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 A Panel in March 2013.

 Ben’s work in 2012 includes:

• A claim for habeas corpus for a detainee in Bagram, Afghanistan (Rahmatullah v SSFCA [2012] 1 WLR 1462, judgment pending in Supreme Court).
• Acting for a marriage registrar who refused to conduct civil partnerships on grounds of religious belief (Ladele v UK, pending in European Court of Human Rights).
• Defending challenges to the lawfulness of knife crime stop and search powers and changes to the recording of ‘stop and account’ (Roberts [2012] EWHC 1977 (Admin) and Diedrick [2012] EWHC 2144 (Admin)).
• Challenging the lawfulness of a tax settlement reached between HM Revenue & Customs and Goldman Sachs (R (UK Uncut) v HMRC).
• A judicial review of the practice of returning British captured detainees to the Afghan security and intelligence services (R (Serdar Mohamed) v SSD).
• A challenge to the decision of the Horseracing Levy Board about whether users of internet betting exchanges ought to pay the Levy (R (William Hill) v Horserace Betting Levy Board [2012] EWHC 2039 (Admin)).
• An EU law challenge to the UK’s failure to meet air quality standards in London and other major urban areas (Clientearth [2012] EWCA Civ 897).
• Successful claim for judicial review against FSA for failing to give proper reasons in a decision notice (R (C) v Financial Services Authority [2012] EWHC 1417 (Admin)). 

In recent years, Ben has acted in many other significant public law claims:

• Olympic Stadium Cases (2011)
  Acted for West Ham United in judicial review claims brought by Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient about the future use of the Olympic Stadium.
• XY v ISA (2011)
  Acted for ISA in first appeal to the Upper Tribunal under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006.
• R (Secretary of State) v Deputy Coroner (2010)
  Acted for Liberty & Justice in the government’s secret evidence judicial review in the 7/7 inquests.
• R (Fawcett Society) v HM Treasury (2010)
  Acted for HM Treasury in challenge to lawfulness of emergency budget of new coalition government. 
• R (Binyam Mohamed) v Foreign Secretary [2010] EWCA Civ 65
  Successfully acted for British resident detained in Guantanamo Bay in seeking disclosure of evidence held by the British Security Service that he was tortured.
• R (E) v JFS [2010]
  Acted for the Chief Rabbi and the United Synagogue in Supreme Court race discrimination challenge to the admissions criteria for the Jews’ Free School.
• Northern Rock [2009] EWHC 227 (Admin)
  Acted for Legal & General in judicial review challenge to the compensation rules applying to shareholders of Northern Rock.
• R (Corner House Research & Campaign Against Arms Trade) v Serious Fraud Office [2009] 1 AC 756, 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.  

Costs Litigation

Ben has appeared in many of the leading cases dealing with protective costs orders and the grant of public funding.

• Legal Services Commission v Henthorn [2011] 2012 1 WLR 1173
  Acting for Law Society intervening in test case concerning recovery of payments on account made to barristers and solicitors.
• R (VM) v Legal Services Commission (2010)
  Acted for Claimant in challenge brought under the Legal Aid Directive to obtain UK legal aid for residents in other EU countries.
• In re appeals by Governing Body of JFS and others [2009] 1 WLR 2353 (Supreme Court)
  Successfully acted for United Synagogue in resisting application for a protective costs order in the Supreme Court. Leading case on the availability of legal aid on appeal.
• R (Compton) v Wiltshire PCT [2009] 1 WLR 1436
  Successfully acted for the Public Law Project in the Court of Appeal as intervener in test case to clarify the law on Protective Costs Orders.
• R (Corner House Research) v Secretary of State for Trade and Industry [2005] 1 WLR 2600.
  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.

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. He acts for individuals, firms, the FSA and foreign regulators.

Ben is currently instructed by regulators, financial institutions and individuals in relation to allegations of market abuse, LIBOR issues and systems and controls failures arising from the credit crunch. Many of these cases are confidential and cannot be referred to here.

• (1) Kashif Chaudhry and (2) Seifelden Abdelkareem v Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (2012)
  Successfully acted for the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority (“QFCRA”) in the first challenge before the QFC Regulatory Tribunal by individuals to a decision notice of the QFCRA. The appeals concerned the collapse of Al Mal Bank LLC. 
• R (C) v Financial Services Authority [2012] EWHC 1417 (Admin)
  Successful claim for judicial review against FSA for failing to give proper reasons in a decision notice.
• AADB v Deloitte & Touche (2012)
  Acting for D&T in Accountancy and Actuarial Discipline Board Tribunal proceedings arising out of the collapse of Rover Group.
• Standard Life v Aon (2009)
  Acted for Aon in a six week Commercial Court insurance trial concerning mortgage endowment mis-selling by Standard Life. 
• 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 is regularly instructed in major commercial disputes, especially those with a financial services or civil fraud element.

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

For example, Ben obtained Norwich Pharmacal relief for Karren Brady of West Ham Football Club against accountants engaged by Tottenham Hotspur who had obtained her bank and telephone records (Brady v PKF & Hill [2011] EWHC 3178 (QB)). He was the 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 obtained a Norwich Pharmacal order for Binyam Mohamed requiring the Security Service to disclose evidence they held about the Claimant’s mistreatment by or on behalf of the USA.

Ben has particular experience in media disputes. He has acted for broadcasters, collecting societies, telecoms companies, record companies, film finance and distribution companies, artists, performers and managers in regulatory, commercial and employment disputes.

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

Other Information:

VAT registration number:  757125131