Hasta Luego
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03 June, 2007 11:31
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My association with Gibraltar goes back nearly 10 years. I started working for Phillips in the autumn of 1997. Since then, apart from about a year spent in London as a pupil barrister, I have practised at the Gibraltar Bar with that firm, and it is nearly 7 years since I came back to work on the Rock.
In June, my relationship with Gibraltar will change. I will move back to Wales, to practise primarily from Chambers in Cardiff. I will still practise in Gibraltar, advising on cases and returning to conduct trials, but I will no longer physically be coming to Gibraltar every day.
I will also not be writing these regular little pieces any more. Although I will keep an interested eye on goings-on in Gib, I won’t be here every day or every week, and readers may legitimately wonder why anything I have to say might interest them. When the urge can’t be controlled, I will write something, but that won’t be as often as this little feature has become.
In June, my relationship with Gibraltar will change. I will move back to Wales, to practise primarily from Chambers in Cardiff. I will still practise in Gibraltar, advising on cases and returning to conduct trials, but I will no longer physically be coming to Gibraltar every day.
I will also not be writing these regular little pieces any more. Although I will keep an interested eye on goings-on in Gib, I won’t be here every day or every week, and readers may legitimately wonder why anything I have to say might interest them. When the urge can’t be controlled, I will write something, but that won’t be as often as this little feature has become.
Interest in Readers
I hope that, over the time I’ve been writing, I’ve managed to interest at least some readers. I dare say that some would have envisaged me writing about the law more than I have – whether with regret or relief! But most people aren’t terribly interested in the law, and most lawyers are not nearly as entertaining as Horace Rumpole. There are also practical difficulties in writing about the law in Gibraltar. The rules of my profession prevent me from commenting on cases in which I appear until they finish, by which time they’re old news. In other instances, I may have been consulted about something, in which case I would not comment even if a court appearance seems unlikely.
The upside of this is that I’ve had to look for other topics to write about. I’ve used these pieces to try to put in readers’ minds an angle on a news story, a different way of looking at it, or to draw parallels between events in the wider world and goings-on in Gibraltar, or, when I haven’t been able to think of anything else, to expound my own views.
The upside of this is that I’ve had to look for other topics to write about. I’ve used these pieces to try to put in readers’ minds an angle on a news story, a different way of looking at it, or to draw parallels between events in the wider world and goings-on in Gibraltar, or, when I haven’t been able to think of anything else, to expound my own views.
Foreign News
All of these are, I hope, worthwhile. Gibraltar is not under-newspapered, but foreign news is (with the exception of Spain’s actions related to its claim to the Rock) rarely interpreted in a Gibraltar-specific way. Perhaps this is how it should be – reporters reporting facts, not giving their opinions – but it leaves a useful function to columnists to fulfil. And as for advocating right of centre political beliefs, my excuse is that someone has to do it. I don’t believe that a single one of the political parties in Gibraltar can really be described as right of centre. All seem to believe that government is a good thing, rather than a necessary evil. It may be, as someone recently suggested to me, that this is a result of the Spanish claim – that a strong government, with a strong leader able to react to any nonsense that Spain may get up to, is necessary. It may also be that it would be politically difficult to, say, reduce the size of the public sector, or to charge realistic rents for government housing. But my impression is that no politician feels any great desire to reduce the scope of government power.
In this piece, I will share with readers some observations that I have made over my time on the Rock.
There is much to admire about Gibraltar. Like America, but unlike most of Europe, it is a place in which people can hang a flag outside their home without being thought to hold all sorts of unsavoury political beliefs. Gibraltarians generally have a healthy pride in their Rock, and in their community. And the sense of community is very real here. This is shown by the generosity displayed every Friday on Main Street, and by the way Gibraltarians get involved in all manner of sports or cultural organisations.
I have found the people of Gibraltar to be genuinely helpful. I will give an example, in itself trivial enough, but illustrative all the same. Until a persistently problematical shoulder persuaded me not to, I used to swim at lunchtimes in GASA. I only learned to swim late in life, and am a hopeless swimmer. Most of the lunchtime swimmers at GASA were serious, good swimmers. Yet they were willing to take time to give me tips, as a result of which I went from completely hopeless to just very bad. The swimmers who gave me tips had no need to do so (apart from any pain that seeing my awful stroke caused them). They gained nothing from doing so. No doubt their swimming, like mine, had to be fitted into a tight schedule. But they spent valuable time doing so anyway.
It would be disingenuous of me to confine myself to commenting on the positive impressions I have of Gibraltar. Gibraltar has its downsides like anywhere else. Here are some that I’ve noted.
According to a Japanese proverb, the nail that stands out gets hammered. A similar attitude prevails in Gibraltar. There is a reluctance in this city to stand up against the powers that be. I can speculate as to the reasons for this. Gibraltar’s population is, I suspect, too small to sustain the sort of organisations that allow people to feel safe in standing up to power – commercially viable media reflecting a range of political opinion and with the resources to mount serious investigative journalism operations, NGO’s interested in civil liberties without connections to any political parties.
In this piece, I will share with readers some observations that I have made over my time on the Rock.
There is much to admire about Gibraltar. Like America, but unlike most of Europe, it is a place in which people can hang a flag outside their home without being thought to hold all sorts of unsavoury political beliefs. Gibraltarians generally have a healthy pride in their Rock, and in their community. And the sense of community is very real here. This is shown by the generosity displayed every Friday on Main Street, and by the way Gibraltarians get involved in all manner of sports or cultural organisations.
I have found the people of Gibraltar to be genuinely helpful. I will give an example, in itself trivial enough, but illustrative all the same. Until a persistently problematical shoulder persuaded me not to, I used to swim at lunchtimes in GASA. I only learned to swim late in life, and am a hopeless swimmer. Most of the lunchtime swimmers at GASA were serious, good swimmers. Yet they were willing to take time to give me tips, as a result of which I went from completely hopeless to just very bad. The swimmers who gave me tips had no need to do so (apart from any pain that seeing my awful stroke caused them). They gained nothing from doing so. No doubt their swimming, like mine, had to be fitted into a tight schedule. But they spent valuable time doing so anyway.
It would be disingenuous of me to confine myself to commenting on the positive impressions I have of Gibraltar. Gibraltar has its downsides like anywhere else. Here are some that I’ve noted.
According to a Japanese proverb, the nail that stands out gets hammered. A similar attitude prevails in Gibraltar. There is a reluctance in this city to stand up against the powers that be. I can speculate as to the reasons for this. Gibraltar’s population is, I suspect, too small to sustain the sort of organisations that allow people to feel safe in standing up to power – commercially viable media reflecting a range of political opinion and with the resources to mount serious investigative journalism operations, NGO’s interested in civil liberties without connections to any political parties.
Controversy
This attitude is understandable. I believe that recent times have seen increasing hubris amongst the powers that be. Take, for example, the controversy over the new Constitution. I wrote about concerns that I had about it. As is well known, some very eminent jurists were also concerned about it. Now, of course lawyers, even eminent ones, can disagree about the merits of a proposed law. But any self-respecting lawyer who learned that a jurist as eminent as Sir Sydney Kentridge QC held a different view on a point of public law would at least want to take a second look at things.
That wasn’t how the Constitutional debate went. There was an unwillingness to engage in debate about the legal technicalities of the new Constitution. Better to push it through rather than admit that some of it might be a mistake. The Bar, with very few exceptions, did not engage in this debate. If lawyers, who are supposed to be willing to stand up to anyone to defend our clients’ right, were not willing to engage in the debate, can anyone else be blamed for wanting to keep their heads down?
This is not the only example. Over the years, I have dealt with cases involving the Housing Department. Some of these have been pointless – litigation against people who had swapped government flats to the discontent of no-one, seeking to evict squatters from flats that will stand empty for an age. But Housing pursued them anyway.
The injustice in the fact that people acquitted in criminal trials cannot get their costs paid (meaning it is often cheaper to be guilty) has been commented on, but the government has done nothing to remedy it. I can understand why this might be so – if acquitted defendants were awarded their costs, it might be expensive, as Gibraltar juries are often reluctant (in my opinion, quite rightly) to accept the prosecution case – although this is not a reason anyone in government has given. Another reason given by no-one is that, if it is more expensive to be innocent, people have an incentive to plead guilty. But, if costs were awarded, might not prosecutors think more carefully about the cases they bring? Might not innocent people be spared months or years of stress?
That wasn’t how the Constitutional debate went. There was an unwillingness to engage in debate about the legal technicalities of the new Constitution. Better to push it through rather than admit that some of it might be a mistake. The Bar, with very few exceptions, did not engage in this debate. If lawyers, who are supposed to be willing to stand up to anyone to defend our clients’ right, were not willing to engage in the debate, can anyone else be blamed for wanting to keep their heads down?
This is not the only example. Over the years, I have dealt with cases involving the Housing Department. Some of these have been pointless – litigation against people who had swapped government flats to the discontent of no-one, seeking to evict squatters from flats that will stand empty for an age. But Housing pursued them anyway.
The injustice in the fact that people acquitted in criminal trials cannot get their costs paid (meaning it is often cheaper to be guilty) has been commented on, but the government has done nothing to remedy it. I can understand why this might be so – if acquitted defendants were awarded their costs, it might be expensive, as Gibraltar juries are often reluctant (in my opinion, quite rightly) to accept the prosecution case – although this is not a reason anyone in government has given. Another reason given by no-one is that, if it is more expensive to be innocent, people have an incentive to plead guilty. But, if costs were awarded, might not prosecutors think more carefully about the cases they bring? Might not innocent people be spared months or years of stress?
Women Jurors’ Case
Then think of the women jurors’ case. Government has published the amount of money paid to David Pannick QC for leading me in the Privy Council. It has published the amount of money paid to different law firms, including that for which I work, under Legal Assistance. But it has not, to my knowledge, published the fees that it pays law firms to do its legal work. It hasn’t published the fees paid to Michael Beloff QC to try to sustain all-male juries. And there is no scheme to allow law firms to tender for government work.
This piece is already too long. But I think the point is, that Gibraltarians need to be careful not to let admirable patriotism and sense of community become a “Gibraltar (and Gibraltar government) right or wrong” attitude. Unity in opposition to the Spanish claim is great. Unity behind whoever happens to be power in Gibraltar is not. Americans understand that a patriot must always be prepared to defend his country against its government. There are those in Gibraltar who need to understand this.
Irgendwann fällt jede Mauer
This piece is already too long. But I think the point is, that Gibraltarians need to be careful not to let admirable patriotism and sense of community become a “Gibraltar (and Gibraltar government) right or wrong” attitude. Unity in opposition to the Spanish claim is great. Unity behind whoever happens to be power in Gibraltar is not. Americans understand that a patriot must always be prepared to defend his country against its government. There are those in Gibraltar who need to understand this.
Irgendwann fällt jede Mauer
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