Diary news plus insights, commentary and appointments from the legal world

27 September 2024

Editorial contact: fennell.edward@yahoo.com

SHORT THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: Justice Beyond the Grave?

 Who’d be a whistle-blower? Who’d report the boss for abusive behaviour?

As a society we are not good at dealing with these questions. Whether that be at Harrods or with the Financial Conduct Authority (as this week’s report from Richard Lloyd reveals) or, indeed, even in the NHS or religious bodies, the whistle-blowing process is at best often useless and at worst downright dangerous.

Next month’s Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act may go some way towards curtailing some of the worst aspects of intimidation. But the ‘calling out’ of bad behaviour is always going to be a risky business.

The only slight consolation is that the truth cannot be suppressed forever. Al Fayed’s reputation has now been squashed definitively. Revenge is best served up cold – and sometimes cold as death.

The LegalDiarist

In this edition

+ LEGAL DIARY OF THE WEEK

Qatar ‘De-railing Justice’ ?

Harassed Harrods Must Pay Attention in Future

DACB Spinning the Globe

CLLS vs. SRA : The Gloves Are Off

+ LEGAL COMMENT OF THE WEEK

on changes to the planning regulations

+ APPOINTMENTS OF THE WEEK

at the South Eastern Circuit and Collyer Bristow

LEGAL DIARY OF THE WEEK

Qatar ‘De-railing Justice’ ?

With former Directors of Public Prosecutions somewhat in the news right now we should draw attention to Sir Max Hill KC (successor next but one to the Prime Minister in that role) who declared to a hearing in London yesterday that the State of Qatar has been involved in a bid to ‘derail’ proceedings in the High Court in London.

Quite a claim – but then it is an extraordinary case.

The focus is on nine Syrian men who are seeking compensation following what they say was torture by the Al-Nusra Front, a jihadist terrorist organization operating from Syria. Their case is that Al-Nusra was funded by the Qatar National Bank which, in effect, had contributed to facilitating not just the torture but also kidnap, murder and the destruction of property and livelihoods of the claimants or their family members (not to mention religious and ethnic persecution).

“There is a conspiracy to pervert the course of justice at work at this time,” said Hill as he urged the Judge, Richard Armstrong, not to “Do the defendants’ bidding” by allowing “the criminal conspiracy to win by striking out the proceedings”.

The Qatar National Bank is not alone in facing accusations. Alongside it are the Doha Bank, Christian Comair (a businessman) and Abd Al-Hadi Manna Al-Hajri (the brother-in-law of the Emir of Qatar). All deny the allegations and also being party to any alleged conspiracy. However, among the allegations of State interference by Qatar is the suggestion that its representatives had attempted to recruit the Claimants’ legal representatives to ‘act contrary to their duties to the Claimants’, and sought to divert their attention from the current proceedings by ‘engaging them in protracted and fruitless negotiations’.

So, very strong stuff and in the event Judge Armstrong refused to strike out the Claimants’ case but has given them a fortnight to pay £1.6 million as a security for legal costs to keep their case going.

“It is fair to say this is the type of case that gives one sleepless nights,” he said. One can understand why.

Harassed Harrods Must Pay Attention in Future

In the week when the regime of sexual abuse perpetrated at Harrods for decades by Mohamed Al Fayed has been exposed it is timely that the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published new guidance on employers’ responsibilities to prevent workplace sexual harassment.

The Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act comes into force on October 26th and will introduce a preventative duty on employers to stop workplace harassment. The EHRC’s publication is designed to help employers understand their new obligations.

“Although I have seen countless instances where employers are taking steps to foster an anti-harassment culture,” said Hina Belitz, employment partner at Excello Law, “there are, unfortunately, too many examples of shocking sexual harassment, particularly against junior female employees. It is particularly important to ensure senior management set a good example and are held to account.”

Harrods, it must be said, could be a text-book example of where it had all gone wrong. “What qualifies as ‘reasonable steps’ will be an objective test, but one which takes account of the specific circumstances of the employer, such as its size and the sector in which it operates,” says Belitz. “There are several steps which are key for all employers to take, which include providing mandatory and comprehensive staff training, as well as having clear and up-to-date policies.”

Under the new rules the potential compensation which could be awarded in discrimination claims is uncapped. Alongside that is the threat of an uplift of up to 25% should an employer fail to fulfil their new duty. Coming at the same time as the Harrods scandal this could be the best possible time to transform the culture of the workplace.

DACB Spinning the Globe

At a time when a number of Western law firms are bowing out of Hong Kong  DAC Beachcroft is bucking the trend and diving in. The new office will be DACB’s second in the region standing alongside Singapore where the firm has been operating since 2011.  As Gustavo Blanco, DACB’s Head of International Business commented, “It has been a long-time ambition of ours to expand into Hong Kong,. With a foothold in this important market, we are delivering on our ambition to be the international insurance law firm of choice for the global insurance industry.”

Heading up the new office will be Wai Yue Loh, the Joint Managing Director of Incisive Law (the independent Singapore Law Practice with which DACB has an association). Alongside him will be Ross Risby, a partner in DACB’s Insurance team who has relocated to Hong Kong from London. 

“Wai Yue is an experienced shipping, international trade and commodities litigator and has a leading reputation in the Chinese hull and machinery and marine cargo insurance markets, representing international clients in arbitrations and shipping disputes globally,” explained Blanco  “He and Ross will be well placed to help us drive forward our global shipping practice, working closely with the team in Singapore, our extensive team in London, and our expanding team across Latin America.”

Earlier this year the firm opened in Lima, Peru in a move which complemented the firm’s existing network covering Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. Obviously no shortage of ambition there then.

CLLS vs. SRA : The Gloves Are Off

Exchanges are becoming testy between the City of London Law Society (CLLS)

and the Solicitors Regulation Authority over its proposals to extend its fining powers as recently announced. As the CLLS points out, ‘While not opposed to a scheme that provides for substantial fines, as that is clearly what Parliament intended, the CLLS considers that the way the SRA has gone about this is flawed’.

According toColin Passmore, Chair of the CLLS, the Society, “Cannot agree with a policy which so many of our specialist lawyers consider is fundamentally flawed. We cannot see how the SRA can now continue to proceed with its proposed approach. That said, we are more than prepared to work with the SRA to help produce a more sensible and proportionate policy.”

The CLLS has now published a series of ‘robust points’ about the flaws it has identified in the SRA’s proposals including that they are

– arbitrary,

– not fit for purpose, and

– inconsistent with its obligations in common law and statute.

Iain Miller, Chair of the CLLS Professional Rules and Regulatory Committee which drew up the submission, said: “The more we went into the SRA paper, the more confused it became. It looks as if the SRA has offered a policy without thinking through its ramifications, without a clear grasp of the essentials, and without any proper consideration of the underlying law. We urge the SRA to reconsider its proposals.”

Strong words indeed.  

LEGAL COMMENT OF THE WEEK

TOPIC: The government’s consultation into proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and other changes to the planning system

COMMENT BY: Ben Standing, Partner specialising in planning and environmental law, Browne Jacobson

 “The proposed reforms clearly indicate the government’s resolve to get Britain building again at a time when the number of units approved by the planning system dropped to a 10-year low, highlighting how the current planning system isn’t working as intended.

“However, planning reform will only succeed if it goes hand in hand with a dedicated drive to adequately resource planning authorities, which require sufficient people and skills to consider the merits of large, complex developments featuring a wide range of planning and legal issues.

“Therefore, new funding for local authorities and a focus on accessing the necessary training – perhaps via a dedicated central resource of specific skills – would significantly help to grease the wheels of a new planning system.

“Once the consultation to the NPPF ends, we’d also like to see the government present a plan to work in close collaboration with communities, whose support will go some way to the success of building new housing developments.

“In a recent Net Zero and Local Democracy report published by the Local Government Information Unit and Browne Jacobson, we found that the risk of successful challenge to new environmental measures is greater if local residents feel they haven’t been listened to, and the same is true with housing.

“Therefore, it’s crucial that reform at national level doesn’t lead to projects being imposed on communities against local will. Encouraging developers and local authorities to collaborate with residents on proactively creating local benefits such as better roads, amenities and parks – rather than simply mitigating against problems created – when new developments are proposed would help to achieve national housebuilding targets.”

COMMENT BY: Alun Williams, partner, Spector Constant & Williams

“The chancellor is another in a long line of politicians who appears pretty adept at identifying the illness plaguing the planning system. The question is whether Labour will be the first to successfully administer a cure.”

COMMENT BY: Fergus Charlton planning partner, Michelmores

“Understandably the Chancellor has dipped lightly into the world of planning in her speech to conference. ‘Ripping out the blockages’ of a system that places great value on community consultation and which turns on both local and national level political decision taking, suggests that the Chancellor is inclined to extend permitted development rights. Such rights typically avoid consultation and constrain the ability of a politically driven decision maker to say ‘no’.

“This would be consistent with the direction of travel signalled over the weekend by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government’s planning reform working paper that is proposing ‘brownfield passports’ akin to permissions in principle, and which also extols the use of Local Development Orders.”

APPOINTMENTS OF THE WEEK

SOUTH EASTERN CIRCUIT

Nick Hanning has been appointed to the post of Recorder in the South Eastern Circuit where he will sit in Family cases. Hanning is the first ever CILEX quailifed lawyer to be appointed to this role thereby marking a significant moment for those with Legal Executive backgrounds.

Previously a Deputy District Judge since 2020, Hanning is an experienced practitioner who specialises in cases involving employment, discrimination and occupational health law. He acted for the claimant in the seminal House of Lords case of Majrowski v Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Trust, which established the principle of vicarious liability of employers under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. He was a member of the Civil Justice Council between 2018 and 2021, sat on the Litigant in Person Judicial Engagement Group and served on the Bach Commission on Access to Justice.

“Historically, CILEX Lawyers have been slow to push themselves forward,” said Hanning, “but the growing number of judges from our ranks should give them confidence that they belong on the bench in the same way that they now do around partnership tables.”

COLLYER BRISTOW

Aidan Grant has been appointed as a Partner in the Tax & Estate Planning team  of the Private Wealth Department at  Collyer Bristow. His work has focused on high-net-worth clients with UK/US interests including mixed domicile marriages, UK resident US citizens or UK resident beneficiaries of US trusts. He sits on the Private Client Tax committee of the International Bar Association and is also on the leadership committee of a UK-based networking group focusing on US/UK tax and estate planning professionals known as the ‘US Future Partners Group’.

“Aidan is an exceptional lawyer with huge amounts of energy and is enormously passionate about what he does,” says Peter Daniel, Head of Private Wealth at Collyer Bristow. “He is extremely well-regarded by clients for his expertise and his pragmatic approach to complex issues. We are always delighted to recognise the talent we have, which is no better rewarded than by a promotion to partnership. Aidan will assist Collyer Bristow in the continuing growth of its renowned Private Wealth offering, and we are delighted that he will be doing so from his new position as partner.”

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