1MCB is delighted to announce that Loïs Mbu has been shortlisted for Junior Clerk of the Year at the Legal 500 Bar Awards 2023. Loïs joined 1MCB in January 2023 as a junior criminal clerk.
The Legal 500 Bar Awards seek to recognise sets as wholes as well as individuals: barristers at all levels of seniority, clerks, other chambers’ professionals, and arbitrators.
The winners will be announced on 03 October 2023.
The shortlist can be viewed here.
1MCB Chambers is seeking to appoint a full time Fees Clerk as soon as possible to join our friendly working environment. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced and self-starting Fees Clerk to support chambers with leading criminal and civil barristers.
To find out more about the role and how to apply, please visit our Staff Vacancies page.
1MCB Chambers extends its congratulations to Ife Thompson, who has been shortlisted in the Legal Aid Newcomer category of the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year (LALY) awards.
Award winners will be announced at a ceremony on 12th July 2023.
Ranjeet Dulay successfully represented a defendant accused of inflicting grievous bodily harm. Her client admitted throwing a punch which resulted in significant facial injuries to the complainant. The defendant’s case was that he made a pre-emptive strike in self defence. The defendant was acquitted of this serious charge after a trial at Croydon Crown Court.
Ranjeet was instructed by Clint Ambrose of Cambrose Solicitors.
David Langwallner acted in a multi handed two week case at Wolverhampton Crown Court, involving allegations of abuse by carers in a care home. The case involved complex assessment of care home policy, training, and staffing, as well as legal argument about the crucial distinction between the test for criminal recklessness and a breach of the common law duty of care for the purposes of a civil claim in negligence.
David, who was instructed by Duncan Lewis Solicitors, was able to secure an acquittal for his client.
Ranjeet Dulay recently successfully represented a defendant accused of being concerned in the production of cannabis. Her client and two other males were accused of attending an address where there was a large scale cannabis factory. It was the prosecution case that the defendants attended the address on two consecutive days, from where they removed cannabis plants and equipment in order to set up another factory elsewhere. The defendant admitted attending the address but denied being part of an enterprise concerned in the production of cannabis.
Ranjeet was instructed by Sheraz Chowdhury of Asghar & Co Solicitors.
1MCB Chambers hosted the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent and the bereaved family of Chris Kaba as part of the UN Working Group’s fact-finding visit to the UK to gather information on any forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and assess the human rights situation of people of African descent in the country. They will also follow up on implementation of recommendations made after the experts’ visit to the UK in 2012.
Chris Kaba, 24, was fatally shot by a firearms officer from the Metropolitan Police shortly before 10pm on 5th September in Kirkstall Gardens, Streatham Hill, London. His death is now under investigation by the Independent Office for Police Conduct.
The UN Working Group delegation was led by Catherine S. Namakula and includes Barbara G. Reynolds and Dominique Day.
As part of the fact finding mission, the Working Group met with government representatives, national institutions, people of African descent, lawyers, civil society organisations and individuals working on issues of racism and racial discrimination.
On 27th January, the Working Group issued a statement at the conclusion of their fact finding mission, finding that the discrimination against people of African descent is “structural, institutional and systemic” in the UK.
The Working Group will present their report on their UK Mission to the UN Human Rights Council in September 2023.
KA was acquitted on four terrorism charges after a three-week trial at the Central Criminal Court on Friday 16th December 2022.
KA, a young man of good character who had been remanded in custody for over a year awaiting trial, was charged with dissemination of three terrorist publications in May 2020, and possession of a machete in circumstances which give rise to a reasonable suspicion that his possession was intended for a purpose connected with the commission or preparation of an act of terrorism in October to November 2021. The jury returned unanimous verdicts of Not Guilty on all counts on the indictment after approximately two hours of deliberations.
The Crown relied extensively on ‘mindset’ material to suggest KA had an ‘extremist’ mindset. This included reliance on videos, audios, nasheeds, social media messages and posts, and internet history, amongst others. The Crown suggested KA had been radicalised through exposure to ISIS, Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and other propaganda material.
The three-week trial included detailed argument and examination on the following issues:
• Extensive and successful legal arguments on ‘mindset’ material;
• The objective parameters of a terrorist publication under section 2 of the Terrorism Act 2006;
• The change in burden and standard of proof in relation to section 57;
• Section 8 disclosure applications for evidence that may undermine the crown’s case and/or assist the defence;
• The admissibility of expert opinion evidence on the subject of what may constitute a terrorist publication;
• Engagement of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights during an assessment of what constitutes a terrorist publication, and when assessing mindset material, including unpalatable speech;
• Geopolitical issues, including the background to the Syrian conflict and atrocities committed; the legitimacy of the Assad regime; whether specified militia groups in various parts of the world were religious or political in nature;
• Cultural and linguistic issues, including to what extent a passive prayer may be framed in the context of encouragement or inducement to commit acts of terrorism, significance of a Shahadah flag, and the use of certain Arabic terminology and their context dependent meaning;
• Theological issues, including examination of the belief system of various sects, types of Salafi and other Islamic groups, interpretation of verses of the Quran and Hadith, definition and scope of terms such as ‘khawarij’, and ‘takfir’, and the proper meaning of ‘jihad.’
The defence instructed technical experts to examine numerous seized devices, and an expert on culture, language, Islamic law, with experience of terrorist materials to assist.
1MCB Chambers’ Soraya Bauwens and Rabah Kherbane (Doughty Street Chambers) were instructed as juniors by Amer Ahmad at JD Spicer Zeb Solicitors. Sultana Tafadar KC (No5 Barristers’ Chambers) was instructed as leading counsel.
On 8th December 2022, pupil barrister Ife Thompson recently addressed the newly launched United Nations Permanent Forum for People of African Descent (UNPAD). Mandated by the Durban Declaration Programme of Action – the UN’s blueprint to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance globally – UNPAD is a consultative mechanism for people of African descent and other relevant stakeholders, and a platform for improving the safety and quality of life and livelihoods of people of African descent; it is also an advisory body to the Human Rights Council.
Ife is a senior UN fellow for the International Decade for People of African Descent and represented three organisations before the Forum: BLAM UK, Justice for Chris Kaba Campaign and the Global Black Collective Institute. Her intervention called for the creation of a mechanism within the UN from which victims of police brutality can seek redress and support. She also invited the Forum to tackle the issue of language discrimination, particularly in schools, highlighting the case of a Black child who was excluded from school for greeting a teacher in Jamaican Patois, and reminded the Forum that if it is to be truly accessible, it must provide interpretation in afro-descedant languages such as Haitian Creole and Patois. Finally, Ife proposed a youth Forum to ensure intergenerational dialogue.
Ife will continue to work with the Forum to shape a new Declaration on Human Rights of People of African Descent.
The proceedings can be viewed here.
Ife Thompson’s article, ‘Discrimination and policing’, has been published in the latest edition of Legal Action Group magazine.
In the article, Ife explores how to resist racial profiling and discriminatory policing through the criminal courts and highlights how racial trauma might have a bearing on mens rea in cases of alleged police obstruction.
The article is available to read here.
Ife is a pupil barrister at 1MCB Chambers. She is the founder of BLAM UK and Black Protest Legal Support and in 2020, was selected by the United Nations Office for Human Rights as the UK’s UN Fellow for the UN International Decade for People of African Descent.
1MCB Chambers is pleased to announce that a number of its members have again been recognised as leaders in their respective fields by Chambers & Partners 2023.
Iain Edwards is ranked for the eighth year in a row in the Spotlight Table for international criminal law. He is acknowledged as “clearly a very strong practitioner in international proceedings” and “calm, sensitive and in control at all times”.
Anna Watterson and Michael Sprack are both recognised for their work in social housing.
Described as a “well regarded junior with expertise across a range of housing matters”, Anna is noted to be “bright and thorough, and someone who asks the right questions”.
Michael is ranked as an up and coming practitioner who is “very committed to his work and a man with great client care, who is able to explain the law in simple terms to lay clients”.
Chambers congratulates Anna Watterson on her appointment as Deputy District Judge. Anna – who already sits in the Social Entitlement Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal – will hear a broad variety of civil cases on the South Eastern Circuit.
