Ben Cooper

Ben Cooper has been listed for the last 4 years in Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500 for his expertise in crime specialising in extradition. He is presently instructed in the most complex and high profile ongoing extradition challenges.

Ben has won a number of cases in prosecutions brought by a number of different judicial authorities and Governments. He has recently achieved discharges for two Russian oligarchs accused of complex frauds by the Russian Government and two former inmates from Guantanamo Bay. He has acted for Gary McKinnon since his arrest on a US extradition warrant and for the last 5 years at all levels from the magistrates court to the House of Lords and European Court and on numerous occasions before the High Court. Recent victories include cases brought by judicial authorities in Spain, Portugal, Latvia, Slovakia and Cyprus, Poland and Lithuania and the UAE. His advisory work includes providing pre-emptive advice to businesses executives with regard to serious financial crimes.


Practice: Crime, Human Rights, Extradition

Practice Profile
Crime; Human Rights (test cases on Art. 3,5,6,7,8, & 9 ECHR);

Extradition: current cases include defending cyberterrorist ''Pentagon computer hacker'' against the USA, drugs & money laundering conspiracies against Australia & Spain & war crimes against Croatia; murder and organised crime against Poland

• Cited in both Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 for expertise in extradition

Serious fraud; Extensive national practice defending drug traffickers, producers & suppliers & confiscations: See reported cases - Quayle 2005, Lehmann 2004, Stroud 2003, Taylor 2002 & Ham Art.8 test case for Liberty; Court of Appeal criminal appeals, CCRC & Strasbourg referrals; Caribbean Privy Council appeals incl. Clifton Shaw & Ors - fresh evidence Jamaican capital multiple murder; Blanchfield v AG of Trinidad & Tobago - Constitutional WW2 land claim;

Prisoners Rights: judicial reviews, parole board & disciplinary hearings for prisoners; Civil actions against the police & inquests.

VOLUNTARY WORK

Represented Jamaica Council for Human Rights before United Nations Human Rights Committee and gave evidence on Trinidad and Tobago. Prepared reports for the UNHRC re: police, prisons and death penalty and addressed the Committee on the ICCPR prior to their examination of the AG and Commissioner of Prisons from Jamaica.
The Centre for Justice and International Law, Washington DC
Advocate for execution reprieves. IACHR Caribbean police and prison cases.
The Bar Caribbean Pro Bono Committee:
Formed the committee with the Bar Human Rights Committee with barristers who sponsored work in Jamaica to ensure continuity of the civil barristers sponsoring death penalty work on the ground. Criminal chambers now regularly send barristers to assist attorneys on capital trials.

Cases

Judicial Reviews reported:

• R (Abbasi) v SoS for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs [COA] [2003] U.K.H.R.R. 76 & E.H.R.L.R.: JR of inactivity of Foreign Office in protecting British citizens at Guantanamo Bay: MR criticized US Executive policy & US judgments re: absence of Habeas Corpus; (QC for High Crt and COA. Jnr. alone for initial advices & LSC hearing when High Court refused permission.)

• R (Cleary) v Highbury Corner Mags & (1) MET Police (2) SoS Home Dept.: Times, 12/9/2006, [2007] 1 All E.R. 270, various reports & journals &. Archbold: Successful art.6 & 8 challenge to absence of due process guidelines for Closure (eviction) Orders under the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003. MET & Home Office policies on disclosure & anonymous hearsay evidence overturned. (Jnr. alone against QC & junior for the MET & junior for SoS.)

• R (Thompson) v Northumbria Police (2001) 1 WLR 1342; (2001) 4 All ER 354. JR of deputy chief constable for excluding a solicitor's rep. from police stations in the area. Duty Solicitor Scheme did not entitle a blanket exclusion direction. (With QC).

Unreported:

• JR of police search and seizure of a solicitor's offices; (With leading junior)

• JR re: use of motorcycle helmets inside BMW caged motorbikes; (Junior alone)

• JR re: custody time limits; (Junior alone)

• Expert report for JR of the Home Secretary's authority to proceed with a deportation of a Jamaican facing death sentence in Jamaica.

Prison law judicial review:

• Successful judicial reviews in respect of inadequate health care for prisoners and challenges to Category A status of convicted murderer, head of Columbian drugs cartel; Parole Board, licence and disciplinary hearings at various HMPs; (All junior alone)

Trinidad and Tobago public law work:

• 3rd junior to counsel to the Royal Commission into the administration of justice and independence of the judiciary in Trinidad and Tobago, May-June 2000: summarised and prepared 300 submissions for the Commissioners: the first exhibit to the enquiry; selected witnesses and prepared them for their live testimony before the enquiry; Led to the Lord MacKay report.

Privy Council - civil/ constitutional

• Blanchfield & Ors v AG of Trinidad and Tobago (No.1 of 2002) UKPC. Private constitutional appeal reclaiming a large area of land from the Trinidadian Gvt. that the British Gvt. seized from farmers and leased to the US military in WW2 for the war effort; (With QC)

Public law Judicial Reviews arising out of extradition:

• Talha Ahsan v AG and DPP: 9/11 jihad allegations incl. conspiracy to bomb US battleship. Test case JR of AG's decision not to apply Guidelines re: joint jurisdictional cases - refusal to consider UK prosecution under terrorism legislation - lawfulness of AG & DPP's conflict of interest in acting for US & considering UK prosecution; Ahsan v USA & SoS: statutory appeal pending re: art. 3,5,6 & 8. (with QC)

• Goodyer v SoS Home Dpt.: s.6 HRA obligation of SoS & jurisdiction of High Crt. to hear out of time appeal - SoS refusal to abandon D's surrender to T&T after previous lawyers failed to lodge appeal on time - intervention of High Court not to remove D; Trinidad & Tobago v Goodyer: statutory appeal re Art.6 prejudice where T&T lost D's file for 3 years before resurrecting drug trafficking allegation; test case on appalling prison conditions.

• McKinnon v SoS Home Dpt.: JR of SoS's failure to reconsider D's human rights under s.6 HRA in addition to narrowly defined statutory duty.post service of new evidence and advent of AG Guidelines re forum;

• Croatia v Travica: War crimes (4 murders) -pending JR re: fair trial prejudice for a Serb in a local Croatian criminal court. New reps. re: transfer to Serbian War Crimes court;

• Poland v Lakatus: D recently released on bail after 4 years in HMP Brixton awaiting extradition under previous lawyers. Numerous offences of organized crime: violent robberies and racketeering: awaiting decision from SoS re: exceptional Article 8 circumstances where D's daughter receiving treatment for leukemia in London.

Extradition

• R (on the application of Spain) v Bow Street Magistrates' Court & Sander & ors: The Times, September 19, 06, (2006) 156 N.L.J. 1440: Guideline case on abuse of process in extradition law following interlocutory JR of Magistrate''s disclosure order brought by Spain. Art.13 ECHR and application of EU law to extradition.

• Scuka v Governor of Brixton Prison: J.P. 2003, 167(13), 223; [2003] EWHC 544; 2003 WL 933499: Extradition & parallel successful asylum claim.

• Miklis v Deputy Prosecutor General of Lithuania: (2006) 4 All ER 808, The Independent, June 19 2006: Standard of proof and evidence for Art. 3 ECHR claim.

Criminal appeals

• R v Quayle & ors. (2005) 1 WLR 3642, (2006) 89 B.M.L.R. 169, Times, June 22, 2005, Archbold & various law journals: Test case on the ambit of defence of medical necessity & Art. 8 ECHR for medicinal cannabis use;
• R v Taylor (Paul Simon) [Court of Appeal Criminal Division] Times, 15/11/2001; (2002) Crim LR 314 & Archbold: Article 9 test case for Rastafarian prosecuted for use of cannabis at his temple;
• Clifton Shaw, Titus Henry, Morris Boreland, Donovan Mullings & Junior Wright v. R (No.53 of 2002) UKPC. Jamaican capital multiple murder appeal re: fresh & undisclosed eyewitness evidence I found in Jamaica;
• R v Scorgie: Lawtel 27/03/2003, [2003] EWCA Crim 1097: State disabled Defendant - Abuse of process jurisdiction - causation of unfitness to plead - Article 3;
• R. v Stroud (John Richard) 147 S.J. 1152, C.A. (02/10/2003); Criminal Law Week, Lawtel 2/10/03; 2003 WL 22656433: Ambit of suspended sentences - MS sufferer - cannabis factory;
• R. v Stroud (John Richard) (No.1) [2004] EWCA Crim 1048 2004 WL 1060586: Methodology for determining benefit in confiscation orders;
• R. v Stroud (John Richard) (No.2) [2005] EWCA Crim 161 2005 WL 636047: Successful application to correct the Court of Appeal's 1st judgment re: methodology for determining confiscation orders; (Junior alone, co-d advised negatively on appeal)
• R v Lehmann (Richard John) Lawtel Aug 2004; EWCA Crim 2174; 2004 WL 1808924: Sentencing tariff for cannabis growers;
• R v Adeloye (Tunde) [2005] EWCA Crim 2969 2005 WL 3126608: Abuse of process - non-disclosure;
• R v Brand (Christopher Stuart) Probat. J. 2003, 50(3), 321 [2003] EWCA Crim 884 2003 WL 21162448: Drug Treatment & Testing Orders, Suitability - Burglary - Custodial sentences - Drug addiction;
• R. v Gilpin (Paul Telford) 2004 WL 2945252, [2004] EWCA Crim 2351: Referral on appeal re: cannabis;
• R. v McCarthy 2004 WL 3022238 [2004] EWCA Crim 3175: Sentencing tariff for heroin conspiracy.

Crown Court:

• R v Ham (July 2001): discussed in Rudi Fortson, Misuse of Drugs, 4th Ed. 2002. Article 8 privacy test case for Liberty re: prosecutions for possession of personal quantity of cannabis.

Publications:

• The Times law pages: death penalty in Jamaica; The London Advocate: British Government's role in the legality of detentions in Guantanamo Bay, Defences for drugs trials; The CBA Newsletter, Counsel.

• Freelance journalism for all English national daily broadsheets and tabloids including the front page of The Guardian and The Financial Times;
  

Year of Call

1999

Email Address

b.cooper@doughtystreet.co.uk

Click for contact details

Specialist Teams

Member :

• Criminal Law
• Direct Public Access
• Extradition
• Human Rights
• International Criminal Law
• International Law Group
• Prisoner's Rights
• Public and Administrative Law
• Regulatory and Financial Crime