Profile

Principal areas of practice: Police Law, Employment and Business Disputes and Clinical Malpractice.

Dijen is instructed by a number of police forces and organisations in relation to matters of civil and public law unique to policing.

He also has a 16-year track record of acting for companies and individuals in the full range of employment and business disputes.

Having qualified, and practised for a year, as doctor, Dijen also acts in cases involving clinical malpractice and in high value personal injury claims.

Dijen also sits as a Recorder in the Crown Court. He is Developed Vetted.

Recommendations

Chambers UK 2012:

“Dijen Basu of 5 Essex Court has ‘a noticeable lack of pomposity’ and is ‘good at building client relationships.' (Employment Law)

Chambers UK 2011:

"an all-round performer ..."

Chambers UK 2010:

Dijen is recognised for his "accessibility, speed of response and quick identification of the main issues in a case"

Chambers UK 2009:

"Competitive advocate and lateral thinker"

"extremely down-to-earth and really approachable"

Legal 500:

Recommended for Professional Disciplinary work and Police Law

Appointments

February 2010: Appointed a Crown Court Recorder

October 2009: Appointed to the Attorney General's Panel of Special Advocates

August 1992 to present: Registered as a doctor with the General Medical Council

In May 2010, Dijen was elected to the Management Committee of the Employment Lawyers Association as Representative for London and the South East

Areas of Practice

Police Law

Dijen advises a number of police forces on matters of law which are unique to policing such as:

• Police powers, including defending judicial review claims brought against police forces challenging their exercise of powers
• Policing protests
• charging organisers for the cost of the policing of events such as the victory parades of high profile football and cricket teams, air shows, arms fairs, street fairs such as The Sultan's Elephant and the London Marathon
• temporary service of police officers out of force (including abroad)
• the impact of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 on police forces and policing
• police pensions, including appeals and judicial review
• discharge of probationers
• agreements with overseas law enforcement agencies
• Information Law: data protection and freedom of information.

Employment

A "competitive advocate and lateral thinker" Dijen Basu is "extremely down-to-earth and really approachable" (Chambers UK 2009)

Chambers UK 2010 praises Dijen for his "accessibility, speed of response and quick identification of the main issues in a case"

Chambers UK 2011 describes Dijen as "an all-round performer ... He is making real strides in the employment law world"

Chambers UK 2012 recommends Dijen in these terms: "He has a broad employment law practice which includes industrial action, whistle-blowing and discrimination cases."

Dijen's work in this area includes:

• a very busy appellate practice
• the drafting and enforceability of restrictive covenants and the protection of confidential information
• industrial action and strikes
• interim injunction applications
• bonus claims
• "whistleblowing" claims, particularly acting for employers
• disability discrimination claims - acting both for employers and employees
• defending police forces against claims brought by police officers, particularly those relating to sex, race, age and disability discrimination and whistleblowing

Notable cases include:

Fitzpatrick, Wilkey & TBW solicitors v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2012] EWHC 12 (Admin), Globe J: This was 6-day trial in which Dijen was led by Ronald Thwaites QC. The case concerned claims of false imprisonment, unlawful search and seizure and breach of the Article 8 rights of solicitors arrested for alleged money laundering offences. The claimants’ costs (if successful) would have been a very high 6-figure sum. The Court dismissed all of the claims and gave judgment for the police force with costs. In so doing, the Court gave useful guidance on police powers of search and seizure for later sifting (under s.50 of the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001), as well on searches of premises following arrest (under s.32 PACE).

R (CC) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and another [2011] All ER (D) 160 (Dec), Collins J: This case is the first occasion on which the Court has considered the power of police officers to question, detain (for up to 9 hours) and search people (as well as vehicles, ships and aircraft) at ports, without requiring any grounds for suspicion, in order to determine whether they appear to be, or to have been, involved in terrorism. These are powers which have existed in a similar form for 4 decades and are now contained in Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

R (Howarth) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis & anor [2011] EWHC 2818 QBD Div Ct, Hallett LJ & McCombe J: In rejecting a test case supported by Liberty, the Court held that a s.1 PACE search of a large group of protesters on a train was lawful where officers had reasonable grounds to suspect that members of that group would be carrying items such as chalk intended for use in making marks at an oil refinery protest amounting to relatively minor and temporary criminal damage. The Court also held that there was no unlawful interference with the claimant’s human rights under Articles 8, 10 and 11 of the ECHR.

Gardner v Chief Constable of West Midlands Constabulary (19.10.11], EAT, Langstaff J: the employment tribunal erred in law in finding that the force had failed in a duty to make a reasonable adjustment to permit the claimant officer a “working practice [of] remote working so that he can operate between the workplace and a home office”, without first properly identifying the relevant substantial disadvantage suffered by the officer. The EAT remitted the claim to a freshly constituted tribunal.

R (Minter) v Chief Constable of Hampshire Constabulary & Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] All ER (D) 208 (Jun), QBD Div Ct, Richards LJ, Eady & Treacy JJ: the Chief Constable was right to inform the claimant that he remained subject to the sex offenders’ notification regime for life because the extended licence component of his extended sentence was part of his sentence of imprisonment for notification purposes.

Aitken v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2011] EWCA Civ 582 (18th May 2011), Court of Appeal. Disability Discrimination. The Court of Appeal (Mummery, Rix and Patten LJJ) upheld the judgment of the EAT, who had held that a disability discrimination claim must be based on the claimant's actual disability or on that of someone associated with them. They specifically praised the force for the way that it had handled Mr. Aitken’s management.

Coors Brewers Ltd v Adcock and others [2007] ICR 983, Court of Appeal: This concerned the question whether discretionary bonuses could be recovered as unlawful deductions under the Wages provisions of the Employment Rights Act 1996. Dijen represented over 500 claimants in this litigation.

Guernina v Thames Valley University [2008] EWCA Civ 34, Court of Appeal: whether national terms and conditions for university lecturers precluded outside employment. Dijen acted for the successful employer

Scope v Thornett [2007] ICR 236, Court of Appeal: assessment of compensation where there is evidence that the employee's employment might have ended in any event. In this case, the Court of Appeal held that an employment tribunal's assessment of future loss inevitably involved speculation, declining to follow the approach of the Inner House of the Court of Session in King v Eaton (No. 2).

London Borough of Lambeth v Corlett [2007] ICR 88. Employment Appeal Tribunal: the application of the statutory dispute resolution procedures. In this case, the EAT cast serious doubt on the correctness of Bissett v Martin, a case in the EAT in Scotland in which it was held that the statutory grievance procedure does not apply to grievances about fellow employees

Kaid v Gruppo Ltd [2004] UKEAT 0546/03/25, Employment Appeal Tribunal: Representing the employer, this case concerned a contract of employment which had become illegal because of the way it had been operated by the parties. It was remitted to the employment tribunal on one point and the employee's claim was rejected for illegality

London Underground Ltd & anr v Ferenc-Batchelor & anr [2003] ICR 656, Employment Appeal Tribunal: Right to be accompanied at disciplinary and grievance hearings.

Azzaoui v the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (13.5.02): Muslim traffic warden declining to wear uniform depicting the Crown, as it had a cross on it. This led to a change in the uniform policy of the Metropolitan Police Force.

National Power v Young [2001] ICR 328: Court of Appeal: Time Limits in Equal Pay cases

Kapadia v London Borough of Lambeth [2000] IRLR 699: Court of Appeal: Disability Discrimination: This was the first ever case to be supported by the Disability Rights Commission