The Right Hon Suella Braverman QC MP

HM Attorney General
5-8 The Sanctuary
London
SW1P 3JS 28 October 2020

Dear Attorney General,

We are all members of the Attorney General’s panels of counsel, or Queen’s Counsel, who act
for the Crown or Government Departments in its full range of cases. We are writing in a
personal capacity to share our serious concerns about recent criticisms of “lefty” and “activist”
lawyers by senior Government Ministers including the Prime Minister and the Home
Secretary.

The proper application of the laws of this country is fundamental to the functioning of our
justice system and to society more widely. Lawyers play a vital part in the administration of
justice, including the criminal justice system and the immigration system.

It has long been a recognised and valued tradition of the Attorney General’s panels that its
members act both for and against Government. A large number of us do so. This reflects the
value to Government of having access to high quality, independent legal advice from a diverse
range of counsel.

As barristers our professional obligations require us to act in the best interests of our clients,
and to put forward arguments on their behalf reflecting the law as it stands. We represent our
clients regardless of political affiliation or personal views. This applies whether our client is a
Government department or someone seeking to challenge a Government decision.

The system as a whole ensures a high level of public confidence, nationally and internationally,
in the fairness and impartiality of the legal system for which this country is renowned. It also
ensures the protection of the individual rights and liberties which this country has valued for
centuries, including the right of access to independent legal advice and representation.

The emotive language politicising lawyers in the recent speeches undermines this system.
Criticising lawyers, such as ourselves and our colleagues, for acting fearlessly on behalf of our
clients in accordance with our professional duties, serves to reduce public confidence in the
legal system on which the rule of law depends. It also risks undermining the credibility of
Treasury Counsel within this system. We invite the Government to consider these points and
to refrain from using such language in the future.

We hope that the Law Officers will appreciate the good faith and constructive intention of this
letter. We look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

1
Queen’s Counsel

Charlie Banner QC Timothy Morshead QC

David Blundell QC Nigel Pleming QC
Tim Buley QC Deok Joo Rhee QC
Lisa Busch QC Andrew Sharland QC
Jason Coppel QC Clive Sheldon QC
Charles Cory-Wright QC Jessica Simor QC
David Forsdick QC Jemima Stratford QC
Lisa Giovannetti QC Rhodri Thompson QC
Kate Grange QC Stephen Tromans QC
Ben Jaffey QC Victoria Wakefield QC
Dan Kolinsky QC Tom Weisselberg QC
Jonathan Moffett QC

A Panel including PIL and regional panels

Tim Akkouh Zoe Leventhal

Katherine Apps Brendan McGurk
Ed Brown David Mitchell
James Cornwell Carine Patry
Claire Darwin Laura Prince
Sophie Garner Mathew Purchase
Nicola Greaney Yaqub Rahman
Sarah Hannett Bilal Rawat
James Henderson Jane Russell
Elizabeth Hodgetts Philip Simpson
Richard Honey Cristin Toman
Anneli Howard Richard Turney
John Hunter Charlotte Ventham
Tom Kirk Galina Ward

B Panel including PIL and regional panels

Jack Anderson Jennifer Grey

Natasha Barnes Rose Grogan
Rachel Barnes Katherine Hardcastle
Malcolm Birdling Rob Harland
Tom Brown Georgina Hirsch
Andrew Byass Jack Holborn
Sadiya Choudhury Robin Hopkins
Rupert Cohen Cicely Hayward
Beatrice Collier Tim Johnston
Estelle Dehon Tristan Jones
Raj Desai Patrick Keith
Jonathan Dixey Julianne Kerr Morrison
Catherine Dobson Marika Lemos
Nicholas Gibson Anna Lintner
Leon Glenister Paul Luckhurst
Mark Green Peter Mant

2
Hafsah Masood Ben Silverstone
Claire McCann Zack Simons
Nicholas Ostrowski Julia Smyth
Naina Patel James Stansfeld
Michael Paulin Caroline Stone
Jason Pobjoy Benjamin Tankel
Laura Poots Jennifer Thelen
Emma Price Alex Ustych
Alexander Ruck Keene Ned Westaway
Sarah Sackman Mark Westmoreland Smith
Shane Sibbel Emma Zeb

C Panel including PIL and regional panels

Michael Armitage Nicola Kohn

Joyce Arnold Tarlochan Lall
Sean Aughey Annabel Lee
Evie Barden Matt Lewin
Gideon Barth Jennifer MacLeod
Sophie Beesley Lucy McCormick
Clara Benn Giselle McGowan
Andrew Bershadski Belinda McRae
Adam Boukraa Jessica van der Meer
Jo Buckley Ravi Mehta
Michelle Butler Alice Meredith
Maxim Cardew Jonathan Metzer
Daniel Cashman Alistair Mills
Richard Clarke Chris Milsom
Tom Cockburn Emma Mockford
Robert Cohen George Molyneaux
Eddie Craven Jo Moore
Caroline Daly Simon Oakes
Stephen Donnelly Jessica Powers
Michael Edwards Imogen Proud
Emma-Louise Fenelon Bayo Randle
Matthew Fraser Nathan Roberts
Ben Fullbrook Emmanuel Shepherd
Tom Gibson Ishaani Shrivastava
Bruno Gill Natasha Simonsen
John Goss Paul Skinner
Benjamin Gray Hannah Slarks
Mark Greaves Daniel Stedman Jones
Nikolaus Grubeck Rachel Sullivan
Admas Habteslasie Katarina Sydow
Catriona Hodge Tom Tabori
Victoria Hutton Robert Talalay
Saara Idelbi Marianne Tutin
Samanatha Jones Yaaser Vanderman
Ruth Harriett Kennedy Rebecca Zaman

3
cc. The Prime Minister
The Home Secretary
The Lord Chancellor

The Prime Minister

10 Downing Street
London SW1A 2AA

The Home Secretary

Home Office
2 Marsham Street
London, SW1P 4DF

The Lord Chancellor

Ministry of Justice
102 Petty France
London
SW1H 9AJ