2010 is already proving to be an exciting year for 5 Essex Court with the appointment of Fiona Barton as our new Head of Chambers and the launch of the new website and Chambers’ logo.

Members of chambers have already appeared in and advised on some of the most high profile cases of the year so we thought we would begin our new News Page looking back at some of the highlights of the last 12 months.

Public Inquiries

The Billy Wright Inquiry

Billy Wright, a loyalist paramilitary, was shot by republican paramilitaries in HMP Maze in 1997. As part of the peace process the government agreed there should be an inquiry into the circumstances of his death, in particular to investigate the allegation of state collusion – Jeremy Johnson (leading) and Beatrice Collier for the Northern Ireland Prison Service; Jason Beer (leading), John-Paul Waite and Russell Fortt appearing for 92 prison officers.

The Rosemary Nelson Inquiry

Rosemary Nelson, a solicitor, was murdered by loyalist paramilitaries. Over a year the inquiry investigated the allegations that there had been security force collusion in her death – Jason Beer (leading Counsel for the Crown Office of Northern Ireland)

The Baha Mousa Inquiry

Baha Mousa was detained by the British Army in Basra, Iraq, and died in 2003. The ongoing Baha Mousa Inquiry is investigating allegations that the detainees were subject to inhumane and degrading treatment – Jason Beer (leading) is acting for a group of British soldiers whose evidence that the mistreatment occurred conflicts with that of other soldiers.

The forthcoming Al-Sweady Inquiry

The inquiry will investigate into allegations of unlawful killing and mistreatment of detainees in a British camp in Iraq – Jeremy Johnson (Counsel for the MOD) and Jason Beer (Counsel to the Inquiry)

Police Law

McClure and Rubens v. Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (A claim by two G20 demonstrators) – Anne Studd

The Inquests into the London Bombings of 7 July 2005 – Jonathan Dixey

Seal v United Kingdom forthcoming ECHR case following the House of Lords case of Seal v Chief Constable of South Wales Police [2007] UKHL 31 (on whether section 139(2) of the Mental Health Act 1983 is compatible with the ECHR) – Jeremy Johnson and Lucinda Boon.

R (L) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2009] UKSC 3 (Whether the disclosure of intelligence to the putative employer of a person who would have access to children was a breach of the Human Rights Act 1998) – Fiona Barton and Matthew Holdcroft

The Inquest into the Death of Fiona Pilkington (A high profile inquest concerning the impact of anti-social behaviour on a vulnerable family and the role of police in providing them with protection) – former Head of Chambers, Richard Perks

R (on the application of Francis Boyle) v Haverhill Pub Watch [2009] EWHC 2441 (Admin) (a case with far-reaching implications for pub watch schemes across the country concerning the reviewability (under section 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 and/or common law principles of judicial review) of a decision by a Pub Watch scheme to ban the Claimant from licensed premises) – Charlotte Ventham

Public Law

R (Purdy) v Director of Public Prosecutions [2009] UKHL 45 (the final judgment of the House of Lords considering whether the Code for Crown Prosecutors sufficiently catered for cases of assisted suicide) – Jeremy Johnson

Secretary of State for the Home Department v AF [2009] UKHL 28 (Whether, having regard to the use of special advocates, the non-disclosure of the case against terrorism suspects in control order proceedings was compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights) – Alan Payne

R (Hurst) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2007] UKHL 13 (Whether a coroner’s inquest was required to satisfy the investigative obligation under article 2 ECHR in respect of a death that occurred before the Human Rights Act 1998 came into force) – Anne Studd and Beatrice Collier

R (Misick) v Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs [2009] EWHC 1039 (Admin) (Whether the dissolution of democratic institutions in the Turks and Caicos Islands was compatible with domestic and international human rights law) – Jeremy Johnson

In previous years, members of chambers have also acted in such high profile inquests as Diana Princess of Wales and Jean Charles de Menezes and Public Inquiries including the Hutton Inquiry, the Shipman Inquiry, the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry and the Marchioness Inquiry.