Courtenay Griffiths: Difference between revisions
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*[[1996 Docklands bombing]] |
*[[1996 Docklands bombing]] |
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*[[Damilola Taylor]] murder trial |
*[[Damilola Taylor]] murder trial |
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*[[Risley Riot]] |
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*[[Dartmoor Riot]] |
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*Johnson, Davis and Rowe |
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*Goswell v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis - for a while, this case recorded the highest award of damages made by a jury against a police force |
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*[[Charles Taylor]] trial in the Hague |
*[[Charles Taylor]] trial in the Hague |
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Revision as of 11:24, 10 August 2010
Courtenay Griffiths is a Jamaican-born British lawyer, the current joint-head of London-based Garden Court Chambers.
Early life
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, the second youngest child of a carpenter father,[1] Griffiths was raised in Coventry, West Midlands. Educated at Bablake School, he graduated with an LLB (Hons) at the London School of Economics.
Career
Wanting to be a lawyer after his father told him various stories about Norman Manley QC, the first Prime Minister of Jamaica,[1] after graduation from legal college and pupliage, he was called to the bar in 1980.
Griffiths then became Legal Assistant to the Greater London Council's Police Support Committee, and then spent 12months as a Revson Fellow at City College, New York. Made Queen's Counsel in 1985, on return to the UK he practised mainly in West Yorkshire, in the Leeds and Bradford courts.
Today he practises predominantly in criminal defence, most often defending in murder cases, spending a large amount of his time at the Old Bailey. He also sits part time in the Crown Court as a Recorder, chairs the Public Affairs Committee of the Bar Council, and worked for several years as chair of its Race Relations Committee.[2]
Griffiths holds an honorary Doctor of Laws from Coventry University,[3] In 2008, he gave the annual Norman Manley Lecture at the Norman Manley Law School, University of the West Indies, which aims to highlight issues of national and international public concern.[2]
Notable cases
- Brighton hotel bombing
- Harrods bombing
- 1996 Docklands bombing
- Damilola Taylor murder trial
- Risley Riot
- Dartmoor Riot
- Johnson, Davis and Rowe
- Goswell v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis - for a while, this case recorded the highest award of damages made by a jury against a police force
- Charles Taylor trial in the Hague
Personal life
Married to Angela, the couple have two boys; Griffiths has two other children.[2] Griffiths is an adherent of the Rastafarian faith: "You don't have to grow your hair to be a Rasta. It's in your heart, not how you look."[2]
Griffiths collects Jamaican music,[2] and supports Liverpool F.C. and the West Indies Cricket Team.
References
- ^ a b "Courtenay Griffiths QC". Bar Council. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e "Courtenay Griffiths - Tough-talking avvocate". Jamaica Gleaner. April 27, 2008. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
- ^ "Courtenay Griffiths QC". Coventry University. Retrieved August 8, 2010.