Ben Jaffey

Ben has a wide-ranging public law practice. He appears for and advises claimants and defendants, including companies, central government, local authorities, public interest groups, individuals and regulators. He was appointed to the Attorney General’s B Panel in February 2008.

In 2008 he was appointed as a member of the management committee of the Public Law Project, the legal charity promoting access to public law remedies.

R (Corner House Research & Campaign Against Arms Trade) v Serious Fraud Office [2008] UKHL 60, House of Lords
Acted for the Claimants in judicial review challenge to the Serious Fraud Office’s decision to halt the bribery investigation into BAE Systems and the Saudi Al-Yamamah defence contracts. Decision being appealed by the SFO to the House of Lords.

R (Mohamed) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs [2008] EWHC 2048 (Admin) 
Successfully acted for British resident detained in Guantanamo Bay in seeking disclosure of evidence held by the British Security Service that he was tortured, to assist in his defence before a US military commission. 

R (Compton) v Wiltshire PCT [2008] EWCA Civ 749
Successfully acted for the Public Law Project as intervener in test case to clarify the law on Protective Costs Orders.

R (Mayor of London) v Post Office Limited (2008)
Acting for the Post Office resisting the Mayor of London’s challenge to Post Office closures in London.

Export Credits Guarantee Department v Friends of the Earth [2008] EWHC 638 (Admin)
Successfully acted for Friends of the Earth resisting appeal brought by the ECGD in relation to disclosure of environmental information about the Sakhalin II oil project.

R (S) v Governing Body of the Jews’ Free School [2008] EWHC 1535/6 (Admin)
Successfully acted for the United Synagogue in race discrimination challenge to the admissions criteria for Jewish state schools.

R (TC Projects) v Newcastle Justices [2008] EWCA Civ 428
Acted for Claimant in challenge to the correct test for granting casino licenses under the Gaming Act 1968.

R (Corner House Research) v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry [2005] 1 WLR 2600, Court of Appeal. 
Leading case on protective costs orders in judicial review. The Court of Appeal reformed the rules relating to costs in judicial review cases. Successful challenge to anti-bribery and anti-corruption procedures introduced by the Export Credit Guarantee Department. 

B v BAA Plc [2005] IRLR 927, Employment Appeal Tribunal.
Leading decision on national security dismissals. Right to dismiss on grounds of national security read down in accordance with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

R (B) v Secretary of State for Transport, Administrative Court.
Refusal of “Counter Terrorist Check” clearance to a security guard at Heathrow. First case in which the Court ordered a Special Advocate be appointed in a judicial review claim.

R (Brooke) v Parole Board & Secretary of State for Justice (2007)
Junior counsel for the Parole Board in challenge to independence and impartiality of the relationship between the Board and the Secretary of State.

R (Association of British Civilian Internees – Far East Region) v Secretary of State for Defence [2003] QB 1397, Court of Appeal.
Challenge to the refusal of compensation to British subjects interned by the Japanese during the Second World War without a “bloodlink” to the UK.

Secretary of State for Defence v Hulme [2003] EWCA Civ 1611, Court of Appeal
Standard of proof for claims under the Armed Forces Pension Scheme.

R (Agnello/A1 Veg) v LB Hounslow [2003] EWHC 3112 (Admin), High Court
Bias and fairness issues relating to the redevelopment of Western International Market.

R (Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth) v Secretaries of State (2001) 50 EG 91 (CS), The Times 25.2.02, Court of Appeal
Challenge to the lawfulness of operating the new Sellafield mixed oxide nuclear fuel fabrication plant.

Ben also has an interest in social security and welfare benefits law. He regularly acts for individual claimants and government departments. He appeared in the Court of Appeal (with Nigel Pleming QC) in Yildiz v Secretary of State for Social Security (2001) 13 IJRL 230, a case concerning the entitlement to income support of asylum seekers.  Ben appeared in the Court of Appeal (led by John Howell QC) in Gingi v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2002] EuLR 37, an EU law challenge to the interpretation of the ‘habitual residence test’ applied to income support claimants.  Ben was also instructed in the Court of Appeal (led by Richard Drabble QC) in Wood v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2003] EWCA Civ 53, The Times 11.2.03, a leading case concerning the circumstances in which an award of benefits may be changed or ended by the Secretary of State.

Ben has an extensive regulatory law practice and has considerable experience before numerous regulatory tribunals, including the Financial Services and Markets Tribunal and the Pensions Regulator Tribunal.

Ben is currently instructed by financial institutions and individuals in relation to allegations of insider dealing, market abuse, endowment mis-selling, improper financial engineering in reinsurance treaties, pension funding issues and breaches of systems and controls requirements. Many of these cases are confidential and cannot be referred to here.

Ben also has extensive experience of healthcare regulation. He appeared for CHRE in Council for the Regulation of Healthcare Excellence v Mulhem (2004), a successful appeal against the decision of the GMC not to erase a doctor from the medical register. Ben also regularly acts for the GMC in appeals by doctors to the High Court. Recent cases include Calhaem v GMC [2007] EWHC 2606 (Admin) where the Court gave guidance on the circumstances in which complaints of misconduct and deficient professional performance could arise out of a single medical error.

Sea Containers [2008] UKPRT 5
Ben acted for Sea Containers in the first ever reference to the Pensions Regulator Tribunal by a company, challenging the making of a Financial Support Direction.

Jabre v FSA [2006] UKFSM 36
Ben represented hedge-fund manager Philippe Jabre (led by Charles Flint QC) in this important market abuse case in which the Financial Services and Markets Tribunal ruled on the power of the FSA to re-introduce new charges on a reference to the Tribunal.

Legal & General v FSA [2005] UKFSM 12
Ben acted for Legal & General (led by Charles Flint QC) in its successful 6-week appeal to the Financial Services and Markets Tribunal against the fine imposed by the Financial Services Authority for mortgage endowment mis-selling. This case was the first reference to the Tribunal by a major city institution. The Tribunal’s criticisms of the FSA’s investigation and conduct led to a major review of the FSA’s processes and procedures.

Ben acts for regulators, broadcasters, collecting societies, telecoms companies, record companies, film finance and distribution companies, artists, performers, managers and sportsmen and women in regulatory, commercial and employment disputes. An example of Ben’s recent work is BPI & others v MCPS/PRS Alliance (2007). Ben acted for the Alliance in the reference to the Copyright Tribunal brought by online music sellers, record companies and mobile network operators, concerning the proper rates and terms for online use of music.

• Acting for a major broadcaster in a multinational licensing dispute.
• Acting for film finance companies in a cross-border dispute with producers and directors.

Ben acts for regulators, broadcasters, managers and sportsmen and women in regulatory, commercial and employment disputes.

• Defending a claim for judicial review brought against a sports governing body.
• Successfully defending a rugby player charged with ‘eye gouging’ before the RFU disciplinary panel.
• Appearing in a sports disciplinary tribunal, for the national champion tug of war team, in a successful challenge to a disciplinary decision depriving the club of its gold medals in the national championships and disqualifying them from representing the country in the world championships.

Ben has been instructed in a number of major commercial disputes, including the Kuwait Airways Corporation v Iraqi Airways Company litigation. Ben is currently instructed by the Ministry of Defence in several large commercial arbitrations.

Ben has particular experience in commercial fraud cases and cases requiring without notice interim relief including freezing orders, search orders and obtaining Norwich Pharmacal relief.

Ben was the junior counsel for the Claimant in Campaign Against Arms Trade v BAE Systems Plc (2007), obtaining extensive Norwich Pharmacal relief (and the first without notice protective costs order) to force BAE to explain how and why it had obtained CAAT’s privileged legal documents. He also acted for the successful Claimant in R (Binyam Mohamed) v Foreign Secretary [2008] EWHC 2048 (Admin), in which he obtained a Norwich Pharmacal order requiring the Security Services to disclose evidence they held about the Claimant's mistreatment by or on behalf of the USA.

Ben specialises in High Court employment work, including bonus claims, restrictive covenants, injunctive relief (including freezing and search orders) and cases involving employee fraud. He also has experience in obtaining anti-harassment injunctions to protect senior executives from ex-employees and protestors.

Ben also has extensive experience in the Employment Tribunals and in the Employment Appeal Tribunal in cases involving race, sex, and disability discrimination, maternity leave, parental leave, time off to provide emergency care for dependants, whistleblowing, unfair and wrongful dismissal and redundancy.

Curran v Dresdner (2008)
Represented Dresdner in challenge in validity of forfeiture of unvested share awards on termination of employment.

B v BAA Plc [2005] IRLR 927, Employment Appeal Tribunal.
Leading decision on national security dismissals. Right to dismiss on grounds of national security read down in accordance with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Ben is a trustee and member of the management committee of the Public Law Project, the legal charity promoting access to public law remedies.

Publications:

• Ben is a co-author of Administrative Law: Practice and Procedure, (2006) ed. Beverley Lang QC, Sweet & Maxwell.
• Protective Costs Orders in Judicial Review [2006] JR 171
• Just the one: Sunk costs and justifying the manufacture of MOX fuel under EU law (2002) 4 Env LR 252
• Casenote: Yildiz v Secretary of State for Social Security (2001) 13 International Journal of Refugee Law 238