The European Court delivered a judgment today dismissing the proceedings brought
by the Commission against the UK in which it challenged the UK’s legislation on
VAT Grouping. This judgment will be welcomed by all large taxpayers in the UK.
Click here to read the full European Commission v UK judgment
Melanie Hall comments in VAT Groups Sigh Of Relief case note
Monckton Chambers is pleased to announce Vivien Rose will be appointed Justice of the High Court with effect from 13 May 2013.
Vivien Rose is the current chair of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) and has a wealth of expertise in competition and public law. She was called to the bar in 1984 upon which she took up tenancy at Monckton.
In 1995 she left private practice and joined the Government Legal Service, working for several years in HM Treasury advising on financial services regulation, at the Ministry of Defence advising on international humanitarian law, and in the Legal Services Office of the House of Commons. She joined the CAT as chairman in 2005.
She is one of four newly appointed High Court Judges. To read full coverage of the new appointments in The Lawyer, please click here.
Members and staff of Monckton Chambers warmly congratulate Vivien on her success.
As Melanie Hall QC anticipated in her case note on C-85/11 EC v Ireland, the European Court has dismissed the Commission’s complaint concerning Ireland’s VAT Grouping legislation, for largely the same reasons as those advanced by the Advocate General.
Please click here for the judgment, click for the Advocate General’s Opinion and click here to view Melanie’s EC v Ireland case note.
Judgment in EC v UK is expected shortly.
Mr Justice Roth has today given his latest judgment in National Grid Electricity Transmission plc v ABB Limited and others. He has ruled that the French Defendants to the proceedings (companies within the Alstom and Areva groups) must provide disclosure of relevant documents. After considering extensive evidence from experts in French law, Roth J rejected the argument that there is a real risk of those companies being prosecuted in France under the so-called ‘French Blocking Statute’ (Law No. 68-678 of 26 July 1968) if they comply with a disclosure order from the English High Court. He also rejected a cross-application, made by the French Defendants, for a request to be made to the French Courts for evidence to be taken under Regulation 1206/2001.
Jon Turner QC, Daniel Beard QC and Laura Elizabeth John of Monckton Chambers acted for the Claimant, National Grid Electricity Transmission plc.
Click here to read the full National Grid v ABB Judgment
Eric Metcalfe has been appointed to the Equality & Human Rights Commission Preferred Panel of Counsel, joining three other members of Monckton Chambers who are already on the panel.
The EHRC’s responsibility is to “promote and monitor human rights and to protect, enforce and promote equality across the seven “protected” grounds – age, disability, gender, race, religion and belief, sexual orientation and gender re-assignment.”
For further information on the EHRC, please click here.
Monckton Chambers is delighted to invite GDL students to join our Barristers for informal drinks to discuss life as a tenant at Monckton and your future career at the Bar.
The evening will be held at Chambers on Wednesday 17 April, 6pm.
We hope that you are able to join us and we very much look forward to welcoming you.
Monckton Chambers is based in Gray’s Inn, near Chancery Lane, London.
RSVP by Friday 12th April to Claire Alderman on 020 7468 6345 or calderman@monckton.com
The Bar Council Pupillage Gateway scheme is now open for applications for pupillage.
Monckton Chambers offers pupillage for twelve months. We recruit pupils in the expectation of being able to offer them tenancy, should they meet the required standard.. In the past 10 years, 16 out of 17 Monckton pupils were offered tenancy.
Several members of chambers have come to us via a non-standard route – for example having previously worked at NGOs, as solicitors, academics or civil servants. We welcome such applications.
The application process closes at 11am on 30th April.
To begin your application through the Pupillage Gateway, please click here.
For more information on pupillage, please click here.
If you have any questions regarding the pupillage application process, please contact Claire Alderman on calderman@monckton.com or 020 7468 6345.
Kassie Smith QC has been interviewed for the ’21st century silk’ article featured in The Lawyer today.
Kassie is one of just 84 barristers due to take silk this week, and was speaking to The Lawyer about the application process and her practice to date.
She will be formally appointed to Queen’s Counsel by the Lord Chancellor on 27 March.
To read the full article, please click here.
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
