Birmingham law firm loses legal aid contract in wake of misconduct allegations
THE Birmingham law firm hit by claims of misconduct related to the collapsed Iraq war crimes inquiry has had its legal aid contract terminated.
The Legal Aid Agency has decided not to wait for the outcome of the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal case against Public Interest Lawyers’ Prof Phil Shiner and John Dickinson. It has taken action after finding the firm has “breached its contractual requirements”.
The £31m Al-Sweady inquiry investigated allegations of unlawful killing and ill treatment of Iraqi nationals by British troops in Iraq in 2004. When the inquiry reported in December 2014 it found the claims to be “deliberate lies”.
In a statement, the Legal Aid Agency said: “The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) has no role in judging the issues of professional conduct involved in the allegations.
However, we are clear that contractual breaches with LAA’s contract are proven and warrant investigation by the relevant authorities.”
Prof Shiner ran Public Interest Lawyers in Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter for 15 years, until November 2014, before becoming head of strategic litigation at newly-formed NGO named Public Interest Lawyers (International). He also became a professor of law at Middlesex University in the autumn of 2014.
