21 February 2008
Read all about our Jules Carey in today's Law Society's Gazette.
Jules represented Lotfi Raissi, the Algerian pilot wrongly accused of training pilots involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York, who has won the right to renew his claim for compensation against the government. Mr Raissi was detained at Belmarsh prison for almost five months, before a judge dismissed the case and concluded there was no evidence to support the allegation that he was involved in terrorism. In 2004 Mr Raissi asked the Home Secretary for an ex gratia payment to compensate him for the ‘serious defaults’ of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the police, but this was refused. The High Court upheld this refusal in 2007, but last week the Court of Appeal allowed his judicial review and ordered the Home Secretary to reconsider his application. Lord Hooper said: ‘There is a considerable body of evidence to suggest that the police and the CPS were responsible for serious defaults.’ A CPS spokesman said it would be studying the issues raised but noted that the judgment ‘reaches no firm conclusion’ regarding the CPS.