Thursday 3 March 2016

'This is a court of justice not a casino,' judge tells lawyers over their £1.1m fees

A high court judge has chastised lawyers for charging up to £400,000 each in their successful defence of a billionaire sheikh accused of being involved in the torture of a UK citizen, saying that this is a “court of justice not a casino”.
Justice Blake ruled last month that Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani, a former Qatari prime minister worth an estimated £8bn, could not be sued in London over claims that agents acting on his behalf falsely imprisoned and tortured Fawaz al-Attiya, a British citizen and former official spokesman for the emirate.
The high court said that since the sheikh had been appointed to a role at Qatar’s London embassy in November 2013, he was shielded by diplomatic immunity.

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