magdalene Laundries.

Raymond Hill of Monckton Chambers has been acting pro bono for the survivors of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries, seeking an apology and redress from the Irish State for its failure to prevent four Religious Orders from incarcerating thousands of women and girls in the Laundries and subjecting them to wholly unpaid forced labour. The victims were completely deprived of their liberty, prevented from contacting the outside world, subjected to both physical and emotional abuse, forced to work for long hours in harsh working conditions, with the minimum in terms of food, clothing and medical attention. Even decades on from their release, many of the survivors continue to suffer from their treatment.

The apology follows the findings The McAleese Report, which was published last month.  The report headed by Irish senator Martin McAleese found that the State and the Irish police force bore a major responsibility for sending the women there and failing to protect their rights.

The Irish government has approached the Law Reform Commission’s president, Judge John Quirke, to carry out a three-month review to recommend the criteria for providing support and payments to the survivors.

Raymond has given hundreds of hours of his time over the last 15 months advising the advocacy group “Justice for Magdalenes” on the preparation of evidence to put before the McAleese Committee – and he drafted the main part of their submissions to the Committee. As a result, a number of Irish organisations nominated Raymond for the Bar Pro Bono Award 2012.

This case has been the subject of a lot of press coverage, including the following articles:

Guardian
BBC News

Monckton Chambers is pleased to announce the appointment of Kassie Smith to Queen’s Counsel. Kassie will be formally appointed by the Lord Chancellor on 27 March.

Called to the Bar in 1995, Kassie is an experienced competition and regulatory lawyer, with particular expertise in telecoms and utility regulation.  She frequently appears before the Courts and the Competition Appeal Tribunal both for private clients and regulators in damages actions, judicial review challenges and infringement appeals.

She also has exceptional expertise and experience before the European Courts and the English courts in cases raising issues of EU law (from the High Court to the Supreme Court) and has acted in over 30 cases before the CJEU. Kassie has appeared in cases concerning a variety of issues, including free movement rights, insolvency, telecoms, industrial relations and social policy. She has particular expertise in EU environmental law.

Directories describe her as “a real team player” who is repeatedly applauded for her “strong and efficient” advocacy and “very clear and well-drawn submissions” and as being “exceptionally bright, approachable and willing to go the extra mile to find a solution”.

Kassie’s appointment to Queen’s Counsel has been featured in an article in The Lawyer.

Members and staff warmly congratulate Kassie on her success.

Tim Ward QC of Monckton Chambers was featured in the The Sunday Times yesterday, regarding the success of the Icesave case.

Tim acted for the Icelandic Government in the case in the European Free Trade Area Court. The court ruled that Iceland did not break European free trade laws on deposit guarantee schemes when it did not compensate foreign depositors in the UK and the Netherlands after Icesave’s owner, Landsbanki, collapsed in 2008.

To view the full article, please click here.

To read a case note on the Icesave case, please click here.

Tim Ward QC of Monckton Chambers has today been featured in The Times’ Lawyer of the Week.

Tim recently acted for the Icelandic Government in the Icesave case in the European Free Trade Area Court. The court ruled that Iceland did not break European free trade laws on deposit guarantee schemes when it did not compensate foreign depositors in the UK and the Netherlands after Icesave’s owner, Landsbanki, collapsed in 2008.

To read the full article, please click here.

To read a case note on the Icesave case, please click here.

O’Brien v Ministry of Justice (Council of Immigration Judges intervening)

6 February 2013

[2013] UKSC 6 (SC No 2)

[2010] UKSC 34; [2010] 4 All E.R. 62 (SC No 1)

[2012] 2 C.M.L.R. 25 (CJEU)

The Supreme Court has delivered judgment in the long-running case about a fee-paid part-time judge seeking a pension in respect of his part-time service.

Following three hearings in the Supreme Court and a hearing in the Court of Justice, the Supreme Court has concluded that the Appellant, a recorder, is entitled to a pension on terms equivalent to those applicable to a circuit judge.

At the third hearing in the Supreme Court, the Government argued that the exclusion from pensions was objectively justified. The Supreme Court held that it was not justified.

The Council of Immigration Judges instructed Ian Rogers to intervene in all three hearings in the Supreme Court and in the Court of Justice. The facts of the case concerned a recorder, but there are over 40 different types of fee-paid part-time judge working in the courts and tribunals and 8,000 are estimated to be affected by the judgment. The intervention by the Council of Immigration Judges ensured that the Court was aware of the broader picture and particularly the position of immigration judges. Approximately 72% of Tribunal work is performed by the fee-paid part-time judiciary.

The Court concluded:-

“Although this case is concerned only with the case of a recorder, it seems unlikely that the Ministry’s argument could be put any higher than it has been.”

Ian Rogers appeared for the Council of Immigration Judges in the Supreme Court and in the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Ian has also drafted claims for a large number of fee paid part-time judges in the Employment Tribunal under the Public Access Scheme. Short time limits apply to such claims.

For the judgment, please click here.

The annual Sir Jeremy Lever lecture was held on Friday 1^st February, to celebrate the career of Sir Jeremy Lever KCMG, QC, a pioneer of both the practice and academic study of competition law in Europe.

The lecture was entitled “The Interface Between Domestic and EU Legal Systems” and given by The Rt Hon The Lord Mance and chaired by Professor Walter van Gerven.

The event was again followed by a celebratory dinner at All Souls College.

Monckton Chambers’ Tim Ward QC has successfully steered the Icelandic Government to victory in the European courts, with a ruling yesterday (28 January) meaning that the country is not obliged to repay Britain and the Netherlands for rescuing savers in the collapsed Icesave bank.

A European Free Trade Association (EFTA) court in Luxembourg  dismissed an application brought by the EFTA Surveillance Authority and the European Commission (EC), with Ward defending the Icelandic Government from allegations that it failed to guarantee minimum levels of compensation to savers in the bank.

Iceland’s Foreign Minister, Össur Skarphéðinsson, described Ward as “a legal masterpiece” after the ruling.

To view the full article in Legal Week, please click here.  To read the article in The Lawyer, please click here.