6 days ago
It's fair to criticise ‘activist' Hermer, says his lawyer friend
Lord Hermer, the Attorney General, can be 'fairly' criticised over his 'activism' as a lawyer, a legal friend has said.
Ben Williams KC said Lord Hermer was an 'open activist' throughout his career, and claimed Sir Keir Starmer would have known this when he appointed him Attorney General.
He suggested this provided an insight into the Prime Minister's own views on how the law could be used to pursue a political agenda.
The suggestion comes despite Lord Hermer's claims that lawyers only take cases based on the 'cab rank' principle, which requires barristers to accept cases within their area of expertise, regardless of the client.
Mr Williams, who has presented cases with Lord Hermer, made his comments on Twitter in response to a video issued by Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, in which he attacked Lord Hermer for spending his career 'defending Britain's enemies' in court.
Saying the Attorney General was unfit for the job because of his past legal activism, Mr Jenrick linked him to a range of controversial figures he has represented, including Gerry Adams, Shamima Begum, the Isis bride, and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, described as Osama Bin Laden's 'right hand man'.
Mr Williams tweeted: 'As a lawyer [and] a friend of Rich Hermer, I find this unpleasant. But before the usual suspects erupt, it's also entirely fair political comment.
'RH was an open activist throughout his career, [and] Starmer knew this when he chose to knife his shadow AG [Emily Thornberry] to appoint RH instead.
'This is obviously revealing about Starmer's own position on using the law as a political instrument; [and] both he and Rich will have known perfectly well that the latter's long history of acting against the UK Government would be subject to legitimate political attack.
'On reflection, I should have said that I find it discomfiting. It is not unpleasant.'
Lord Hermer has come under increasing pressure over several controversial moves in Government, including a key role in Britain's surrender of the Chagos Islands.
He was also forced to apologise for a 'clumsy' remark that compared Conservative and Reform calls to quit the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) with the early days of Nazi Germany.
Sir Keir has faced calls to sack his Attorney General, with Kemi Badenoch arguing that Lord Hermer 'believes in the rule of lawyers, not the rule of law'.
Lord Hermer and his allies have previously argued that he has only represented controversial figures as a result of the 'cab rank rule', an ethical principle that requires lawyers to accept instructions from clients, even if they disagree with the views or alleged crimes.
However, in a previous tweet, Mr Williams challenged the concept barristers are strictly forbidden in any case from refusing to represent a client on the grounds they found them objectionable.
'Cab rank' principle questioned
Responding to a Twitter user making that argument, he said: 'This is at best unreal. You know perfectly well that the Bar is full of people who say 'I only defend', 'I won't represent alleged rapists', or 'I won't represent landlords'.
'As to the last, I went to a judicial valedictory last year where this specific position was openly celebrated. There are entire chambers that declare themselves 'radical'.
'The idea that one can't extrapolate revealed preferences from a career of acting only for a specific demographic is absurd.'
In his video, Mr Jenrick challenged Lord Hermer's cab rank defence, saying he 'would have been inundated with cases, able to choose the pick of the bunch'.
A Tory source said: 'Starmer and Hermer's mate, Philippe Sands, admitted he refused to represent Augusto Pinochet. The selective use of the cab rank rule is widespread amongst so-called human rights lawyers. Activist barristers now actively boast of their ideological purity.'
However, Lord Hermer has been defended by some Tory legal experts. Dominic Grieve, the former attorney general, said Mr Jenrick's video was a 'disgraceful' attack on the UK's 'principles of justice and freedoms' which relied on a 'level playing field' for individuals' legal representation under the cab rank rule.
A spokesman for the Attorney General's Office said: 'Law officers such as the Attorney General will naturally have an extensive legal background and may have previously been involved in a wide number of past cases. Barristers do not associate themselves with their clients' opinions.'
