Experience

5 St Andrew's Hill

• United Kingdom
• Law Practice
• 1 - 100 Employee

• King's Counsel

  • Jul 2010 - Present

  Crime:- Vastly experienced criminal barrister and since taking silk has defended in numerous cases including: murder, rape, child abuse, human trafficking, serious fraud and armed robbery. He also prosecutes on behalf of Local Authorities and in private prosecution matters. His criminal practice is complementary and overlapping with his experience of international war crimes and extradition law. He is frequently instructed in cases with a cross boarder and international element dealing with difficult areas of international and immigration law. He receives instructions nationally and internationally to advise and represent defendants in crime and extradition matters. Extradition and International:- Since taking Silk he has specialised in defending in extradition encompassing the full range of requests but with a particular emphasis on political corruption and prison conditions in all former communist states. Has led in many of the leading Article 3 authorities of recent years, often involving issues relating to assurances provided by requesting state:- Aleksynas (Lithuania), Wolkowicz (Poland), Florea and Blaj (Romania), Lustyuk (Ukraine) and Kapoor (India). In these cases he has combined his specialist knowledge of such countries derived from his first degree in Russian and Soviet history with his work at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague in cases that required a detailed understanding and analysis of a state in transition following the collapse of communism. Extensive international experience, initially gained from 5 years defending in two lengthy and complicated war crime trials in The Hague. He remains actively involved in International Criminal and Humanitarian Law by amongst other things being a member of the ICTY Rules Committee. Show less



ICTY

• Netherlands
• Administration of Justice
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Defence Counsel

  • Jun 2005 - Jun 2010

  Prosecutor v. Krajisnik (2005-2006) Momcilo Krajisnik was a member of the Bosnian Serb leadership during the Bosnian civil war (1992-1995). In essence it was alleged that he was the second most powerful and influential Serb politician in the Republika Srpska after Radovan Karadzic and that the two of them ran their self-proclaimed state in tandem. The indictment dealt with crimes committed throughout much of 1992 in 37 of the 109 municipalities of Bosnia-Herzegovina. In order to put the events of 1992 into context, the case dealt extensively with the political events in Bosnia from the advent of the multi-party system in 1990 to the outbreak of the war in Spring 1992, when the crimes alleged began to take place. The trial transcript ultimately amounted to in excess of 27,000 pages. Krajisnik was acquitted of genocide, but was convicted of various crimes the most significant of which being extermination, murder (of approximately 3000 persons) and persecutions. Some of these convictions including extermination and murder were in turn quashed on appeal. Prosecutor v. Popovic et al (2006-2010) Represented Milan Gvero in this seven defendant case. The trial which lasted in excess of three years was the largest war crimes trial in terms of the number of accused persons since Nuremberg. The case involved the events surrounding the Srebrenica massacre in July 1995, the worst massacre in Europe since the Second World War, where approximately 8,000 Muslim men were allegedly murdered by soldiers from the Bosnian Serb army. Gvero faced charges of murder, persecutions, forcible transfer and deportation. He was the most senior officer on trial having been a Lieutenant General at the material time. In June 2010 he was acquitted of a number of the charges including murder and received a sentence of only 5 years imprisonment which resulted in his immediate release for time served. Show less