SUMMER 2014
WADHAM COLLEGE LAW SOCIETY
!
PRESIDENT: THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD DYSON
CHAIRMAN: MR TIM PARKES
SECRETARY & TREASURER: MR BEN DULIEU
NEWSLETTER EDITOR: MS JOANNA OTTERBURN
MEMBERS’ NEWS
FROM AROUND THE
WORLD
ROUND UP OF THE
EVENTS OF THE PAST
TWELVE MONTHS
INTRODUCING
WADHAM'S NEW LAW
FELLOW
WADHAM COLLEGE LAW SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER
Making History:
Family Justice
On 22 April 2014, the Single Family
Court was launched in England and
Wales, shepherded in by none other
than Wadham alumni, Sir James
Munby, President of the Family
Division.
“How one goes about the
process of having a more
informative court list while
maintaining the proper privacy
of the children and the other
parties is a technical matter.
It’s a difficult matter. It’s an
important matter but one we
have got to overcome.”
Sir James made some remarks in the
President’s Court to mark the occasion:
“We stand on the cusp of history. 22
April 2014 saw the formal
implementation of the largest reform of
the family justice system any of us have
seen or will see in our professional
lifetimes. On 22 April 2014 almost all
the relevant provisions of the Crime and
- Sir James Munby
Courts Act 2013 and the Children and
Families Act 2014 came into force. On
22 April 2014 the Family Court came
into existence and the Family
Proceedings Court passed into history. On 22 April 2014 we saw the implementation of the final version of the revised Public Law
Outline in public law children cases and the implementation in private law children cases of the Child Arrangements Programme.
Taken as a whole, these reforms amount to a revolution. Central to this revolution has been – has had to be – a fundamental change in
the cultures of the family courts. This is truly a cultural revolution. …”
Read the full remarks at: http://www.judiciary.gov.uk/media/speeches/2014/the-family-justice-reforms.
Sir James also gave a press conference which can be read in full on the judicial website: http://bit.ly/1mIhT4v.
Sir Frank Berman QC receives the
Grand Croix de l'Ordre Royal du
Cambodge
!
Sir Frank Berman QC was one of the lead counsel for Cambodia in the case against Thailand at
the International Court of Justice over the Temple of Préah Vihear, where the Court has
pronounced a unanimous Judgment in Cambodia’s favour. This is a ground-breaking case, in
which the Court for the first time in its history has given a formal detailed decision as to how a
prior Judgment should be interpreted, in this instance one dating back to 1962, in which the
Court had decided that the Temple belonged to Cambodia.
!
The 900-year-old temple is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. It sits on a 1,700-ft escarpment in the Dangrek Mountains, close to the border between
Cambodia and Thailand. The border was settled by a Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1904, and marked on a series of maps drawn up between then and 1907,
but there has been a long-standing rift between the two countries over where it runs in the Temple area, which Thailand had occupied before Cambodia
gained its independence in 1953. The 1962 Judgment declared the Temple to be situated in Cambodian sovereign territory, and ordered Thailand to
withdraw from its vicinity, but did not define the area concerned.
!
When serious hostilities erupted in the wake of UNESCO’s decision to list the Temple in 2008, claiming lives and damaging the Temple itself, and leading
to the displacement of thousands of people, Cambodia returned to the International Court asking it to exercise a special jurisdiction under its Statute to
interpret the 1962 Judgment. The Court has now decided that under the 1962 Judgment Cambodia had sovereignty over the whole promontory on which
the Temple stands including the valley to its west, and terminating to the north at the 1907 map line.
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SUMMER 2014
WADHAM COLLEGE LAW SOCIETY
Interview with the Master of the Rolls
!
For a provincial lad from an entirely non-legal background, with no
contacts, who drifted into the law, found chambers by accident and
had no plans or specific ambitions to rise in his profession, John
Dyson has done pretty well. His rise and rise, to the Supreme Court
and thence to Master of the Rolls, was achieved quietly,
unaccompanied by the animated speculation that usually accompanies
the top jobs. And, it seems, without making enemies or attracting the
usual grumbles that the office should have gone to someone else.
Lord Dyson’s English father and Bulgarian mother owned a chic
dress shop in Leeds. Though there was no family or any other link with
the law, his father, for some reason he’s never quite understood,
always wanted him to be a barrister. After a classics degree at
Wadham College, Oxford, he flirted with the possibility of entering
academia, then considered the civil service, before plumping for the
Bar.
‘Looking back on it, it was all delightfully
haphazard. I really didn’t have any burning
ambition. And so in the end I rationalised the
decision I made, on the basis that the Bar seemed to
have that very interesting mix of quite an
intellectually challenging job as well as being very
practical.’
He then drifted into what was to become his
speciality at Keating Chambers: construction law,
arguably the least sexy and one of the most obscure
legal subjects. In spite of his somewhat laissez faire
attitude he found himself, to his slight surprise,
liking his job, being extremely good at it, and much
in demand. His practice blossomed, he took Silk, and
a few years afterwards was the subject of an unusual
ploy, better known in the world of football.
He was persuaded – some would say poached – to
become head of what was is now 39 Essex Street. At
the time it was unusual enough to move chambers –
to do so and leap into the top spot of a substantial set from his first
day was considered unprecedented.
It was there that he had his first mild taste of media attention,
acting for Dave Clark, the Sixties’ pop star. Thirty years later Clark
devised a musical based on his group’s songs. It did not do as well as
he’d hoped, for which he blamed London’s Dominion Theatre’s box
office. With Dyson QC acting for him, Clark sued the Dominion and
was awarded £600,000. Dyson remembers the trial for a particular
reason.
‘Our case was that the box office had been negligent and not sold
the tickets properly. The defence was that the show fizzled out
because it was no good. They called the Daily Telegraph theatre critic
as their expert. I can still remember to this day that when I read his
report there was something about it, I just had a feeling, and so my
first question to him was ‘Have you seen the show?’, and,
unbelievably he said no he hadn’t. So I asked about one more
question and then sat down. I think that was my most effective cross
examination ever.’
He reached the High Court in 1993, but was later diverted to
preside over the Technology and Construction Courts.
‘It was not something I particularly wanted to do, because I had
been on the bench for about five years by then and I was really
enjoying the variety, but Tom Bingham asked me if I would do it and
of course I said yes.’
He made his mark immediately, with his robust seminal judgment
in Macob v Morrison, which has had a dramatic effect on the
adjudication of construction disputes.
‘I was very pleased about that decision because I think it has
worked very successfully.’
His record in the Court of Appeal,
to which he was appointed in 2001,
is notable for the sheer variety and
scope of cases in which he was
involved, especially coming after
his stint in the narrow confines of
construction law.
‘It was a great place, the Court
of Appeal. I enjoyed it very, very
much. I’ve been very fortunate.’
‘Now I am in a position, for the
first time in my life, to choose
what cases I want to do. I
have never had that luxury
before. Everybody likes to sit
with the Master of the Rolls,
because on the whole he gets
good cases.’
In 2010 Dyson was the first
judge to be appointed directly to the Supreme Court without first
having been a peer; thus, he could be referred to only as Sir John
Dyson SCJ. A subsequent Royal Warrant enabled him and subsequent
appointees to bear the title ‘Lord’ or ‘Lady’.
He did not behave with the timidity often shown
by the newest recruits to the highest court. Relishing
the ambiance of intellectual collegiality, his
contributions, according to colleagues, were, from
the start, learned and quietly forceful. A short
concurring judgment in one of his first cases,
involving applications for asylum from homosexual
men fearing persecution in their own countries,
demonstrated the combination of clarity of thought,
realism and - importantly – compassion, which were
apparent in many of his judgments to come.
He stayed at the Supreme Court for less than two
and a half years before being offered his present job.
‘Now I am in a position, for the first time in my
life, to choose what cases I want to do. I have never
had that luxury before. Everybody likes to sit with
the Master of the Rolls, because on the whole he gets
good cases.’
But he emphasises that he doesn’t have a hidden agenda.
‘I would be surprised and disappointed if people looking at my
judgments were able to say that I had one.’
It is inevitable, though, that judgments delivered by the Master of
the Rolls attract more attention and debate than decisions taken by
other judges. Lord Dyson does not court controversy, but nevertheless
expresses his opinions vigorously, whether or not they might provoke
a reaction from an angry government or hostile media. He tasted both
when, in March, he delivered the Court of Appeal’s judgment
preventing the deportation of the alleged terrorist Abu Qatada.
Earlier this year the Court of Appeal ruled that the Home Office
scheme to overhaul the system of criminal records was unlawful. The
requirement on all job applicants to disclose all offences, however
minor or ancient, was a breach of their right to a private and family
life. Unusually, publication of the decision had been delayed for
several weeks to enable the Home Office, at their request, to make
further submissions. Nothing more was heard from them.
‘It is extraordinary that nothing has been done. The government
needs to pull its finger out and produce legislation,’ Dyson remarked.
This is not the language of a judge anxious to avoid offending
government ministers.
These days, a Master of the Rolls is also expected to perform a
quasi-political role – in a non-party sense - in meetings and
negotiations with the executive on proposed legislation or policy
reforms affecting the legal system. Some judges –- not only the most
senior - have expressed their reservations, or even outright opposition,
in extra- judicial contributions, especially in public - and publicised lectures. Dyson is hesitant to express strong views on such platforms.
‘No, I don’t think that it is a good idea for someone in my position,
when the government announces it is proposing to do something, to
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SUMMER 2014
give a lecture saying I think it’s a bad idea. I think that the right way
to do it is to respond, to talk to them. To stand on a platform and
shout publicly I don’t think is right and I think is probably counterproductive.’
But didn’t Dyson himself, last October, deliver a lecture severely
warning the government of the awful consequences of their slashing
legal aid?
‘That wasn’t aimed at the government. It’s not controversial, it’s
inevitable and everybody says it is inevitable and the government
knows it is going to happen. The problem is, once the government has
made a decision, has taken up a fixed position, then I think we have
to accept that. But in the run up to the making of the decision, then,
as senior Judges, we have a duty to warn the government and try
and persuade them not to take a certain course. But ultimately they
are the government and once they have made a decision there is no
point in going on about it. We’ve just got to do our best to deal with it.
On the legal aid issue, so far as possible steps are being taken to try
to help the litigating person and to help the judges to cope with the
litigating person. It’s very difficult.’
But does the government consult the judiciary sufficiently?
‘This Government is making lots of proposals and to be fair to
them, they do consult. They often expect a response with alarming
speed, but they do consult and so they expect us to tell them what we
think. If we think they are going terribly wrong then we are under a
duty to tell them that in no uncertain terms and to tell them why we
WADHAM COLLEGE LAW SOCIETY
think so. We do have access to them. But ultimately they are the
government.’
Away from his judicial role, Lord Dyson’s interests are mainly
musical. His pianistic talent is attested by the fact that, as a teenager,
he was taken on as a pupil of Dame Fanny Waterman, one of
England’s most influential teachers and creator of the internationally
renowned Leeds piano festival.
‘Well, I’ve always said that I was her least good pupil, but I was
quite good. I had lessons for nearly four years between the ages of 13
and 17, and I haven’t had lessons since. I have regretted that
sometimes, but I still play. I don’t practise much. I now just play for
myself, I play so much less well than I did when I was 17, but it hasn’t
caused me to stop.’
He looks fit, and younger than his 70 years, which is no doubt
attributable to his passion for serious walking, shared by his wife
Jacqueline, a senior law lecturer. ‘We both love it. Virtually all our
holidays are walking holidays.’
John Dyson never dreamed, expected or planned that he would
reach the heights he has, but he’s clearly revelling in the experience.
He’s become Master of the Rolls at a difficult time. The entire legal
system is reeling from the financial restraints being imposed, and the
judiciary is under a spotlight - not always a benign one – as never
before. Lord Dyson is clearly well up to the challenges posed.
The original article, written by Master Marcel Berlins,
appeared in The Middle Templar in Michaelmas 2013 and is
reproduced with kind permission.
!
Members' News
!
Charles Ciumei QC (1982) of Essex Court Chambers was awarded silk in 2014.
Amy Douthwaite (2004), solicitor at Kemp Little, and William Smith (2004), solicitor at Bird & Bird, became engaged to be married having
first met at Wadham in 2004.
Jeffrey Hackney will be a college lecturer for Wadham, Brasenose and St Anne’s for 2014-15 and has also been nominated by the Chancellor of the
University to be one of the two Clerks of the Market and will be admitted to office for this (fourth) year at the meeting of Congregation on 7 October. The Honourable Stephen W. Hamilton, was appointed a Puisne Judge of the Quebec Superior
Court (Montreal).
HHJ Michael Hopmeier (1970) was appointed Honorary Visiting Professor at City University,
London and was elected as a Bencher of Middle Temple.
Insa Koch (2013) was appointed to an assistant professorship in Law and Anthropology at the Law
Department of the London School of Economics.
Gareth Lewis (1992) welcomed Jude Albie Lewis into the world on 19 April 2013. Gareth is a
Senior Manager in Capital Management at ANZ Bank, Melbourne, Australia.
Asma Nizami (2004) is now a tenant at 1 Gray’s Inn Square.
Joanna Otterburn (2004) was appointed as a magistrate, sitting in South East London.
Joanna Otterburn and a fellow magistrate being
sworn in by Lord Justice Gross, Senior Presiding
Judge
Leon Pickering (2003) was appointed to sit on disciplinary panels for the RFU in the Surrey
region, judging matters (in relation to players and coaches) arising out of breaches of the RFU Rules
and Regulations.
Rohan Carl Pirani (1998) was appointed to be a Salaried Employment Judge of the Employment
Tribunals (England and Wales).
Randel E. Phillips (1969), General Counsel at Moore & Van Allen, PLLC, was appointed Chair of
the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners for 2013-14.
Luke Rostill (1976), presently a Wadham graduate student, has been elected a five year
Supernumerary Teaching Fellow in Law at St John's College Oxford.
Glendon Salter (2000) (m. Natalie Salter nee. Pereira (2001)) had a baby girl, Ella Grace
Salter, on 4 December 2013 (pictured right on a visit to Wadham).
Glendon Salter with daughter
Ella Grace at Wadham
Fedelma Smith (2001) has finished her posting in Mauritius and is back at the Headquarters of
the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
Adam Temple (2000) and wife, Ayako, had a baby girl, Charlotte Yuna Kato Temple.
Ella Wong (1986) is now working for the National Basketball Association of America in Beijing.
!
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SUMMER 2014
WADHAM COLLEGE LAW SOCIETY
60 seconds with Dr Sandy (Alexander) Steel
!We are delighted to announce that the College has elected Dr Sandy Steel to a Tutorial Fellowship in Law. He
joins Wadham from the Faculty at King's College London in September having been a Lecturer at King’s
College London since 2010. Sandy has a B.A. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge (Corpus Christi
College). His work on causation has been cited by courts, including the High Court of Australia. He has given
talks at the University of Johannesburg, the University of Western Ontario, the Institute of European Tort Law
in Vienna, and a Popper Seminar at the LSE. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Westfälische WilhelmsUniversität Münster in Spring/Summer 2013.
!Sandy will be the Dr Lee Shau Kee's Sir Man Kam Lo Fellow.
!We look forward to introducing him to the members of the Wadham College Law Society.
!
!
What was your last job?
!
Selected recent
publications
!
I was a Lecturer in Law at King’s College London from 2010 – 2014. I taught undergraduates tort,
contract, unjust enrichment, and moral philosophy.
!
What does your current role involve?
!
!
I’ll be a Fellow and Associate Professor of Law at Wadham. I’ll be giving tutorials in tort and contract
law to first and second year students, lecturing in tort law and on the Philosophical Foundations of the
Common Law BCL course, and continuing my research into various aspects of tort law and private law
theory.
!
What do you like to do in your spare time/how do you relax?
!
I like to play jazz piano and go to see live music quite often.
!
What can't you live without?
!
My laptop, sadly.
!
What’s on your ipod?
!
!
!
S Steel, ‘Rationalising
loss of a chance in tort’
in S Pitel, E
Chamberlain, J Neyers
(eds) Challenging
orthodoxy in tort law
(Hart, 2013).
!
!
As a child what did you want to be when you grew up?
!
Possibly a barrister. But as things turned out I just couldn’t bring myself to leave University.
!
Who would play you in the film of your life?
!
I’ve not seen too many films about legal academics. I wonder why ever that is. But if Ewan McGregor
felt like ending his career, I would be happy to allow him to play me.
David Hume. Living.
S Steel and NJ
McBride, Great debates
in jurisprudence
(Palgrave, forthcoming
September 2014).
S Steel, ‘Private law
and justice’ (2013) 33
Oxford Journal of Legal
Studies 607.
Some pretty obscure stuff, really. I listen to a lot of recent jazz. Dave Holland, Kit Downes, Brad
Mehldau. I do secretly like some pop music.
!
If you could meet anyone living or dead, who would it be?
!
S Steel, Proof of
causation in tort law
(Cambridge University
Press, forthcoming,
December 2014).
S Steel and NJ
McBride, ‘Suing for the
loss of the right to sue:
why Wright is
wrong’ (2012) 28
Professional
Negligence 27.
!
S Steel, ‘False
imprisonment and the
fetch of hypothetical
warrant’ (2011) 127 Law
Quarterly Review 527.
!
S Steel and DJ
Ibbetson, ‘More grief
on uncertain causation
in tort’ (2011) 70
Cambridge Law
Journal 451.
!
!
Wadham has also elected
two alumni, Professor
Kathleen Sullivan and
Professor Sandy
Fredman FBA Hon QC to
Honorary Fellowships.
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SUMMER 2014
WADHAM COLLEGE LAW SOCIETY
Tutors’ Report by Tarun Khaitan (for the tutorial team)
This year has seen two significant changes in the law team at Wadham. Laura Hoyano's position at Wadham
changed from a Tutorial Fellow to a Senior Research Fellow. Sandy Steel, currently at KCL and featured
elsewhere in this bulletin, will join the tutorial team from September 2014 as the new Lee Shau Kee fellow. Yours
truly is honoured to be appointed as the new Hackney Fellow--the wisdom of the appointment remains to be
confirmed. Tom Furlong, our lecturer for some years, left us (and the country) for greener pastures in Hong
Kong. We do not expect any further changes to the fellowship and the tutorial team until Eveline Ramaekers
finishes her four-year stint as the Wadham College Law Society Fellow in 2016.
!
This year, Wadham also appointed two of its illustrious alumnae as Honorary Fellows--Prof Kathleen Sullivan
and Prof Sandra Fredman. Sir Stephen Sedley will be joining us as our new Keeley Visiting Fellow in September.
Our titular lecturer Brian Havel has been appointed as a Visiting Professor by the Law Faculty at Oxford. We are
thrilled with these new appointments, of course. Prof Sullivan chaired a hugely successful 'Women and the Law'
panel at Hogan Lovells in June, to mark the 40th anniversary of co-residential education at Wadham. Special
thanks to Neil Mirchandani for making the event possible. Sir Stephen gave our second years a taste of real life
litigation by judging the Herbert Smith Freehills Challenge moot with the ever-generous Tim Parkes. !
Our students continue to do us proud. Luke Rostill has been appointed as a career development fellow at St
John's College, Oxford. Graduate students Marie Tidball, Luke Rostill and Rachel Clement have been the driving
force behind the upcoming Oxford University Disability Mooting Championship. Second year undergraduate
Bertrand Nzabandora was awarded the Freshfields Stephen Lawrence Scholarship.
!
For 2014-15, we are expecting a considerably larger graduate cohort than has been the norm in recent years and it
seems our efforts to make Wadham a more attractive destination for graduate law degrees is bearing fruit (the
state-of-the-art McCall MacBain Graduate Centre has no doubt helped too). We have also decided to make a
minor increment in our undergraduate intake and feel confident we will be able to absorb these increases without
any adverse effect on the quality of teaching provided at Wadham.
!
We remain ever grateful for the generosity of Herbert Smith Freehills and two anonymous alumnae for
continuing their support for our student book loan scheme. Freshfields very kindly funded our law subject dinner
yet again. At this year's dinner, we were privileged to hear from Tim Jones the role that lawyers played in making
the London 2012 Olympics possible.
!
I cannot finish before thanking all those involved in ensuring yet another fantastic year for the WCLS. In
particular, this year's student committee was exceptional and Tim Parkes continued to go far beyond the call of
duty as Chair to nurture the society. Thanks also to Jo Otterburn for putting this bulletin together, and for her
active support of the Society. A final word of gratitude for Jeffrey--for his excellent, non-intrusive, supervision of
the student committee over the last two years. As the students get used to a steward without his panache, I will
continue to look up to Jeffrey as a role model in this, as in other, things.
Profile: Eveline
Ramaekers
!Eveline Ramaekers is a career development fellow at
Wadham College. She completed her undergraduate
and postgraduate studies (LLB, LLM with distinction)
at the European Law School (Maastricht) between
2003-2008. She was awarded a doctorate in
European Union property law by Maastricht University
in April 2013. Before
coming to Oxford she
was a visiting lecturer
and researcher at the
China-EU School of Law
(Beijing), the University of
Muenster and the SouthAfrican Research Chair in
Property Law in
Stellenbosch. Her
research interests include
EU property law,
comparative property law
and private international
law.
!
!
!
A post script on the Examination Results
!
Our undergraduate finalists did well again. Brad Lawlor got a First
and a Prize, all others had solid 2.1s. The BCLers also got good 2.1s.
Congratulations to all. Profile: Tarun Khaitan
!
Tarun Khaitan is an Associate Professor and the
Hackney Fellow in Law at Wadham College. He
completed his undergraduate studies (BA LLB
Hons) at the National Law School (Bangalore)
between 1999-2004. He then came to Oxford as a
Rhodes Scholar and completed his postgraduate
studies (BCL with distinction, MPhil with distinction,
DPhil) at Exeter College. Before joining Wadham, he
was the Penningtons Student in Law at Christ
Church. Tarun is currently working on a monograph entitled
'A Theory of Discrimination Law'.
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SUMMER 2014
WADHAM COLLEGE LAW SOCIETY
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Women in the Law: Rising to the Top
In celebration of the 40th anniversary of co-education, Wadham College, the University of Oxford and host Hogan Lovells, held an
event on Tuesday 3 June 2014 entitled Women in the Law: Rising to the Top. A panel chaired by Kathleen Sullivan, Partner, Quinn
Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP and Former Dean of the Stanford Law School, discussed how women have made their mark in
the legal sector and how we could all support and encourage more women into the upper echelons of the profession in the future.
The panel comprised: Timothy Endicott - Professor of Legal Philosophy, Fellow in Law and Dean of the Faculty of Law at Oxford,
Brenda Hale - Baroness Hale of Richmond, Deputy President, Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, Alison Saunders - Director of
Public Prosecutions. Closing remarks were given by Warden of Wadham, Lord Macdonald QC.
!
Become part of the new WCLS Women’s Mentoring Scheme
We are piloting a mentoring scheme to aid the development and career progression of WCLS women. The WCLS Women’s
Mentoring Scheme will offer WCLS women the opportunity to explore with a senior member of the Society (male or female) what
they would like to achieve in their professional lives and how to make their career aspirations a reality. We welcome male and
female mentors to mentor women for an initial period of one year. If you want to become part of this scheme please email
joanna.otterburn@wadh.oxon.org and anna.cumming01@googlemail.com by Friday 17th October to register your interest as a
mentor or mentee. There will be a launch event in January 2015.
!
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SUMMER 2014
WADHAM COLLEGE LAW SOCIETY
Confiscation Judge Abroad by HHJ Michael Hopmeier
In the last few years I have been fortunate to
have been invited to speak abroad at various
conferences and training seminars in a
number of different countries on issues
concerning the fight against corruption and
economic crime with particular reference to
‘confiscation/asset recovery’. These have
included Bucharest, Banjul, Manila, Madrid,
Lisbon, Istanbul, Budapest, Copenhagen,
Colombo and Dar es Salaam. In the first six
months of this year, I gave talks in
Copenhagen, Malta, Bermuda, Bangkok and
Birmingham. Leaving aside that this has
enabled me to visit different and often
fascinating countries, the experience has
been enormously interesting and fulfilling.
So how did all start? Well, over five years
ago as I attended, then as a Recorder, one of
the three-day (those were the days!) JSB
sentencing refresher seminars for judges
and when innocently, as I thought, I
commented over a quiet drink or two with
the then course director that there were too
many difficult complex text books on
confiscation and that what Crown Court
judges really needed was an ‘idiot’s guide’ to
confiscation: ‘Yes Michael...,’ he said... ‘and I
know just the person to write it...’ The rest
is, of course, history.
Little did I know that my life would
suddenly be changed. Not only have there
been some four editions of the Guide on
Restraint and Confiscation, published on
the Judicial College website, but as a result
of writing the Guide and also undertaking a
number of serious economic crime cases,
both in my practice prior to and then since
my appointment trying such cases in my
home court at Kingston, I have also been
invited to give talks and lectures on the
subject by the EU, Commonwealth
Secretariat, Academy of European Law,
Interpol and others. The Guide is freely
available to judges and recorders, although I
understand it is a bestseller in prison.
Of course being known as a person (aka
anorak) interested in this area of work has
its moments. As I was greeted by a kindly
judge, whom I had never met, at a party in
Yorkshire last Christmas, ‘You’re the chap
who writes the Guide.’ he said. followed by,
‘You’re not going to confiscate my car are
you?’
So why are so many countries interested
now in fighting corruption and what is
important about confiscation of the
proceeds of crime of criminals? The simple
fact is that organised crime, fraud and
corruption are all on the increase
throughout the world. According to the
evidence set out in the recent Transparency
International 2013 Global Corruption
Barometer, published this week, there is a
global pandemic of corruption; the UK is not
immune from this. It has been estimated
that the value of bribes in the world
represents some 3% of the world economy.
Cybercrime is the hot topic. Fraud alone
costs the UK some £73 billion per year,
according to the 2012 National Fraud
Authority Annual fraud indicator.
!Following the recent G8 conference, so-
called tax havens such as Cayman and
Bermuda are set to become more
transparent with regard to beneficial
ownership of companies and bank accounts.
No longer do criminals seek to hide their illgotten gains in small mountainous countries
in Europe, but instead they must look
further afield for a safe haven - and the
number of those havens is undoubtedly
becoming smaller and subject to scrutiny
by governments and banks alike. The days
of a person seeking to hide assets in an Isle
of Man company with nominee directors
whose shares are owned by a Guernsey
discretionary trust with nominee trustees,
may well be over, or at least will be very
soon.
Further, the amounts said to have been
stolen from relatively poor countries by
their rulers or former rulers is staggering.
The recent Arab Spring has caused a
resolve by countries affected to secure
return of stolen assets. The first Arab
Forum on Asset Recovery was held in
Doha, Qatar in September 2012. Poor
countries see their minerals and resources
being exploited by companies and
countries who export the profits abroad
paying little or no tax in the countries from
where the resources are extracted, and
certainly they do not invest the profits in
those countries. As Kofi Annan said ‘...
corruption hurts the poor
disproportionately by diverting funds
intended for development, undermining a
government’s ability to provide basic
services, feeding inequality and injustice
and discouraging foreign investment.’
Developing countries lose between $20
billion and $40 billion each year to bribery
and other corrupt practices yet over the last
15 years only about $6 billion has been
recovered and returned. There is much work
to be done in this area.
Whilst our Courts may struggle with the
provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act and
Court of Appeal judges may bemoan the
drafting of some its provisions, the fact
remains that the UK was one of the first
countries to embrace a comprehensive
criminal and civil asset recovery scheme,
now mature and well- established (albeit in
a state of continuing development (cf most
recently R V Harvey 2013 EWCA Crim
1104), which is the envy of many countries.
Other countries want to learn from our
experience. When in March 2012 the EU
proposed a new Directive (2012/0036) on
the freezing and confiscation of the proceeds
of crime in the European Union, the
Minister of State for
Crime Prevention at the Home Office stated,
‘The UK has strong powers which are
successfully used to tackle criminal finances.
Our powers are already compliant with or
stronger than those contained in the
Directive.’ Commonwealth countries in
particular who have adopted similar POCA
legislation seek and need training for their
judges and prosecutors on how best to
implement asset recovery measures fairly
and effectively. Human Rights
considerations, particularly in the area of
restraint of assets as well as in the
enforcement against property (e.g. family
homes) also play an important part. The
principle that criminals should not profit or
benefit from their crimes is now universally
accepted as being right and proper.
During my last visit to the Philippines in
2012, at the invitation of the British
Ambassador and the Philippines
Commission on Good Government (PCGG),
I was privileged to give the 3rd Haydee
Yorak lecture on ‘Asset Recovery as an AntiCorruption Tool.’ The PCGG have been
successful in seeking and securing the
repatriation of millions of dollars allegedly
stolen from the country during the Marcos
regime. The shoes can be seen in a museum.
Cooperation between countries and their
judicial authorities in this area of law is very
important. The fraudster in Russia does not
keep his ill-gotten gains in Russia. The UK
fraudster does not generally keep his profits
in the UK. What has been particularly
interesting to discover is that countries who
on one level may not have the best relations
with each other, nonetheless regularly
attend conferences on this area (in
particular fighting corruption and
recovering
the proceeds of crime/stolen assets)
intending and wishing to cooperate with
each other. Thus, most recently in July I
spoke at the Interpol /StAR 4th Global
Focus Point Conference on Asset Recovery
in Bangkok, which some 150 delegates from
over 65 countries attended, including Iran
and the USA, countries from Europe, Asia,
the Middle and Far East, Africa and North
and South America.
That quiet drink at the bar at Scarman
House was fortuitous. What has followed
has been a highly interesting and
worthwhile experience. I have little doubt
that the Bribery Act 2010, DPAs, the 4th EU
Money laundering directive and further
developments under POCA will keep
speakers busy for some time.
So whilst MTIC fraud and confiscation may
not be everyone’s cup of tea, when it results
in visiting fascinating and sometimes
remote places, meeting interesting and
committed people in differing justice
systems, seeing the odd lion in the Selous
game reserve, visiting medieval painted
monasteries in the Bukovina as well as
drinking Nuwara Eliya Pekoe in Kandy,
eating goulash in Budapest, Imam Bayildi in
Istanbul and sipping a ‘dark and stormy’ in
Hamilton, then I think to myself that being
the author of an idiot’s guide is perhaps not
quite so idiotic after all.
HHJ Michael Hopmeier was called to the
Middle Temple in July 1974. He sits as a
Circuit Judge at Kingston on Thames and
is a Diversity and Community Relations
Judge. He is an editor of the 4th Edition
of Millington and Sutherland Williams
on the Proceeds of Crime, recently
published by OUP. The original article
appeared in The Middle Templar in
Michaelmas 2013 and is reproduced with
kind permission.
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SUMMER 2014
WADHAM COLLEGE LAW SOCIETY
Wadham College Moot Competition 2014
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The problem was on the human rights compatibility of convictions for
threatening, abusive or insulting speech under the Public Order Act 1986. It was
written by Laura Hoyano and judged by Sir Stephen Sedley, who will be joining
Wadham as a Keeley Visiting Fellow next year.
The winners were Kathryn Hayward and Shanice Mahil. Iona Teague and
Charles Bishop were the other mooters. The winners won £75 each, funded
generously by Herbert Smith Freehills. Tim Parkes presented the awards to the
winners.
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Student Visit to London by Justine Rughooputh
The 21st of May was the annual trip to London for the first and second year law
students at Wadham. We began the day by visiting Anthony Metzer QC and
Goldsmiths Chambers. He kindly agreed to talk to students about life at the bar
and his career. In the afternoon, Jo Otterburn generously organised for us to
visit Holroyde J at the Royal Courts of Justice. It was fascinating to hear about
his perhaps unconventional route to becoming a judge and gave us some insight
into the current climate of the criminal bar. Jo had also arranged for us to have
a tour of the Royal Courts of Justice afterwards. We then headed over to see Sue
Willman at Deighton Pierce Glynn. We were joined by a current trainee and
paralegal to discuss their work with us and the path to becoming a public law
solicitor. To finish off, we headed to Middle Temple for drinks.
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I would like to thank everyone who has been kind enough to give their time to
us, both during the London trip and throughout the year. A special thanks goes
to Jo Otterburn and Sarah Lee for their help in arranging the day. I would also
like to thank the Student Treasurer, Charles Bishop, and the Student Secretary,
Kathryn Hayward, as planning the day was definitely a joint effort. Last, but
certainly not least, I would like to thank Mr Hackney on behalf of the student
committee for his help, patience and good humour throughout the year.
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Middle Temple
Drinks Reception:
an unexpected
visitor
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In the usual tradition, the students’
visit to London concluded with a
drinks reception in Middle Temple,
kindly arranged by Sarah Lee of
Brick Court Chambers.
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The reception boasted an excellent
turnout of Wadham lawyers, but also
an unexpected visit from former Lord
Chief Justice of England and Wales,
The Rt Hon The Lord Judge,
Treasurer of Middle Temple. Lord
Judge spent time speaking with the
students about their interests and
aspirations.
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SUMMER 2014
WADHAM COLLEGE LAW SOCIETY
Subject Law Dinner 2014 kindly sponsored by
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A Wadham dinner date in London: 16 October 2014
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It has been some three years since the WCLS last hosted a London dinner and your committee has decided it would be reckless in the
extreme to allow a further year to pass without doing so again. As such we intend to hold a dinner in October. Neil Mirchandani of Hogan
Lovells has yet again persuaded his firm to make its facilities available to us, and as a further attraction Joshua Rozenberg has kindly
offered to say a few words after dinner about a very current legal hot topic, namely the relationship between the law and the media. The
details are as follows:
Date: 16 October 2014
Drinks: from 630pm onwards
Dinner starts: 715pm
Dress: suits/smart casual Venue: Hogan Lovells, Atlantic House, Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2FG
Cost per person (food and drinks included): £45 - Hogan Lovells have calculated this as the cost price. We would be delighted to see you – please could you let samantha.Griffin@linklaters.com know if you are able to attend.
If you do plan on coming you can either bring a cheque along with you or, preferably, transfer funds to WCLS electronically using the
details below. If you do the latter could you perhaps let Sam know you have done so to help us keep track.
Sort Code: 20-65-18 / A/C No: 80917311 / Payee: Wadham College Law Society
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SUMMER 2014
New Members
This Newsletter is being circulated to Student Members. Those
Student Members who are going down from Wadham will have also
received an Application Form to join the Society together with a form
for payment under which the annual subscription is not payable until
2015. The Committee very much hopes that these Student Members
will decide to stay in touch by joining the Society either as a Life
Member or by paying the modest annual subscription.
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It is vital for the future well-being of the Society that the Society
recruits new younger members. Views are always welcome about
events or new initiatives which the Society might consider, particularly
for members who have just left Wadham or who are in the early stages
of their careers. Please e-mail the Chairman, Tim Parkes, at
tim.parkes@hsf.com.
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If you know of other Wadham lawyers, whether or not they read law at
Wadham, who might wish to join the Society, please use the reverse
side of the Newsletter Form.
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Subscriptions
May I remind those of you who pay your annual subscription by
cheque to forward a cheque in favour of “Wadham College Law
Society” for £10 to Ben Dulieu at Linklaters, One Silk Street, London
EC2Y 8HG. If you would prefer to make future annual payments by
standing order or direct debit, please ask Ben
(ben.dulieu@linklaters.com) to forward a standing order or direct
debit form to you.
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News for the next edition
We welcome news of Members and items written by Members. If you
would like to include something in the next issue, please complete the
attached Newsletter Form and send it to
joanna.otterburn@wadh.oxon.org.
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And finally, a titbit from our spy on
the ground…
WADHAM COLLEGE LAW SOCIETY
Committee Members and
Officers
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President: The Rt Hon Lord Dyson, Master of the Rolls
Chairman: Tim Parkes, partner Herbert Smith Freehills
Secretary and Treasurer: Ben Dulieu, partner
Linklaters
Gerard Clarke, barrister Middle Temple
Jane Clifton, barrister Middle Temple
James Dickson, Goldman Sachs and retired partner
Linklaters
Jeffrey Hackney, Emeritus Law Fellow
Stephen Harris, solicitor BBC Legal Department and past
Secretary and Treasurer
Tony Haycroft, barrister Middle Temple
His Honour Judge Michael Hopmeier, Circuit Judge
Laura Hoyano, Law Fellow
Tarun Khaitan, Law Fellow
Tim Leaver, partner Herbert Smith Freehills
Sarah Lee, barrister Grays Inn
Tom Leech QC, barrister Lincoln’s Inn Richard Levitt, retired partner Slaughter and May Thomas Lyon, retired partner Berwin Leighton Paisner
Roger McCormick, retired partner Freshfields Bruckhaus
Deringer
Neil Mirchandani, partner Hogan Lovells
Tony Nurse-Marsh, partner Barlow Lyde & Gilbert Joanna Otterburn, Head of the Office of the Senior
Presiding Judge (Civil Service) and non-practising solicitor
Eveline Ramaekers, Law Fellow Martin Read, retired partner Slaughter and May and past
Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer
Nick Rees, partner Linklaters and past Secretary and
Treasurer
Jo Sidhu, barrister 25 Bedford Row
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Student Representatives (2012/13):
Natalie Oshisanwo, President
Hannah Lewis, Secretary
Divyank Aggarwal, Treasurer
Student Representatives (2013/14):
Justine Rughooputh, President
Kathryn Hayward, Secretary
Charlie Bishop, Treasurer
It was pointed out at lunch in Wadham today [9 June 2014] that
Melanie Phillips (nee Rozenberg) had complimented the Warden in
her column in The Times. This seemed so inherently unlikely that a
search for the said column was initiated with a view to framing it. The
column was headed Sometimes justice has to be done in secret and
was about the secret trial proposal in the news. It argued that there might be circumstances where secrecy in intelligence matters would
be essential. It went on: “That is why liberal lawyers who nevertheless [sic] have some insight into what is involved in defending the
country, such as [the Warden]... have been sympathetic to the secret trial ruling.” Discuss.
Passing of Bernard Adell (Alberta & Wadham 1961) !
We bring you the sad news that on 23 July 2014 a labour law giant passed away. Professor Bernie Adell,
former Dean of Queen’s University Law School and Wadham alumni, passed away while visiting his
daughter in Japan. The Queen’s University website published the following text:
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Flags on campus are lowered in memory of Professor Emeritus Bernard "Bernie" Adell, a former dean of the
Faculty of Law and an internationally recognized scholar in the employment and labour law field. Dr. Adell
joined Queen’s Faculty of Law in 1964. He served as associate dean of the faculty from 1969–1971 and as
dean from 1977–1982. He was appointed an emeritus professor in 2004.
During his career, Dr. Adell published extensively and developed and delivered a wide range of courses
around employment and labour law. From 2005 to 2009, Dr. Adell was academic director of the Professional
Development LLM Program in Labour and Employment Law at Osgoode Hall Law School. In 2010, he coordinated a master’s course in comparative labour law, taught by several leading British and European
labour law scholars, at the Bader International Studies Centre in England. More recently, he was closely
involved in the planning and launching of the Queen’s Centre for Law in the Contemporary Workplace. He conducted numerous
studies for government commissions and international organizations and had many years of experience as a labour arbitrator and
mediator. He was the Canadian Industrial Relations Association’s H.D. Woods Memorial Lecturer in 1996, and he was one of the
principal researchers in a nation-wide study on strikes and lockouts in essential services. Dr. Adell was editor of the Canadian
Labour and Employment Law Journal and a long-time faculty advisor to the Queen’s Law Journal.
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