We recently held a webinar on The Best Way to Develop the Current Law on Complicity, AKA “Joint Enterprise”. In the wake of the 7th anniversary of the Supreme Court ruling in R v Jogee [2016], Dr Felicity Gerry KC & Professor Matthew Dyson (Corpus Christi College, Oxford) consider the current substantive law of complicity, and where it could be improved. Presented by Dr Felicity Gerry KC and Professor Matthew Dyson Felicity is well known for leading in the UK Supreme Court in R v Jogee and for defending cases involving issues of complicity in homicide, terrorism and international crimes. Matthew was a defence expert in R v Jogee. He made a leading contribution to the correction of the error of law and is widely published in the field. This webinar presents his recent research into how to regulate liability in complicity with greater legitimacy.   To ensure you don’t miss out on future events please register for our newsletter by clicking here.

This webinar has ended. To watch a replay of the webinar, head to our dedicated blog post LIBERTAS CHAMBERS ONLINE LECTURE 23 February 2023 at 6pm. THE BEST WAY TO DEVELOP THE LAW ON COMPLICITY AKA “JOINT ENTERPRISE” As concerns rise about the incarceration of accessories to murder for increasingly long periods of time, this webinar  will consider the current substantive law of complicity, and where it could be improved. The focus is on the physical components of the crime and will suggest there are the tools available in the law already to improve the law, particularly picking out the need for a substantial contribution by the accomplice, and a sufficiently high level of fault. Presented by our Dr Felicity Gerry KC and Professor Matthew Dyson (Corpus Christi College, Oxford): Felicity is well known for leading in the UK Supreme Court in R v Jogee and for defending cases involving issues of complicity in homicide, terrorism and international crimes.  Matthew was a defence expert in R v Jogee. He made a leading contribution to the correction of the error of law and is widely published in the field. This webinar presents his recent research into how to regulate liability in complicity with greater legitimacy. Register today – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-best-way-to-develop-the-law-on-complicity-aka-joint-enterprise-tickets-473220534357 To ensure you don’t miss out on future events please register for our newsletter by clicking here.

We recently held a webinar presenting the research of Dr Jonathan Harris from his edited collection Terrorism and the Arts Practices and Critiques in Contemporary Cultural Production. We also discussed contemporary legal challenges in the context of terrorism and art and considered art law in the context of cultural loss in transnational and international law. Libertas’ own Dr Felicity Gerry KC and Fahrid Chishty presented the webinar alongside Dr Jonathan Harris. Felicity is experienced in law on accountability for destruction of cultural heritage and organised crime involving the trafficking of antiquities and has been instructed in a complex historic matter involving reparations for cultural loss. Fahrid specialises in organised crime and has published on the systematic erasure of historic Armenian heritage. To ensure you don’t miss out on future events please register for our newsletter by clicking here. If you would like to read a write-up of the event please do so by downloading from the link below: Download Article here

Video: click here Dickens wrote when the Marshalsea prison was closed: “the world is none the worse without it.” Prisons are an expensive failure. There are over 81,000 people in prisons and young offender institutions in England and Wales. Most are vulnerable. The system fails them and fails to prevent crime. It is a brutal lack of a solution maintained by click bait political and media nonsense. This webinar explores penal policy and prisoner potential with Andrea Coomber KC(Hon), CEO of the Howard League for Penal Reform, Clare McGregor, Founder of Coaching Inside and Out Abi Andrews, Employability Manager at the Longford Trust. We discuss legal services as a lifeline and the impact coaching can have for those who find themselves ‘behind bars’. Presented by our Dr Felicity Gerry KC: Felicity has spent decades researching and campaigning on injustices for prisoners, particularly, women, IPP prisoners and those convicted of ‘joint enterprise’. She will discuss the abject failure of sentencing guidelines, the appalling ‘container’ mentality of penal policy and the need for a totally new approach to close prisons. Register today – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/closing-prisons-howard-league-meets-coaching-inside-and-out-tickets-440841898987 To ensure you don’t miss out on future events please register for our newsletter by clicking here.

We are pleased to announce our association with the Chelmsford Law Clinic, as their pro bono legal advisors on criminal defence referrals. For further information on the Clinic see Chelmsford Law Clinic – Free legal advice The Centre offers a 30-minute free consultation to the public on a wide range of public, family and civil law alongside criminal defence advice. Our service will be overseen by Darren Snow. Growing up in the town Darren has a strong commitment to the area and saw this as a fantastic opportunity to use Libertas’s expertise as a leading criminal chambers to assist those otherwise struggling to access quality legal advice. We are proud to be involved and look forward to providing assistance. Libertas is involved in a wide range of pro bono work domestically and on an international level. For further information please see our Pro Bono page or speak to our senior clerk Marc King. Image curtesy of Wikipedia.

Dr Felicity Gerry QC and Fahrid Chishty were instructed by a diplomatic mission in London to advise on the parameters of disclosure under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963. The matter concerned the scope of Articles 5 and 37 of the Convention in relation to the vulnerable nationals of a Sending State based in the jurisdiction of a Receiving State. Dr Gerry and Fahrid delivered detailed written advice which assessed the rights and responsibilities of diplomats and consular officials in relation to disclosure under domestic, diplomatic and international law. They were praised for their diligent, discrete and expedient work.

TERRORISM, COUNTY LINES CASES AND MODERN SLAVERY DEFENCES This webinar is presented by our members Dr Felicity Gerry KC, Gerard Hillman and Chaynee Hodgetts and will focus on the use of the National referral mechanism for victims of human trafficking at risk of prosecution for terrorism offences or where they are alleged to have participated in serious organised crime as part of an alleged ‘County Lines’ network. It will consider the limitations of the ‘Modern Slavery Defence’ in section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 following recent cases of R v BWM,  R v AAD and others and Brecani. Presented by our Dr Felicity Gerry KC, Gerard Hillman and Chaynee Hodgetts: Felicity’s PhD was on criminal justice as a strategic game for trafficked women. She is also a contributor to Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery Law and Practice (Bloomsbury).  She appeared for a successful applicant in R v AAD and others. Gerard represented the young female accused of terrorism where the prosecution was recently discontinued after a referral to the NRM. Chaynee, one of our newest members, has over 10 years’ experience as an academic and is working with Dr Gerry on research to improve modern slavery frameworks. Register today – https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/county-lines-and-modern-slavery-registration-383321754687 To ensure you don’t miss out on future events please register for our newsletter by clicking here.

Darren Snow, instructed by Angela Graham at the Royal College of Nurses, represented senior nurse SG before a fitness to practice hearing. Allegations were made that Darren’s client had prescribed methadone outside national guidelines and outside his competence to a historic heroin user who had come off a methadone script 10 days earlier and was not testing positive for opiates. In evidence, it became clear that Darren’s client was a highly respected specialist working with drug users, one of the leading specialist nurse practitioners in this field and the private health care company employing him had policies for treatment that were 10 years out of date and did not reflect nor even understand what national standards were for this specialist approach to treatment known as “retox”. As a matter of law, Darren’s client was authorised to prescribe methadone as a specialist nurse prescriber and was working well within his scope of practice and area of expertise at the time. Darren’s client had decided to prescribe a low dose of methadone to reintroduce the patient to that medication in the hope that it prevented a relapse back onto heroin. Evidence revealed that the nurse’s employer had subsequently cancelled the prescription as it was not recognised by their policy and discharged the patient, who was at high risk of heroin relapse and death, back into the community with no further treatment or review. As part of the defence case, Darren called Dame Clare Gerada, President of the Royal College of GPs – herself an expert in this area – and Professor Sir John Strang, of Kings College London, a leading specialist in drug treatment work with expertise in reintroducing methadone to historic heroin users at risk of relapse. Professor Strang is responsible for the Orange Book, the national guidance on drug treatment work, which supported the use of “retox”. The nurse’s actions were supported by expert and practitioner evidence as clinically appropriate and in the patient’s best interests. Allegations of prescribing methadone when it was not clinically appropriate, not best practice and without seeking authorisation were all dismissed by the Tribunal. For further information on Darren Snow and our Professional Disciplinary work for healthcare practitioners, please contact our senior clerk, Marc King.