George Peretz QC quoted in The Guardian : Experts scorn UK government claim it can ditch parts of NI protocol

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George Peretz QC was quoted extensively in this article in which Lawyers reject Liz Truss’s claim that UK is able to dump parts of the treaty with EU without its agreement..
Comments include:

“I can’t see how any lawyer could possibly advise the government that they’ve got a slam-dunk case. What I’ve seen so far doesn’t give them sustainable legal cover.”

Peretz reckoned the government would struggle to justify invoking article 16 based on economic problems, because these were known about in advance. “It was pretty obvious to both parties that putting a border down the Irish Sea was going to divert trade, so that would be a bizarre argument,”

“In international law, social unrest is not a basis for denouncing a treaty which you’ve signed,”

“If the advice is all about the conditions for exercising article 16, this is something the government might arguably be able to run. As to whether there’s an argument for simply ditching parts of the treaty on the basis that the text isn’t binding on the UK any more, that’s much more difficult. And I think there’s general agreement about that.”

To read full article and these comments in context, please click here.

The Lawyer Hot 100 follow-up. William Hooper quizzed on his career

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The Lawyer has today published an interview with Will Hooper, who along with Monckton’s Ronit Kreisberger QC, was recognised as a 2022 Lawyer Hot 100. See website news 17 Jan 2022.

In this career quiz Will highlighted how he has as a treasured memento, his late pupil supervisor’s old desk and one piece of wisdom he likes to recall is that it is important not to forget that “judges are, ultimately, just people.” His parting advice to those who would like to do what he now does – “Think about whether you really want to do it. I have always found working at the Commercial Bar to be incredibly stimulating and intellectually rewarding, but it is not for everyone.”

You can access the full interview here.

Philip Moser QC quoted in the Financial Times: UK’s sanctions struggle may have broader lessons

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Helen Thomas writes:

“There is a decent legal debate going on about whether the 2018 amendments really imposed a higher standard, or just properly reflected UK law and our legal system. “All the House of Lords did was to make express all those things that the UK courts would require anyway,” says Philip Moser QC.”

To read full article, please click here.

Philip Moser QC quoted in the Financial Times: Liz Truss seeks emergency legislation to speed up UK sanctions on Russian oligarchs

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“It is considerably easier and faster to start, and potentially win, a judicial review in the High Court against a UK sanctions decision than it is to successfully prosecute a direct action in the General Court of the CJEU [Court of Justice of the European Union] in Luxembourg,” said Philip Moser QC.

“There is therefore a big difference between being the UK government trying to sanction people in a way that will stick and being the EU Commission which can sanction on a slimmer factual basis relatively insulated from effective challenge.”

To read full article, please click here.