Jersey lawyer's ban for "significant misconduct" extended to England

Friday 10 May 2024

A UK legal tribunal has banned a local advocate from practising in England following the ruling of a Jersey court which found that he caused "excessive" delays in legal proceedings and failed to pass on an email to his client because it contained criticism of him.

The Bar Disciplinary Tribunal last month ordered that Andrew Begg be prohibited from practicing in England for five years following findings by Jersey's Royal Court that he had been dishonest.

The island's Royal Court stripped the local lawyer of his title and ability to practise in 2022.

While Mr Begg denied being dishonest before the English tribunal last month, a disciplinary panel chaired by James Meston KC concluded that his conduct was likely to be seen by the public as undermining his honesty and integrity.

However, Judge Meston concluded that disbarment was not necessary to fulfil the tribunal's objective of protecting the public. 

He said: "It must be recognised that Mr Begg no longer has the skills to practice in England and does not suggest that he would want to do so.

"It is, however, a fact that he has been found to have committed significant misconduct."

The tribunal also concluded that Mr Begg was in breach of conduct rules after he failed to report the Jersey disciplinary action to the Bar Standards Board – the barristers' regulator for England and Wales.

Mr Begg was called to the bar in 1980 but spent his entire career practicing in Jersey. He was therefore an unregistered barrister in England, and told the tribunal that he only qualified there as a stepping-stone to practicing in the island.

The board contended that Begg's failure to keep up with reporting obligations in England was a failure to be open and cooperative with the regulator.

But the tribunal disagreed, concluding that it would be "oppressive" and unreasonable to expect him to stay up to date with English rules having always worked in Jersey.

In September 2020, Mr Begg was  referred by Jersey's Royal Court for a review of his conduct by the Law Society, following a case where he reportedly "wholly failed to engage" to a series of e-mails despite being constantly chased.

Master of the Royal Court, Matthew Thompson, was also critical of Mr Begg's conduct in a 2022 judgment in which Mr Begg's client, UK property company ECI Limited, was ordered to pay back a £200,000 loan it took out from Acorn Finance.

In 2014, Mr Begg was fined £15,000 by the Royal Court, together with an order that he pay £5,000 towards the costs of the Attorney General, after trying to charge a client six times the value of a disputed loan.