Judge says High Court is ‘not a casino’

Last month, Judge Blake ruled Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber al-Thani could not be sued in England over claims his agents tortured Fawaz al-Attiya because he was afforded diplomatic immunity.

The sheikh, known as HBJ, was represented by David Pannick QC.

Lord Pannick charged £407,250 for his services, including a two-day trial he did not attend. Monica Carss-Frisk QC, his colleague, who appeared, charged £228,150.

HBJ employed Macfarlanes, four QCs and two juniors – his legal bills are over £1.1 million – a sum claimed from Mr Attiya.

But the judge last week intervened to stop the payments, saying his “initial response to sums allegedly claimed is that this is court of justice not a casino and costs must be reasonable and proportionate to the issue in hand, and the sums identified by the claimant as those claimed by the defendant would not be.”

He said he would make “no award for payment” as there was “no basis for forming an estimate of the defendant’s reasonable cost”.

Lord Pannick has “appeared in 100 cases in the appellate committee of the House of Lords (before the opening of the new Supreme Court), and has argued more than 25 cases in the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg and over 30 cases in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg” according to his website.