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39 Essex Chambers barristers appear on both sides in the hearing of Bancoult before the Supreme Court

On 28 and 29 June 2017, Nigel Pleming QC, Richard Wald and Stephen Kosmin are appearing for the Appellant, and Steven Kovats QC is appearing for the Respondent in a Supreme Court hearing in R (oao Bancoult) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.  Most unusually, the Supreme Court is sitting with seven justices to consider this very important case.

The Appellant is appealing the Court of Appeal's rejection in R (oao Bancoult) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs [2014] EWCA Civ 708 of his challenge to the Government's decision to ban fishing around the Chagos Islands and to establish a Marine Protected Area, albeit the Court of Appeal had ruled that a Wikileak Cable was admissible as evidence of the truth of its contents.