Milan is a Trainee Solicitor in the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), Litigation Group. Here he discusses his experiences as a legal trainee in the CMA.

“Each day in a litigation seat at the CMA is different and the work can often be high profile. Recent cases have included defending judicial review challenges (Sainsbury’s/Asda), pursuing director disqualifications (estate agents) and issuing court proceedings in a consumer case (secondary tickets).

I learnt a lot during my seat in litigation. Not only did I see how litigation is conducted, but also how much work is needed to pull cases together before litigation begins.

I have been fortunate enough to be involved with several projects at various stages of the litigation process. I have worked with many approachable and experienced colleagues across the CMA who are keen to help trainees develop. For example, through offering opportunities to attend events and court proceedings or to get involved in delivering training sessions.

Trainees in the Litigation Group will typically work on a small number of cases with their supervisor. This will involve close working with the relevant case teams. The cases could be at any stage including from where litigation is at a pre-action stage to where a hearing is imminent.

During my litigation seat I worked on interesting and challenging competition and consumer cases. This allowed me to develop my skills in a number of ways including through attending a range of meetings with external parties.

I have also drafted instructions to counsel and other documents such as conferences notes, interview plans and an affidavit. In addition, I’ve had the opportunity to interact with court staff and legal representatives to develop a greater understanding of court proceedings.

A typical day could involve attending an update meeting with the case team to discuss recent developments on a particular case. Taking a note of a meeting with external parties or counsel and drafting updates or papers for senior staff. There may also be a need to review evidence and research various areas of law.

A variety of learning events are available to CMA staff and trainees are encouraged to attend and participate. These include regular talks looking at lessons learnt from cases and projects.

As a trainee at the CMA you are unlikely to be short of work or learning opportunities. You will also have a chance to meet colleagues in the Legal Service team and across CMA. To help achieve this there are lunch time and evening social events as well as team events to celebrate milestones in a project.

Lastly, the CMA has trainees in different seats, such as competition law, mergers and information law who regularly meet and update each other on developments.”

Law fairs are a good opportunity for students to find out more about the work of government lawyers and the legal trainee scheme.

Please contact the universities listed below for further details about their law fairs.

University	Date
Manchester	Tuesday 8 October
Newcastle	Monday 14 October
City	Wednesday 16 October
Leeds	Thursday 17 October
Nottingham	Monday 21 October
Sheffield	Monday 21 October
Warwick	Tuesday 22 October
Queen Mary, University of London	Tuesday 22 October
Sussex	Wednesday 23 October
Cambridge	Thursday 24 October
Bar Pupillage Fair	Saturday 26 October
University College London	Tuesday 29 October
Cardiff	Tuesday 29 October
Hull	Wednesday 30 October
Reading	Wednesday 30 October
West London	Thursday 31 October
Oxford	Saturday 9 November
Birmingham	Wednesday 13 November
Urban Lawyers Conference	Saturday 16 November
London Law Fair	Wednesday 27 November
Nottingham Trent	Tuesday 21 January 2020

Published 23 September 2019

The Charity Commission has opened a statutory inquiry into Human Aid UK (1138111), due to mismanagement and/or misconduct at the charity.

The charity was previously under inquiry in 2014 due to concerns regarding its governance and finances.

On 9 July 2019 charitable funds were seized by the police during a port stop from individuals carrying cash on behalf of the charity. The charity reported a serious incident to the Commission following this.

Cash couriering is a live risk in the wider charity sector and of regulatory interest to the Commission. The Commission’s regulatory advice, issued in 2017, cautions against cash couriering.

As a result of regulatory concerns the Commission opened a statutory inquiry into Human Aid UK on 2 August 2019. As a temporary and protective measure, the inquiry has exercised its power to restrict the trustees from certain cash transactions in order to protect the charity’s property.

The inquiry is examining:

• the trustees’ management and administration of the charity, including their compliance with both charity law and the law as it relates to the charity and its administration; and
• the charity’s governance, adherence to policies and procedures, use of partners and monitoring and verification of overseas expenditure.

It is the Commission’s policy, after it has concluded an inquiry, to publish a report detailing what issues the inquiry looked at, what actions were undertaken as part of the inquiry and what the outcomes were.

Reports of previous inquiries by the Commission are available on GOV.UK

Ends

Notes to Editors

1. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales; our role is to regulate charity trustees’ compliance with the charity law framework.
2. Section 76(3)(f) of the Charities Act gives the Commission power to restrict certain transactions that the trustees can enter into. This is a temporary and protective measure.
3. The Commission’s advice cautioning against cash couriering can be found here.
4. The seizure of funds is a matter for the police.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will champion the UK’s role as a ‘good global citizen’ when he attends the UN General Assembly in New York this week.

He will join the Prime Minister and other Cabinet members at the international summit, which brings together world leaders from over 190 countries to discuss diplomatic relations and address burning foreign policy and security issues. He will use the event to reinforce the UK’s commitment to democracy, freedom, and the rules-based international system.

On Wednesday, the Foreign Secretary will host an event on media freedom where he will speak alongside international lawyer and UK Special Envoy Amal Clooney at an event announcing the first wave of at least 26 countries joining our new Media Freedom Coalition, founded by the UK and Canada.

He will confirm the opening of the Global Media Defence Fund, backed by £3 million of UK funding to train journalists, help keep them safe, and give them much needed legal assistance in dangerous environments – from the battlefields of Afghanistan to cartel violence in Mexico.

The UK will also host an event bringing together government representatives and legal experts to shine a spotlight on the international community’s concerns over Iran’s troubling human rights record. The Foreign Secretary will condemn the practice of detaining and mistreating dual nationals on spurious charges in a flagrant disregard for international law.

Ahead of his visit, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said:

As we leave the EU, the UK will walk tall in the world and step up our commitment to being a good global citizen. Our message to the United Nations is that we will lead by example and work tirelessly to strengthen the rules-based international system – to tackle climate change, protect journalists from attack, and uphold freedom of navigation on the high seas.

The Foreign Secretary will also use the UN summit to hold a range of high level talks with key counterparts, including the US, France, and Saudi Arabia.

He will attend meetings to discuss the ongoing situation in Syria, and a working lunch of Foreign Ministers representing the five UN Security Council members to discuss security matters including North Korea, Afghanistan and Yemen.

Further information

A charity trustee has been removed from her role and banned from trusteeship, after failing to respond appropriately to serious abuse within Rigpa Fellowship (registered charity number 279315).

A statutory inquiry by the Charity Commission has found that Susan Burrows had knowledge of instances and allegations of improper acts and sexual and physical abuse against students at the charity, but failed to take appropriate action in response. Ms Burrows either failed to recognise or sought to downplay the seriousness of allegations, and is responsible for misconduct and/or mismanagement in the administration of the charity.

Ms Burrows was therefore removed from her position by the inquiry and entered onto the list of removed trustees on 20 September 2019. She is also permanently disqualified from serving as a trustee or senior manager of any charity in England and Wales, under section 178 of the Charities Act.

Amy Spiller, Head of Investigations Team at the Charity Commission, said:

Serious failings in the leadership of this charity led to people it was supposed to help being harmed and let down. Trustees hold important positions of trust, and are rightly expected to take all appropriate steps to keep people safe. The appalling abuses and failings that occurred here run counter to everything people associate with charity.

It is right that we have been able to hold those responsible to account. I hope this will bring some comfort to those so badly affected by what went on at Rigpa Fellowship. The safety and wellbeing of beneficiaries and those that come into contact with a charity must always be a priority for its trustees and staff.

The Commission has been engaging with Rigpa Fellowship since August 2017 over serious concerns about adult safeguarding. Concerns escalated during this engagement, prompting the opening of the statutory inquiry in November 2018, and in April 2019 the inquiry disqualified former trustee, Patrick Gaffney.

The inquiry continues. The Commission intends to publish a full report, setting out its findings and conclusions, in due course.

Ends

Notes to Editors

1. Rigpa Fellowship is a national charity headquartered in London, with objects to advance the Buddhist religion.
2. The Charity Commission is the independent regulator of charities in England and Wales. To find out more about our work see the about us page on GOV.UK.