John specialises in commercial and civil fraud litigation. Admitted as a solicitor in 1983, John worked in private practice and in-house for a leading life assurance company before establishing Bivonas with Antony Brown in 1997. John has extensive experience in a wide range of courts and tribunals including the UK Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and the Divisional Court. He has been involved in a number of important reported cases.
by John Bechelet in News
The courts have shown themselves out of step with public opinion. The Lord Chief Justice has said that MPs and peers who have used Parliamentary privilege to flout gagging orders erode confidence in the justice system. However, when Lord Hain used Parliamentary privilege to identify Sir Philip Green as the user of such gagging orders,… Read More
by John Bechelet in Regulatory
It has been reported in The Times and elsewhere that there has been a marked increase of judicial bullying. Judges shouting at and belittling those who appear before them. England has a long and established pedigree in judicial bullying and one of its leading proponents was Lord Ellenborough who convicted Lord Cochrane of fraud and… Read More
by John Bechelet in Employment, Regulatory
Lord Bingham identified certainty, clarity and predictability as key constituents of the Rule of Law. His portrait gazes down in the Supreme Court. Certainty, clarity and predictability are not so warmly espoused by the current President, Baroness Hale. The recent case of Newcastle Upon Tyne NHS Foundation Trust v Sandi Haywood decided that notice of… Read More
by John Bechelet in Regulatory
Equifax, one of the world’s leading credit rating agencies is hacked. Personal information of individuals is accessed and many of these individuals have not consciously consented to Equifax holding their data, but have no choice in the modern world. No respectable media outlet, if offered this stolen personal data, would publish it. The position is… Read More
by John Bechelet in Regulatory
The great jurist Jeremy Bentham said that “Secrecy being an instrument of conspiracy, ought never to be the system of a regular government”. Lord Diplock in Home Office v Human [1983] AC, also quoting Jeremy Bentham said, “publicity is the very soul of justice… the surest of all guards against improbity”. However we live in… Read More
by John Bechelet in Regulatory
In Chen v Ng (British Virgin Islands) [2017] UKPC 27, the trial judge rejected Mr Ng’s evidence on the basis of matters that were never put to him in cross-examination. The judicial committee of the Privy Council allowed an appeal on this basis and remitted the case for re-trial. The case concerned a dispute about… Read More
by John Bechelet in Regulatory
In the United States, lawyers have been for many years held to be liable for giving kerbside advice. This is when a neighbour with a legal problem sidles up to the lawyer and wants to ‘pick his brains’. The neighbour armed with the free legal advice, which is in fact incorrect, acts on it to… Read More
by John Bechelet in Regulatory
The Trojan Horse plot, which came to light in 2014, centred on allegations that hard-line Muslims were planning to seize control of a number of Birmingham schools. Former Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism commander, Peter Clarke, carried out a Government investigation speaking to dozens of staff anonymously. Because disciplinary action is now on foot against certain head… Read More
by John Bechelet in Regulatory
Subject access requests are used as instruments of torture by opportunistic lawyers who often have ulterior motives for such requests, even if just to irritate their opponents. However tempting as it is to be dismissive of requests where an improper motive is suspected, recent cases have indicated this may not be the correct approach. In… Read More
by John Bechelet in Crime, Finance, News
Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act deals with the civil recovery of the proceeds of crime from unconvicted defendants through the civil courts. If a defendant is acquitted in the Crown Court following a trial for a criminal offence on a finding of not guilty by a jury, he can still be pursued… Read More
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