Philip Joseph Shiner is a British former human rightssolicitor. He was Head of Strategic Litigation at Public Interest Lawyers from 2014 until the firm's closure on 31 August 2016. He had previously been Principal at Public Interest Lawyers Ltd from 1999 to 2014. He was struck off the roll of solicitors in England and Wales in 2017 over misconduct relating to false abuse claims against British troops.
Shiner had 'led the pursuit of legal claims against British troops for their treatment of Iraqi detainees after the 2003 invasion'. The law firm Public Interest Lawyers, of which he was the only director and the owner of 100% of its shares, was 'instrumental in passing on about 65% of the 3,392 allegations received by' the Iraq Historic Allegations Team. Early courtroom successes for him in the Baha Mousa case were followed by controversy about other allegations, 'the most serious of which turned out to be wholly untrue'. He claimed that 'UK soldiers had captured, tortured and murdered innocent Iraqi civilians after the Battle of Danny Boy near Amara in 2004'. In 2014, a report by the Al-Sweady Inquiry showed that the dead 'had been members of the Mahdi army militia, who ambushed a British patrol and were killed in exchanges of gunfire. Shiner subsequently admitted paying an Iraqi middleman to find claimants, a practice that is in breach of professional standards'.
Admissions and defence
Shiner was charged before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal but did not attend its two-day hearing, after telling it in writing that 'he was unwell and could not afford to pay for a defence lawyer'. He 'admitted eight allegations of acting without integrity, including that he made “unsolicited direct approaches” to potential clients', and he also admitted 'another allegation of acting recklessly'. Andrew Tabachnik, prosecuting for the Solicitors Regulation Authority, said that 'Shiner’s defence to the dishonesty charges... was effectively: "I was not in full control of my mental faculties at this time and I didn’t know right from wrong and what I am doing.”'
Findings against him
The tribunal found him 'guilty of multiple professional misconduct charges, including dishonesty and lack of integrity'. Twenty-two 'misconduct charges... were proved to the criminal standard of beyond reasonable doubt. Two other charges were left to lie on the file.'
Sentence against him
By February 2017, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal struck him off the Roll of Solicitors and also ordered him to 'pay for the full costs of the prosecution, starting with an interim downpayment of £250,000'.
Other consequences
By the time he was struck off in February 2017, Ihat 'had fewer than 250 active investigations'. About a week later Britain's Defence SecretaryMichael Fallon announced that Ihat would soon be shut down, largely due to the exposing of Shiner's 'dishonesty'. When welcoming the decision to strike him off, the chief executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Paul Philip, stated: 'His misconduct has caused real distress to soldiers, their families and to the families of Iraqi people who thought that their loved ones had been murdered or tortured. More than £30m of public funds were spent on investigating what proved to be false and dishonest allegations.' Shiner's disgrace also resulted in criticism by former army officers of Baroness Chakrabarti, the Labour Party's shadow attorney general. Johnny MercerMP, a retired Army captain, chided her for 'an almost child-like understanding of military operations' and for 'trying to retrospectively apply European Human Rights Law to the battlefield'. Richard Kemp who was not in command of any units in Afghanistan but is a retired Army colonel, accused Baroness Chakrabarti of being 'one of greatest supporters' before his downfall, and of 'helping him lose his way' as a result of such support. He said that she had been saddened by Shiner's downfall and had said that, before apparently 'losing his way', he had 'given good service to the public' and 'did some very good work that has been upheld by a judicial inquiry into, for example, the torture and killing of Baha Mousa in Iraq.'
Bankruptcy
Shiner declared himself bankrupt in March 2017, owing almost £7 million. In February 2018, the Insolvency Service found that Shiner had sold his own house to his family and put it into a trust that had allowed him to live there. He also sold two commercial properties for £550,000 each and transferred two £3,500 guitars into the family trust. The IS estimates they have recovered over £483,000 but must continue to work on locating another £6.5 million of Shiner's assets.
