Roger Birch

Year of Call: 1979

Education / Qualifications

Trinity College Cambridge - MA (Cantab)

Specialist practice areas

Financial crime
Asset Forfeiture & Confiscation
Civil Practice
Contract and Commercial
Chancery and Company
Personal Injury
Professional Negligence
Crime

Profile

In his Civil Practice, Roger specialises in Company Directors Disqualification Proceedings, Insolvency, Court of Protection, Contentious Probate including Inheritance Act claims.

Professional Negligence including Medical Negligence, Personal Injury and Health and Safety.

Roger also advises on Charities and has appeared in the High Court involving the Constitution of Charities.

Roger has prosecuted high profile and serious criminal offences on behalf of HM Revenue and Customs, Department for Work and Pensions and the Department of Health.  He has also appeared on behalf of these Departments in the High Court and Court of Appeal.  

He has successfully led for the Crown in multi-handed cases against Leading Counsel in matters involving National Security and multi-million pound drug importation and frauds.

Some of the other criminal work which he regularly undertakes includes Medicines Act and Regulatory Enforcement, Food Standards, River Pollution, Money Circulation Schemes, together with Lotteries, Insolvency Offences and Coroners Court work.

Roger has just successfully prosecuted two high profile cases involving Medicinal Products (Legal Highs) and Environmental Waste.

Roger also undertakes Defence Work

Articles and Conferences

Directors Disqualification and Human Rights – Article published in the New Law Journal

Adult Children’s Claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 – Article published in the New Law Journal

The Medicines Act 1968 – When can a so called “legal high” be defined as a medicine – Article published in the New Law Journal in December 2009

Roger has also represented the United Kingdom at European Conferences on organised commercial fraud and computer misuse together with lecturing to lawyers, administrates and foreign regulators on fraud and money circulation schemes

Professional Memberships

Chancery Bar Association

Association of Personal Injury Lawyers

Pan European Organisation of Personal Injury Lawyers

North Eastern Circuit

Proceeds of Crime Lawyers Association

Direct public access

Roger is able to accpet instructions directly from members of the public.

Cases of note

R -v- Wilson [1996] 2 Cr App Reports 241 (Court of Appeal)
Consent to assault in sexual activities cases

R -v- Manchester Crown Court ex parte McDonald and Leeds Crown Court ex parte Hunt [1999] 1 All ER 805 (High Court)
One of the leading cases on Custody Time Limits

R -v- Bevis [2001] Cr App Reports (S) 49 (Court of Appeal)
The first case on the interpretation of Section 208 Insolvency Act 1968 – Directors Disqualification – Degree of Criminality

In Re Chapham (Deceased) [2006] WTLR 203 (High Court)
Trustees’ liability – inter vivos settlements – negligence – portions- exclusion clauses

R(on the application of Donald Lewis Jenkins) v HM Coroner for Porthsmouth and South East Hampshire and Cherie Cameron [2009] EWHC 3229 (Admin) (High Court)
(Challenge to Coroners Verdict - Circumstances of when somebody can refuse Medical Assistence - Review of Authorities)