Monday, August 15, 2016

Destroyed by arrogance: His relentless hounding of British troops made him the darling of the human rights industry. Now his firm's being shut down - and soldiers are planning to SUE him 

  • Phil Shiner is to close the door on his discredited Birmingham legal firm 
  • Public Interest Lawyers has spent millions of pounds pursuing troops
  • Serving and former soldiers considering taking their own legal action

Mr Shiner is to close his law firm, Public Interest Lawyers 
Mr Shiner is to close his law firm, Public Interest Lawyers 
He presents himself as the victim of a great Establishment plot: the plucky outsider and ‘committed socialist’ from humble beginnings pummelled by Tory toffs and military top brass for having the audacity to shine his virtuous light on the murkier workings of the British state.
So, as Phil Shiner now shuts the door on his discredited Birmingham legal practice, he will, no doubt, repeat his claims of a ‘personal vendetta’ against him by the Government and its agents.
But for many serving and retired members of the Armed Forces, the news that Mr Shiner and his law firm, Public Interest Lawyers, are shutting up shop is a cause for celebration.
Having spent years and many millions of pounds (courtesy of the taxpayer) pursuing British troops for thousands of alleged crimes in Iraq and elsewhere on the flimsiest of evidence, the one-time darling of the human rights industry has found that the tables have turned.
And he has clearly found the whole experience so disagreeable that he has decided to quit, ahead of a series of inquiries into the conduct of his firm.
It is a story of arrogance and hubris, one that raises several awkward questions for a legal establishment which, until recently, was only too keen to lionise this so-called champion of the oppressed.
Mr Shiner¿s detractors call him an ¿ambulance-chaser¿, a term of abuse in judicial circles (file photo)
Mr Shiner’s detractors call him an ‘ambulance-chaser’, a term of abuse in judicial circles (file photo)
But if Mr Shiner hopes that locking the office door will make the beastly Establishment take its vendetta elsewhere, he is likely to be disappointed.
‘This company has caused huge anguish to members of the Armed Forces and I am pleased it is closing down,’ says Colonel Bob Stewart, Tory MP for Beckenham.
‘But if it’s just a tactic to avoid further action against them, it won’t work. They should be chased and prosecuted – as they have chased others – if they have done things that are illegal. And they have certainly done things that are morally disputable.’
Mr Shiner’s detractors call him an ‘ambulance-chaser’, a term of abuse in judicial circles and one which he deeply resents. Yet, though Mr Shiner and his colleagues have chased countless ambulances – not to mention British Army jeeps, tanks and armoured personnel carriers – we are not talking about your average run-of-the-mill, compensation-chasing, no win-no fee legal pondlife.
This is a man who has risen to the top of the Establishment he professes to despise, complete with an entry in Who’s Who (it’s ‘Professor Philip Shiner’, by the way).
Perhaps the final straw for his firm was this month¿s announcement from the Legal Aid Agency that PIL has been banned from further public funding for its cases (file photo)
Perhaps the final straw for his firm was this month’s announcement from the Legal Aid Agency that PIL has been banned from further public funding for its cases (file photo)
Let us picture the scene in November 2007. The senior echelons of the legal world are gathered in their finery in the City of London for the Law Society Awards. Armoury House, the Georgian home of the Honourable Artillery Company, the oldest regiment in the British Army, has been hired for the black tie dinner.
All eyes are on the top trophy, the Solicitor of the Year Award for ‘the greatest positive impact on the public perception or reputation of the profession’. And the winner is … Phil Shiner.
The Law Society’s citation commends his ‘tenacious and courageous commitment to the rights of those for whom access to justice would otherwise be denied’, in particular ‘bereaved Iraqi families whose relatives had been killed in incidents in which British soldiers had been implicated’.
Afterwards, Mr Shiner piously explains that this was not so much work as a personal crusade, inspired by his own Christian beliefs.
Mr Shiner and his firm, PIL, rose to prominence after they won more than £2million in compensation for the family of an Iraqi hotel receptionist (file photo)
Mr Shiner and his firm, PIL, rose to prominence after they won more than £2million in compensation for the family of an Iraqi hotel receptionist (file photo)
His decision to take the Ministry of Defence to task, he says, was ‘part of an absolute fundamental commitment to challenging abuse of power in any way that I can think of’.
He goes on: ‘It’s not just the abuse of power that led us into war but the massive abuses of power that had been taking place up to and beyond the occupation.’
There have been many similar baubles over the years. Garlanded with the 2004 ‘Human Rights Lawyer of the Year’ award by the pressure group Liberty, Mr Shiner would go on to be appointed professor in practice law by Middlesex University.
He has received honorary accolades from the universities of Warwick, Kent and the London School of Economics and sits as a vice-president of the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers.
By any definition of the metropolitan liberal elite, ‘Professor’ Shiner is right up there at the top table. Which is why his fall is all the more spectacular.
Educated at what he calls a ‘tough’ Coventry comprehensive and Birmingham University, the twice-married father of five has had an impressive journey to the top of his trade.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has backed the closing of the firm
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has backed the closing of the firm
Yet his has been a reputation forged by the trashing of others, notably those of members of the Armed Forces.
There was clear evidence that some British troops had been guilty of serious misconduct during and after the invasion of Iraq.
Mr Shiner and his firm, PIL, rose to prominence after they won more than £2million in compensation for the family of an Iraqi hotel receptionist, Baha Mousa, who died while in the custody of British soldiers in 2003. A subsequent public inquiry into the affair in 2011 described it as an ‘appalling episode of serious gratuitous violence’. Spurred on by their success, Mr Shiner and his colleagues pushed for an inquiry into further alleged human rights abuses, following a bitter battle between British forces and Iraqi insurgents in 2004.
At the root of the claim was that innocent Iraqi farmers had been murdered by British soldiers. But one year into the £31million case, known as the al-Sweady inquiry, the Iraqi families dropped their claims.
In December 2014, the judge leading the investigation found that the witnesses represented by PIL and another firm, Leigh Day, had not just been exaggerating but telling systematic lies.
In the words of Sir Thayne Forbes, the allegations were ‘wholly without foundation and entirely the product of deliberate lies, reckless speculation and ingrained hostility’. It transpired that Mr Shiner and his firm had been paying an agent to round up potential victims and witnesses and had already trousered £3million from the Ministry of Defence for their part in the proceedings.
The MoD, in turn, reported Mr Shiner and his firm to the SRA, the solicitors’ watchdog, egged on by the prime minister himself.
More than 300 soldiers have now received letters warning them that they may face interrogation over instances of alleged ¿abuse¿ (file photo)
More than 300 soldiers have now received letters warning them that they may face interrogation over instances of alleged ‘abuse’ (file photo)
After an 18-month investigation, the SRA would refer the case to a disciplinary tribunal because of ‘serious allegations of professional misconduct’. Yet it now emerges that Mr Shiner is fighting to have that upcoming tribunal held behind closed doors, apparently on grounds of ill health.
Public Interest Lawyers, it would seem, do not believe that the public interest extends to themselves. The Daily Mail is contesting the application. For whatever the state of Mr Shiner’s own medical condition, there are hundreds of British service personnel whose own health has been adversely affected by accusations based on the most dubious evidence, if not downright lies.
More than 300 have now received letters warning them that they may face interrogation over instances of alleged ‘abuse’ in 1,500 cases, many of them instigated by Mr Shiner and his firm.
Colonel Stewart says he knows of several ex-soldiers suffering extreme stress as a result and is adamant that Mr Shiner should not be treated any differently.
‘The idea that he and his firm were using an agent to go out and find complaints against our Armed Forces fills me with horror,’ he says. Last year, Mr Shiner insisted that he was simply the target of a ‘vendetta’ by a Government ‘furious’ at the extent of the abuses which he had unearthed.
Several serving and former soldiers are considering taking their own legal action against Mr Shiner (file photo)
Several serving and former soldiers are considering taking their own legal action against Mr Shiner (file photo)
Perhaps the final straw for his firm was this month’s announcement from the Legal Aid Agency that PIL has been banned from further public funding for its cases.
On top of that, several serving and former soldiers are considering taking their own legal action against Mr Shiner.
One serving officer has told the Daily Telegraph that he is planning to leave the Army after members of the Iraq Historic Allegations Team interviewed him for two days over a 13-year-old abuse allegation and then turned up on the doorstep of a former girlfriend to ask her if he had ever been abusive in their relationship.
‘We veterans would like to sue Shiner. He has a lot to answer for. Lives have been destroyed while he has gained personally from these allegations,’ the officer added.
Solicitors acting for other groups of servicemen have said that they are considering legal action, depending on the result of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.
Mr Shiner has not responded to questions from the Daily Mail.
However, one issue is safely beyond doubt. He won’t need to dust off his dinner jacket for this year’s Law Society Awards. 
NWN: Shiner ? Now there is a an old English name . No doubt he and his forebears emanate from Eastern Europe ? And a left winger to boot. The ex Forces community have been having many demonstrations against filth like this. A genuine piece of good news.

52 comments:

Anonymous said...

There should be a POISON symbol over the doors of our universities, theatres and art galleries. A similar warning should appear on our TV programs, music and videos.

In the 1920's, the Comintern decided that the West could be conquered by first subverting its cultural institutions--family, education, religion, art, mass media and government.

They have largely succeeded. While maintaining their familiar format, they have subtly changed the content. It's like lacing a bottle of aspirin with arsenic.

We are noticing that our political and cultural leaders are mostly cowards, dupes, traitors, crooks, opportunists and impostor

http://www.henrymakow.com/#sthash.Xr7drHa8.dpuf

Anonymous said...

Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil: Recognize the True Enemy and Join to Fight Him.


https://www.amazon.com/Tell-Truth-Shame-Devil-Recognize/dp/1591481414/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1470441789&sr=1-1

Anonymous said...

http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/practice/ten-years-of-the-law-society-excellence-awards/5054182.fullarticle

Winners for 2007 include. . . 'Phil Shiner, Public Interest Lawyers'.

Credit where credit's due, he might be of Moravian stock.

PS: when I've been to the solicitor's, I've noticed piles of the Law Society Gazette still unwrapped more often than not. Odd that, because the online edition certainly repays close inspection for its reports of... diversity champions.

Anonymous said...

How 400 soldiers quit the Army every month: Figures leap 20% as witch-hunt over Iraq 'creates a state of fear'

Shock figures reveal that 4,770 soldiers quit in the 12 months to April
Former soldiers have spoken of how they were treated like murderers
Overall, 7,850 personnel left the Army, Navy and RAF in the year 2015-16


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3746165/How-400-soldiers-quit-Army-month-Figures-leap-20-witch-hunt-Iraq-creates-state-fear.html#ixzz4HfleOTUT

Anonymous said...

George Schwartz Soros - The Oligarch Who Owns The Left



http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/2016/8/18/george-schwartz-soros-the-oligarch-who-owns-the-left

Anonymous said...

Soros Paid Al Gore MILLIONS To Push ‘Aggressive US Action’ On Global Warming



Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/17/soros-paid-al-gore-millions-to-push-aggressive-us-action-on-global-warming/#ixzz4HftMgP1F

Anonymous said...

SOROS GROUP FUNDED "OPPOSITION RESEARCH' ON CRITICS OF RADICAL TERRORIST IDEOLOGIES.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlZyX-AqQlQ

Anonymous said...

Obama Wants A Third Term And This Is How He Could Make It Happen



http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-16/obama-wants-third-term-and-how-he-could-make-it-happen

Anonymous said...

World seeing ‘greatest monetary policy experiment in history’ - Rothschild .



https://www.rt.com/business/356148-rothschild-experiment-world-economy/

Anonymous said...

Billionaire Soros doubles bet against US stocks.



https://www.rt.com/business/356111-soros-fund-bearish-sp/

Anonymous said...

Ken Caldeira, David Keith, And Carnegie “Science”, The Face Of The Criminal Climate Engineering Cover-up.



http://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/ken-caldeira-david-keith-and-carnegie-science-face-of-the-criminal-climate-engineering-cover-up/

Anonymous said...

Romani People Demand Compensation for Holocaust



http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160816/1044332411/genocide-roma-yugoslavia.html

Anonymous said...

Former Labour council candidate spared jail after sexually assaulting teenager Then asked him to join the Labour Party.



http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/former-labour-council-candidate-spared-11742831

Anonymous said...

https://web.archive.org/web/20160624220105/https://www.msu.edu/~zpneal/publications/neal-diversitysoc.pdf

"The (In)compatibility of Diversity and Sense of Community"
Am J Community Psychol (2014) 53:1–12
Zachary P. Neal • Jennifer Watling Neal


http://archive.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2007/08/05/the_downside_of_diversity/?page=full

"Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam . . . has found that the greater the diversity in a community, the fewer people vote and the less they volunteer, the less they give to charity and work on community projects. In the most diverse communities, neighbors trust one another about half as much as they do in the most homogenous settings. The study, the largest ever on civic engagement in America, found that virtually all measures of civic health are lower in more diverse settings."

Anonymous said...

WikiLeaks Reveals Rothschild Billion Dollar Money Laundering Plot.



http://yournewswire.com/wikileaks-reveals-rothschild-billion-dollar-money-laundering-plot/

Anonymous said...

London Mayor To Set Up Police ‘Online Hate Crime Hub’ In ‘Partnership’ With Social Media Firms.






http://www.breitbart.com/london/2016/08/16/london-mayor-to-set-up-police-online-hate-crime-hub-in-partnership-with-social-media-firms/

Anonymous said...

THE JEWISH BIBLE CAME FROM ARABIA

"The Israelites were never in Egypt, did not wander in the desert, did not conquer the land in a military campaign and did not pass it on to the 12 tribes of Israel."


http://aanirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/the-bible-came-from-arabia.html



Anonymous said...

Leaked Board Documents: Soros Organization Tried To Buy Supreme Court Ruling On Illegal Immigration.



http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/17/leaked-board-documents-soros-organization-tried-to-buy-supreme-court-ruling-on-illegal-immigration/

Anonymous said...

Proof: US and NATO-backed ‘Rebels’ Are NOT Fighting ISIS





http://21stcenturywire.com/2016/08/17/proof-us-and-nato-backed-rebels-are-not-fighting-isis/

Anonymous said...

Front-line women to room with Marines to 'boost team spirit' - but critics say plan has disaster written all over it

Women fighters will share rooms with male Royal Marines commandos
Head of the navy said that the move would boost 'team cohesion'
Ex military chiefs said plans were likely to result in sexual promiscuity


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3747884/Front-line-women-room-Marines-boost-team-spirit-critics-say-plan-disaster-written-it.html#ixzz4HjsqK0wc

Anonymous said...

Gang of Eastern European squatters forced their way into a GP's surgery leaving trail of damage - but police insist they were powerless to act

Lime Tree Surgery, in Leytonstone, was completely trashed in one night
Squatters ripped out alarm, broke through doors and dumped rubbish
Dr Liaquat Ali says police refused to pursue gang for criminal damage
He said: ' So squatters can just break into commercial properties and prevent people from working? It's just not right'


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3746873/At-20-Eastern-European-squatters-forced-way-GP-s-surgery-leaving-trail-damage-police-powerless-act.html#ixzz4HjvKFovt

Anonymous said...

US Has Nearly 30,000 Defense Contractors in Afghanistan.



http://theantimedia.org/us-nearly-30000-defense-contractors-afghanistan/

Anonymous said...

Sweden is on Fire: Car Arson Epidemic is Catching.



http://sputniknews.com/art_living/20160817/1044347564/sweden-car-arsons-violence.html

Anonymous said...

World's Biggest Corporations Won't Pay Taxes at the Olympics.

Brazil will lose about a billion dollars in revenue thanks to a law that turns the Olympics into a tax haven.

Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Visa and the rest of the corporate sponsors of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro won't be paying any taxes on the money they earn there due to a tax exemption law that's set to cost Brazil hundreds of millions of dollars.


http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Worlds-Biggest-Corporations-Wont-Pay-Taxes-at-the-Olympics-20160817-0018.html

Anonymous said...

James Bond delusion: Britain’s military power an illusion made from myth, says scholar.



https://www.rt.com/uk/356245-britains-brexit-miltary-delusion/

Anonymous said...

Official German Records of Prisoners in Auschwitz Concentration Camp from May 1940 to December 1944.



https://www.darkmoon.me/2016/official-german-records-of-prisoners-in-auschwitz-concentration-camp-from-may-1940-to-december-1944/

Anonymous said...

Joseph Goebbels’ 105-year-old secretary: ‘No one believes me now, but I knew nothing’
Brunhilde Pomsel worked at the heart of the Nazis’ propaganda machine. As a film about her life is released, she discusses her lack of remorse and the private side of her monstrous boss


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/15/brunhilde-pomsel-nazi-joseph-goebbels-propaganda-machine

Anonymous said...

Do authoritarian social cultures produce good liars?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3749963/Strict-parents-turn-children-liars-Disciplinarians-mean-child-does-not-feel-safe-telling-truth.html

Anonymous said...

Soros Leaks: The Most Important Story You're Not Hearing.


http://russia-insider.com/en/soros-leaks-most-important-story-youre-not-hearing/ri16066

Anonymous said...

CNN Journalist ‘Governments Pay Us To Fake Stories’, Shocking Exposé.


http://www.disclose.tv/news/cnn_journalist_governments_pay_us_to_fake_stories_shocking_expos/133975?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=digest-2016-32&utm_source=crit_send

Anonymous said...

Gavin Boby- Why you shoul. oppose a mosque .



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFHAF-jXCeA

Anonymous said...

Purging Russia From the Evil Rothschild Money Changers.


http://katehon.com/article/purging-russia-evil-rothschild-money-changers

Anonymous said...

UK surveillance powers have gone ‘further than any other Western democracy’ - MP



https://www.rt.com/uk/356494-surveillance-powers-security-democracy/

Anonymous said...

George Soros using his billions to fund #BlackLivesMatter and the immigration push



http://personalliberty.com/george-soros-using-billions-fund-blacklivesmatter-immigration-push/

Anonymous said...

Hacked Docs Expose Soros-Obama-UN Refugee Invasion Network .



http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/immigration/item/23893-hacked-docs-expose-soros-obama-un-refugee-invasion-network

Anonymous said...

Is Putin a Zionist Puppet?



https://www.darkmoon.me/2016/is-putin-a-zionist-puppet/

Anonymous said...

Germany Abandons Hundreds Of Deportations Because Migrants Scream Before Flight



Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/08/21/germany-abandons-hundreds-of-deportations-because-migrants-scream-before-flight/#ixzz4I0teDI6F


Anonymous said...

How We Know ISIS Was Made In The USA .


http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article45324.htm

Anonymous said...

Migrants to be offered FREE degrees at top university while Britons amass huge debts
REFUGEES and asylum seekers could get a free place at one of Britain’s top universities alongside a new wave of British students struggling to cope with the burden of huge student debts.



http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/702324/migrants-refugees-asylum-seekers-bristol-university-free-scholarship-education-tuition-fee

Anonymous said...

SYRIA - ATTACKED BY THE CIA, ON BEHALF OF ISRAEL



http://aanirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/syria-attacked-by-cia-on-behalf-of.html

Anonymous said...

Leaked Memo Proves Soros Ruled Ukraine In 2014: Minutes From "Breakfast With US Ambassador Pyatt"


http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-20/leaked-memo-proves-soros-ruled-ukraine-2014-minutes-%E2%80%9Cbreakfast-us-ambassador-pyatt%E2%80%9D

Anonymous said...

Muslim Rate Is Destroying Europe.



http://www.rense.com/general96/muslimBR.htm

Anonymous said...

‘Italy isn’t Islamic suburb’: Pisa residents rally against mosque construction near Leaning Tower



https://www.rt.com/news/356708-pisa-italy-mosque-rally/

Anonymous said...

UNMASKED: A List of Stuff Soros Funds From the Recent Hack of His Foundations


http://russia-insider.com/en/george-soros-open-society-foundation-unmasked-major-leak/ri16074?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Anonymous said...

Muslim Migrants Attack a Restourant in Italy



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BeE1f2tpQ8

Anonymous said...

Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle. The real extent of this state of misinformation is known only to those who are in situations to confront facts within their knowledge with the lies of the day. I really look with commiseration over the great body of my fellow citizens, who, reading newspapers, live and die in the belief that they have known something of what has been passing in the world.


https://jamesperloff.com/

Anonymous said...

What the Media is Missing in the Bloody Boy from Aleppo Photo: Thank You, Hillary.



http://hubpages.com/politics/What-the-Media-is-Missing-in-the-Bloody-Boy-from-Aleppo-Photo-Thank-You-Hillary

Anonymous said...

The Trial of Tony Blair charity single - Out Now



https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/the-trial-of-tony-blair-single/id1139279937

Anonymous said...

Veterans rage at war trauma scheme they say aims to deny them compensation .


https://www.rt.com/uk/356744-military-ptsd-payouts-record/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=aplication_chrome&utm_campaign=chrome

Anonymous said...

Tinderbox at the GATES OF EUROPE: Expert warns REAL migration surge is on its way
A POPULATION expert has warned “large waves” of migrants are preparing to head for Europe - with a “tinderbox” situation leaving the continent on the brink of collapse.



http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/703019/tinderbox-at-gates-of-europe-real-migration-migrant-surge-on-way-Reiner-Klingholz

Anonymous said...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-3751122/The-true-lunacy-broken-asylum-Judge-rejects-claims-despairs-tiny-actually-leave-Britain.html


"It is a straightforward lack of political will. In my view the authorities have concluded that it is simply not cost effective to enforce the law; not that they will admit it."

Cost-effective or otherwise is only part of the issue; what is really driving it is the miscegenation agenda, which is ethnic cleansing aka genocide. For that there IS political will, as plainly demonstrated by Government's studied inaction.

Politicians: listen up while you can. Change in politics can occur suddenly; the ICC in the Hague may summon you to explain one day.

Anonymous said...

Soros Emerges As Mastermind Behind Plan To "Enlarge Electorate By At Least 10 Million Voters"



http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-08-23/soros-emerges-mastermind-behind-plan-expand-us-electorate-10-million-voters