|
Civil Action Against Police
|
|
Criminal Injuries
Compensation Claims
|
|
Employment and Discrimination
|
|
|
|
Civil, Criminal, Licensing, Regulatory, Police
Lincoln’s Inn
Called 1985
LL.B (Manchester)
LL.M (Environmental Law)
Recorder (since 2003)
(Crime and Civil)
Head of Chambers Regulatory and Police Law Teams
Member: The UK Environmental Law Association; The National Association for Planning Enforcement; The Heath & Safety Lawyers Association; The Bar European Group
|
Regulatory Law
Peter Cooke undertakes a wide variety of regulatory work. His recent regulatory experience includes a fortnight in the Falkland Islands prosecuting two companies on behalf of the Government of South Georgia regarding breaches of international conservation measures in the South Atlantic fisheries, followed by another trip to uphold the convictions on appeal. Closer to home he has conducted cases concerning contaminated land, waste management licences and planning, not to mention a variety of trading standards cases concerning everything from counterfeit goods to car ‘clocking’. He has also dealt with environmental health matters under such arcane legislation as the Slaughterhouses Act. Recent forensic victories include a Crown Court prosecution of a builder in connection with unauthorised works to a Grade II listed Georgian building, and a four-day planning enquiry against a specialist planning Silk from London concerning an unauthorised agricultural dwelling on an alpaca farm in the Green Belt.
At the start of 2009 Peter graduated with a distinction in his Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) in Environmental Law at De Montfort University, winning both the environmental law prize and the prize for the best LL.M. student overall. His dissertation was on “The Prosecution and Sentencing of Businesses and Company Directors for Environmental Offences”.
The Head of the Cornwall Street Chambers Regulatory Team, he brings to his regulatory practice a breadth and depth of expertise in the criminal jurisdiction seldom seen in barristers who specialise in regulatory work. In his mainstream criminal practice he has been a Category IV prosecutor (the CPS’s highest category) since 1997 and defends at a similarly high level, with increasing frequency acting as leading counsel, and regularly handling cases of the utmost complexity and sensitivity including major conspiracies, drug importations, homicide, historic sexual abuse, computer and internet crime, fraud and money laundering, and cases involving the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and sensitive or specialist policing techniques (e.g. Aujla & Others (1998) 2 Cr App R 16, CA: admissibility of foreign telephone intercepts and R v Platten [2006] CLR 920, CA.: admissibility of “eavesdrop” evidence as between conspirators).
The national publication, The Legal 500 describes Peter as “recommended for serious crime and police law”. His particular expertise in matters concerning police misconduct is reflected in his status as Head of the Police Law Team within Cornwall Street Chambers, and is of great assistance in connection with cases concerning the conduct of other investigative and prosecuting bodies such as the Environment Agency and the Health & Safety Executive.
Off duty, Peter is learning to fly and consequently studying aviation law. He is a keen scuba diver, a PADI Staff Instructor (involved in teaching other instructors), and a mixed gas technical and closed-circuit rebreather diver. He has recently been appointed as the UK National Co-ordinator for the new legal assistance panel of Italy-based Divers Alert Network (DAN Europe), which provides assistance to divers and diving instructors in litigation (civil or criminal) arising from diving accidents.
|
|
