Michael Mansfield QC was born in 1941 and educated at Highgate School and Keele University. Called to the Bar in 1967, he established Tooks Chambers, in 1984 and became Queen's Counsel in 1989. Michael has represented defendants in criminal trials, appeals and inquiries in some of the most controversial legal cases the country has seen, particularly where issues of Civil Liberty have arisen. Areas of Practice Criminal Law Inquests Notable Cases Current Commitments Moment two women at Islamic group's protest during pro-Palestine rally are arrested for holding Arabic signs that read 'How beautiful it is to be a soldier of Allah' as they tell officers not to 'take it out of context' hugely admire him This book is not just a show-off catalogue of his greatest hits, It is a shaming, chilling list of injustices.' the Guildford Four, the Birmingham Six, Dolours and Marian Price, and others accused of involvement in IRA bombings Mansfield: You see, at the very least - at the very least - although you weren't in the car, there was a responsibility by your colleague to ensure that Princess Diana did have her safety belt on before they moved off. Do you agree?

Mansfield: No, no, please understand, no one has suggested that Princess Diana ever refused to wear one. Really, what I want to get at here is that neither of you really paid attention to the important details that day. Nothing to do with staffing, to do with your responsibilities. You understand the question? It's not surprising that he looks weary. The Diana inquest was not merely a slog, meaning 12- or 13-hour working days for Mansfield; it was years in the waiting. Mansfield's representation of Al Fayed, coupled with Lord Scott Baker's summing up, subsequently attracted nothing but bitchiness from the press and from his legal peers. "He's sort of a joke in legal circles for having taken the case," one barrister tells me. One newspaper said: "The great radical lawyer has been accused of selling out and abandoning the principles of a lifetime to lend his name and reputation to the billionaire businessman's dubious conspiracy theories." There is no question that he has been a force for good in this country, and has kept the flag of civil liberties flying when governments would have been very happy to have seen it suppressed. He can’t retire – his country needs him. Carpentry must wait.’ During our interview, Mr Mansfield highlighted some examples that pose a threat to our human rights that are not in mainstream media. We at HRP, are bringing them to light.

Having never met Mansfield before, I'd expected to hear him make the case against the cuts in the cool, forensic tone of a veteran QC. I don't know what he's like in court, but in person I could not have been more wrong. At 73, Mansfield is an imposing colossus of a man, and we meet at the end of a day he has spent in court representing Mark Duggan's family at his inquest – yet at moments he can get so worked up that he sounds more like a lefty student activist. Mansfield on daughter's suicide: 'Why didn't you tell me it was that bad?", BBC News, 4 February 2016. Probably the biggest household name at the criminal Bar is Michael Mansfield KC, a sure-fire role model for students wondering about a career in criminal (or civil rights) law.’

Forensic science is not immutable. They're not written in tablets of stone, and the biggest mistake that anyone can make—public, expert or anyone else alike—is to believe that forensic science is somehow beyond reproach: it is not! The biggest miscarriages of justice in the United Kingdom, many of them emanate from cases in which forensic science has been shown to be wrong. And the moment a forensic scientist or anyone else says: 'I am sure this marries up with that' I get worried. Personal life [ edit ] He has presented submissions to the UN HRC in Geneva on Israeli human rights violations and to a subcommittee of the UN GA in New York. Articles in 2010 include: The Times on the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war; two articles on the Russell Tribunal on Palestine for The Times and Socialist Lawyer, an essay for the Justice Gap edited by Jon Robbins; a print debate with Melissa Benn for Red Pepper on the general election. In addition: Forewords to two books – one on the Ricin Trial and the other on the Tichborne Claimant.XL bully ban could lead to more dogs being dumped if vets can't cope with demands of the policy, rescue centre warns