James Eadie QC

He has appeared regularly in major judicial review actions.  He has acted both for private clients and for the range of Government departments. 

Public/commercial

• He has acted both for and against a variety of financial and other regulatory authorities (including in particular the FSA, and a number of foreign financial regulators).  He has recently acted for the FSA in relation to “Northern Rock”; and is currently acting for the FSA in relation to a major mis-selling investigation.
• He has recently acted for one of the principal distributors and handlers of cash in the UK in a major investigation conducted by the Bank of England under the Note Circulation Scheme
• He acted as lead UK counsel for Shell in relation to the FSA’s investigation into the reserves reporting misstatements (market abuse).  He was also instructed to act for the Group Reserves Auditor personally in the FSA market abuse proceedings which ended in discontinuance following one of the first hearings under the new FSA procedures before the Regulatory Decisions Committee in November 2005.  He has acted in cases concerning breaches of the listing rules; the financial promotions regime under the FSMA 2000; and market authorizations.
• He is currently acting for an oil company in AIM Disciplinary proceedings relating to alleged late/misleading disclosure to the market of information.
• He acted for a director of British Airways in the recent price-fixing investigation.
• He has advised on and appeared in cases involving pharmaceutical and medical regulatory issues.

He has frequently acted and advised in relation to various aspects of the medicines regulatory regime, including for the Department of Health and the MHRA. 

• He acted (for the investigated person) in a major MHRA investigation into the effects of anti-depressant drugs on adolescents and children.
• He acts for and against the General Medical Council.
• Acting for the MHRA he secured the first finding of contempt of court (punished by imprisonment) by an individual and companies for the unauthorized marketing and supply of prescription only medicines (Viagra); and argued successfully in relation to a complaint about inaccurate advertising that smoking was a “disease” for the purpose of the relevant regulations.

He deals with cases in the telecommunications and utilities fields.

• He has advised Sky in relation to the regulatory issues arising out of a recent purchase of a stake in another broadcaster; and on a series of telecommunications issues in the Bahamas.
• He has acted for a major water company in relation to fine proceedings brought by Ofwat. 

Public inquiries and inquests

He has advised and acted in a number of public inquiries and high profile inquests.

• He acted as Counsel for the Government of Gibraltar in the recent Tribunal hearings into whether the Chief Justice of Gibraltar should be removed from office.  He is currently acting for a judge of the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands in similar proceedings.
• He was Counsel to the inquiry headed by Lord Woolf into BAe in the wake of the Saudi arms investigation by the SFO. 
• He acted as lead counsel to the E.coli inquiry into the death of a child in South Wales.
• He is the public law counsel to the Inquiry into the shooting of Rosemary Nelson in Northern Ireland; and, as such, is currently defending the Inquiry in two sets of judicial review proceedings in Northern Ireland (brought by the MOD and the PSNI).
• In January 2007, he acted for Mohammed Al-Fayed in the judicial review challenge to the decision of the Coroner in the inquest into the death of Princess Diana not to allow a jury and to continue to sit as Coroner of the Queen’s Household.
• In 2006, he acted in a series of cases involving claims that public inquiries or expanded inquests should be set up, including the challenge to the refusal to hold a public inquiry into the Potters Bar railcrash: R (Lin) v SS Transport.
• In January 2004, he was appointed as lead counsel to the major Bichard Inquiry into the police handling of the Ian Huntley/Soham murder investigation, and the related issues surrounding employment vetting.   That Inquiry reported in June 2004.
• He gave advice to the Neale Inquiry (into allegations of misconduct by a doctor) and the Butterfield Review (advice on public interest immunity in relation to collapsed London bonded warehouse prosecutions). 
• He has acted and is currently acting in a number of judicial reviews in which claimants seek public inquiries under the 2005 Inquiries Act in reliance on ECHR rights (A2 and A3): see eg K v SSHD [2008] EWHC 1598 (Admin); R (JL) v SSHD [2006] EWHC 2558: R (Lin) v SS for Transport [2006] EWHC 2575 (Admin); R (Mullane) v SSHD [2006] EWHC 2499 (Admin)

Media

• He has represented a number of clients before Ofcom, including representing the BBC in the Blue Peter case and the numerous subsequent similar cases involving competitions and misleading audiences.
• He acted for the BBC in proceedings to permit publication of the name of a person subject to a control order (Collins J ordering publication).  He is currently acting for the Government in proceedings brought by the Times for the same purpose (Ouseley J refusing publication: [2008] EWHC 2455 (Admin)).
• He acted for a journalist seeking to resist a production order under the Terrorism Act 2005 on grounds of self-incrimination: Shiv Malik v Manchester Crown Court [2008] EWHC 1362 (Admin)

Freedom of Information

He frequently advises of Freedom of Information Act issues, and is on the panel of specialists who are regularly instructed to advise government departments of FOIA issues and to appear before the Freedom of Information Tribunal.
He has appeared before the Information Tribunal in a large number of cases.

Security

He acted for the Government in the Gibraltar shootings litigation in the ECtHR (three members of the IRA were shot by the SAS in Gibraltar).  He has advised and acted for the Government in relation to a number of aspects of the emergency following September 11 and the war in Iraq, including the challenge both domestically and in Strasbourg to the detention of Al Q’aida suspects (R (A and others) v SS Home Dept (HL)); and the control order regime.   He has appeared regularly in SIAC and now the Administrative Court in terrorist related cases; and more generally acts frequently in security related cases (eg the judicial review challenges to the US planes using UK bases en route to arms delivery in Israel (IHRC v Civil Aviation Authority); the control order imposed on AH)

He is currently resisting on behalf of BERR and FCO a challenge designed to impose a duty to publish reasons for the grant of export licences for military equipment (the particular context being exports of such equipment to Israel): R (Hasan) v DBERR.

Assets Recovery

• He did the first full trial of an assets recovery order under the Proceeds of Crime Act: Director of Assets Recovery Agency v Olupitan [2007] EWHC 162 (QB)
• He is currently acting in a number of major assets recovery cases

Sports law

He has advised on various aspects of sports law including
• representing a prominent Indian test cricketer in a case against the ICC and
• acting for the Football Premier League in the claim brought against it by Sam Chisolm in relation to the deal with Sky TV
• He has advised and acted in connection with horse racing and its levy.

Discrimination

He has acted in a number of high profile discrimination cases (eg R(Carson) v SS for Work and Pensions (HL), concerning the uprating of pensions abroad; Unison v First Secretary [2006] EWHC 2373 (Admin) (the first challenge to the age discrimination regulations)).  He advised in relation to the Sexual Orientation regulations including on the issues surrounding exemptions for religious organizations from some aspects of the new regime.

Health

He has been involved in a succession of judicial review cases in the regulation of health field (aside from the medicines regulation issues above), including challenges to the morning after pill (R (Smeaton) v SS for Health (Admin Ct), the legality of cloning for research purposes (R (Quintivalle) v SS for Health (HL)) and the legality of tissue typing (R (Quintivalle) v SS for Health (HL)).

Environmental law

He has advised and acted in numerous environmental law cases, including advising DEFRA on a range of issues.  He acted for the Government in the challenges to night noise from Heathrow before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (Hatton v the UK). He acted for Alton Towers in relation to proceedings brought against them alleging noise nuisance: Roper v Tussauds Ltd [2007] EWHC 624 (Admin)

He has advised DCMS and DCLG in relation to the Manchester Regional Casino.

Local government law

He acted in the recent challenge to the power of the Secretary of State to take steps towards reorganizing local government in England and Wales: Shrewsbury District Council v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2007] EWHC 2279 (Admin); [2008] EWCA Civ 148.  He has acted and is currently acting in relation to further challenges to decisions taken as part of the reorganization: see eg R (Bedfordshire CC) v DCLG [2008] EWHC 628 (Admin).

Asylum and immigration

He has appeared in cases in the immigration and asylum field (see eg (R(T) v SS Home Dept; AM (Serbia) v SS Home Dept [2007] EWCA Civ 16;  LE (Congo) v SS Home Dept [2007] EWCA Civ 193).  He is currently acting in a test case relating to a claim for asylum by a member of the Iraqi armed forces.

Prison and parole board

He has also appeared in numerous cases involving prison and parole board law. 

• He has been involved in the Parole Board hearings and challenges to them by Harry Roberts, who murdered three policemen in the 1960’s and is the longest serving UK prisoner. He argued Harry Roberts v Parole Board in the House of Lords – a case raising the issue whether special advocates were permissible in Parole Board hearings: [2005] UKHL 45.  
• He has been involved in a series of cases concerning the procedural requirements of Articles 2 and 3 of the ECHR (eg D v SS Home Dept).
• He has successfully challenged under the ECHR the conditions in which a severely disabled remand prisoner is held at Belmarsh.
• He acted for the SSHD in relation to changes to the Secure Training Centre Rules permitting greater use of controversial restraint techniques: R (C) v SSHD [2008] EWHC 171 (Admin)
• He acted for the Parole Board in challenges to delays in listing cases before it

Extradition, mutual legal assistance

His practice also covers extradition and appellate crime (raising ECHR issues). 

• He successfully resisted the extradition request by Russia for Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s (of Yukos) chief accountant.  The court held that the request was politically motivated and that there would not have been a fair trial in Russia.  He has appeared in a number of other high profile extradition cases including the first extradition to Hong Kong following handover to the Chinese (ex parte Launder (HL)); fraud extraditions to the United States (Warren); and a number of challenges to decisions by the Home Secretary to return people accused of terrorism to France (Ramda and Labsi).
• He is currently acting for individuals involved in the running of the Russian shipping industry who are resisting extradition to Russia.
• He acted for the Government in Asmat and Ahmed v the UK in which challenges are made to the proposed extradition of suspected terrorists to the US on the basis of concerns about extraordinary rendition and Guantanamo Bay.  The challenges domestically have been rejected and the case is now before the ECtHR, where he is acting for the UK.  He is also acting in the case of Abu Hamza whose extradition is also sought by the US, once he has completed his sentence in the UK (the case is now before the ECtHR – he is acting for the UK): [2008] EWHC 1357 (Admin).
• He was counsel for the Serious Fraud Office in the attempts by the Guinness appellants to re-open their convictions (rejected by the Court of Appeal and House of Lords); and has acted for the Government throughout those cases in the Strasbourg challenge. 
• He has argued a series of cases in the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) concerning the privilege against self-incrimination and the reverse onus offences in the Insolvency Act 1986.
• He defended the secrecy of jury deliberations for the Department of Constitutional Affairs in the House of Lords case R v Mirza.  

ECHR

In the human rights/civil liberties arena, he has appeared on over 50 occasions before the European Court and Commission in Strasbourg; and in a series of important domestic ECHR/HRA challenges.  

His cases have included a number of the major decisions involving the United Kingdom in the last 15 years.  He acted in the case brought by the Fayed brothers following the publication of the adverse DTI report (Fayed v the UK);  in the major A2 case Osman v the UK (right to life/police immunity); in the challenges brought by the Guinness defendants (Saunders v the UK; and IJL and others v the United Kingdom); in Ahmed v the UK (political restrictions on local government officers); in the SAS Gibraltar shootings (McCann, Savage & Farrell v the UK); in the challenge to the Security Service Act (Esbester v the UK); in the first challenge to the provisions entitling inferences to be drawn from the silence of a defendant (John Murray v the UK);  in a number of cases concerning telephone tapping including the claim brought by Alison Halford (Alison Halford v the UK);  in the claims by servicemen for compensation arising out of the Christmas Island nuclear tests (McGinley & Egan v the UK); in the claim brought by Earl and the then Countess Spencer challenging the absence of a right to privacy under English law (Earl and Countess Spencer v the UK); and in the challenge to the ban on homosexuality in the armed forces (Lustig-Prean v the UK). 

He acted in Davis, Rowe & Jasper v the UK (PII in criminal proceedings) 30 EHRR 441; Lilian Green v the UK (barristers’ immunity);  Marshall v the UK (derogation under Article 5 and emergency in Northern Ireland); in the challenge to the legality of the bombing by NATO of the Belgrade TV station in Yugoslavia (Bankovic v the UK and other NATO states); in the claims brought by the widow of the Northern Irish solicitor Patrick Finucane (Finucane v the UK), in the Strasbourg proceedings resulting from the Stalker “Shoot to kill” Inquiry (Kelly v the UK); and in the airport noise case (Hatton v the UK); and in the challenge before the Grand Chamber to crown immunity in the context of the tests on servicemen at Porton Down in the 1960’s (Roche v the UK); and in the claims brought by George Blake, the Russian spy, following the decision of the House of Lords to require him to account for the profits of his book.

He advises and acts for domestic and foreign private clients, particularly in relation to claims under Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (right to property). 

• He has advised the widow of Mr Litvinenko (who was killed by polonium radiation in London in 2006) in relation to claims both in the UK and in Strasbourg.
• He is acting in challenges before the ECtHR to the extradition to the US of suspected terrorists who claim that they risk being subjected to the extrajudicial military regime and/or extraordinary rendition
• He successfully represented the pension fund of T&N in relation to the issue whether future claimants in negligence arising out of exposure to asbestos could be excluded from proving in the liquidation of T&N compatibly with the ECHR: see In re T&N [2005] EWHC 2870 (Ch).
• He has advised in relation to claims relating to the railway network in Estonia and relating to the aluminium industry in the Ukraine (instructed direct by foreign lawyers).

Commercial and Regulatory advice and litigation (including arbitration)

James has acted in a wide variety of commercial cases, including major pieces of commercial litigation (both in court and in arbitrations).  

Financial Services and “regulatory disaster”

As set out above, he has advised and acted both for and against the FSA.  He has advised a number of foreign financial regulators. 

• He advised the FSA in relation to “Northern Rock”
• He acted as lead UK counsel for Shell in relation to the FSA’s investigation into the reserves reporting misstatements (market abuse).  He was also instructed to act for the Group Reserves Auditor personally in the FSA market abuse proceedings which ended in discontinuance following one of the first hearings under the new FSA procedures before the Regulatory Decisions Committee in November 2005. 
• He has acted in cases concerning
  o Market abuse
  o Authorization
  o Breaches of the listing rules
  o The financial promotions regime
  o Market authorizations 

Commercial, including fraud:

He acted for Boris Beresovsky in major commercial court proceedings against Roman Abramovich relating to the sale of shares in Sibneft and Rusal; and also in proceedings brought against him by Yugraneft.

He has recently advised and acted in a number of commodities disputes.

In addition to the commercial/public law cases and the regulatory and disciplinary cases dealt with above, his practice has also included insurance and reinsurance cases (including for example claims brought against reinsurers following hurricane damage to the Cap Juluca resort); numerous cases arising from the sale of companies (including breach of warranty claims); banking cases (for example relating to duties of disclosure in the context of guarantees: Levitt v Barclays Bank); and cases arising out of disputes in the commodities and metals markets.

He represented the LME in the proceedings following the collapse of the International Tin Council (Shearson Lehman v Maclaine Watson & others); he acted in the principal litigation following the collapse of British and Commonwealth (British & Commonwealth v Samuel Montagu and others); and he acted for the Football Premier League in the case brought against them by Sam Chisolm in the context of the television deal with Sky TV. 

He has acted and advised in public procurement cases, notably in the defence and local authority sectors.

He has extensive experience of jurisdictional disputes (for example in the Ace v Zurich case).

He is also experienced in commercial fraud cases, including major international fraud.  He acted for one of the defendants in the fraud claim involving the Kuwaiti Investment Authority (Grupo Torras SA v Sheik Fahad al Sabah).

He has acted in numerous other commercial cases (in both litigation and arbitration) across a wide range. 

In addition, he has frequently acted in cases involving professional negligence – such as the claims arising out of the glass roof at the new Eurostar terminal at Waterloo (in the Technology and Construction court).

Commercial, including fraud:

Frequent advice and representation in other commercial and civil fraud cases including

• acting in relation to asset recovery (including the first contested trial for the Assets Recovery Agency in January 2007:  Director of Assets Recovery Agency v Olupitan [2007] EWHC 162 (QBD) in which Langley J found, at para 43, that “…as Mr Eadie’s cross-examination proceeded, [the defendant] was reduced to silence and then to making it up as he went along and finally to incoherence”) 
• acting in a double taxation treaty case (Indofood (2006) STC 1195)
• representing a Russian defendant in major ongoing fraud proceedings
• representing a major debt recovery agency in proceedings brought by the Office of Fair Trading to revoke its licence
• advising on the commercial and regulatory issues arising out of the Manx electricity company
• advising on commercial and confidentiality issues arising out of an industrial dispute involving British Airways
• advising in relation to a commercial dispute between telecoms companies
• advising on marine insurance club issues
• advising and acting in claim for breach of aircraft lease
• advising in relation to contractual and telecoms issues (domestic and Bahamas)
• acting for one of those alleged to have financed the failed coup in Equatorial Guinea (involving Simon Mann, and Sir Mark Thatcher)
• acting in a reinsurance dispute concerning renewal of a policy and alleged failures by insurance brokers