Gavin Millar QC

Gavin Millar's practice is extensive, covering media, defamation, employment and public law.

Much of his media work is for publications and journalists, asserting rights of free speech under Article 10 of the Convention. He specialises in defending claims against overseas publishers.

Amongst his High Court libel trials are: Linford Christie v John McVicar in which he represented a major distributor in proceedings against a satirical magazine; ITN v Hume where he defended "Living Marxism" and Mick Hume, in a case brought by ITN over allegations about its reporting of the Bosnian Civil war (described by The Guardian as the "first great libel trial of the millennium").

In 2004 he successfully defended the Wall Street Journal against a claim by Harrods, persuading the jury that a comparison to "Enron" was humorous. In 2005 he successfully applied to the CA to strike out an internet libel claim brought by a foreign national, Yousef Jameel against the same paper.

In 2006/7 he represented Searchlight magazine, both at trial and before the Court of Appeal, in libel proceedings brought by two BNP supporters, Chris and Barry Roberts. The claim was dismissed at first instance where Searchlight established a "Reynolds" qualified privilege defence based on its rights to discuss politics and to report the statements of others. In July 2007 the Roberts' appeals were dismissed on the ground that Searchlight's article was "attributed neutral reporting of a story in the public interest"

His other media work is varied. Recent reported cases include: R v The BBC ex parte the Referendum Party (a judicial review seeking more generous party election broadcast allocation), Chada v Dow Jones (a forum dispute), Briffet v CPS (prosecution of newspaper editors for alleged breaches of reporting restrictions) and Merseycare v Ackroyd (disclosure of journalistic sources).

The Merseycare case concerned the publication of information about the treatment of Moors murderer Ian Brady in Ashworth Special Hospital. In January 2006 the High Court refused to order the journalist to disclose his source on public interest grounds. In February 2007 Gavin Millar successfully resisted the hospital's appeal against the first instance ruling. Mr Ackroyd was supported throughout by the National Union of Journalists.

In 2004 he successfully represented the three largest national newspaper groups in the House of Lords in the landmark case of Re S, establishing the importance of reporting criminal trials in the public interest. In February 2008 he represented the media before a five member Court of Appeal in R v Cortis, which emphasised that Crown Courts could not make reporting restriction orders to protect the privacy rights of third parties.

He is the co-author Media Law and Human Rights (2001 Blackstone Press Ltd). A new edition of this work, to be published by Oxford University Press is being prepared at the moment. He is also a Council of Europe expert on freedom of expression. In this capacity he regularly lectures and advises on media law in the emerging democracies of Eastern Europe.

In employment law he specialises in discrimination and trade union law although he covers all aspects of individual and collective labour law. He often represents public sector workers and office holders.

Well known cases include the 1990 "chargecapping" judicial review in which he acted for the teaching unions, Derek Lewis v Home Office (wrongful dismissal claim by the Director of the Prisons Service) and the 2000 judicial review challenge by the NUT which halted the government's proposals for performance related pay for teachers.

He has appeared in two leading cases on the Acquired Rights Directive, Beckman v Dynamco, an ECJ decision on redundancy for former health service employees and Celtec v Astley, a civil service case decided in the ECJ in May 2005 following a reference by the HL. The House of Lords' ruled in favour of his clients on 21 June 2006.

He regularly represents police officers through the auspices of the Police Federation. Recent cases include ex parte Stewart (defining the ordinary duties of an officer), ex parte Stunt (entitlement to pensions after disciplinary proceedings), Lennon v MPC (negligent misstatement as to statutory entitlements) and Family of Derek Bennett v A and B (anonymity of police witnesses at an inquest).

He represented the Labour Party in Ahsan v Watt, a long-running race discrimination case concerning candidate selections by political parties. An appeal was heard in the House of Lords in July 2007. The decision of the House of Lords, handed down in October 2007, definitively establishes that such claims should be brought before the courts rather than the Employment Tribunals.

In August 2007 he successfully represented the former Mayor of Trafford Metropolitan District Council, Dr Pauline Lane, in sex discrimination proceedings in the Manchester County Court. At the outset of her mayorality Dr Lane was breastfeeding her two month old son on demand. The council prevented her travelling to public engagements in her mayoral vehicle with her baby. She established direct discrimination.

As well as employment cases, his public law practice covers local government, education and election law. He has experience of major public inquiries including the Clapham Junction Inquiry in 1990, the District Auditor hearings on Westminster City Council's designated sales programme (1994) and the Fallon Inquiry into Ashworth Special Hospital (1999).

He appeared in the leading authority on fraudulent misrepresentations in elections (R v Rowe) and successfully defended the late Fiona Jones in the only modern prosecution of a MP for election campaign offences. Recent election cases include Ahmed v Kennedy (2003, CA), and the two decisions in Knight v Nicholls and Considine v Didrichsen about returning officers' responsibilities in delivering postal votes. In March 2008 he represented the Petitioner in the Slough Central Ward election petition which exposed the unlawful electoral practice of "roll-stuffing", a practice which enables postal votes to be cast on behalf of non-existent registered voters.

Gavin Millar was described as an "incredible cross-examiner" in the defamation/privacy section of Chambers & Partners 2006. This also described him as a "robust and effective" advocate in the employment section. He is listed in the 2008 edition of Chambers & Partners as a leading silk in employment and defamation/privacy and in the defamation section of Legal Experts 2007. 2008 Chambers & Partners described him as "one of the cleverest minds around". He was described as "excellent" in a Legal Week article entitled "The Entertainers"and has been listed as one of the The Lawyer's "Hot 100" lawyers for 2007.

He is a Recorder of the Crown Court (2003).

last updated March 2008

Year of Call

1981

Queen's Counsel

2000

Education

BA (Hons) Jurisprudence

Email Address

g.millar@doughtystreet.co.uk

Specialist Teams

Gavin Millar QC is a member of the following specialist law teams:

• Education
• Employment and Discrimination
• Human Rights
• Media and Defamation
• Public and Administrative Law