News - News - Courtenay says he's not obsessed with race but obsessed with injustice

Top QC Courtenay Griffiths told those gathered at BLD’s Black History Month event that he is not obsessed with race but obsessed with injustice after talking about the problems facing black people both in the UK and internationally. He also asserted that lawyers from the UK were the most effective court room advocates in The Hague.

Courtenay spoke of the disproportionate number of black people who are more likely to be stopped, arrested, charged and put in prison. He also drew reference to the same situation in France, Germany and the USA, where there are large numbers of black males in particular who are suffering the same fate and said we should be asking: “Why?”

He has hit the news headlines globally this year as the defence lawyer for former Liberian President Charles Taylor in the so-called “Blood Diamonds” war trial in The Hague and was the keynote speaker at the event, held at Magic Circle law firm, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer on Thursday 7 October, when the theme was BMEs in the Law: International Presence and Contribution.

Courtenay spoke of foreign policy which is “still reeking of a colonial past” and confessed that he had never studied any international law before representing Charles Taylor. Since 2002, he said, 13 black male African leaders had been brought before the International Court at The Hague for crimes against humanity. Though heinous crimes had allegedly been committed by the African leaders, such as in Sierra Leone, he questioned what the difference was between that situation and what was being done in Iraq and happening in Afghanistan.

Courtenay said BME lawyers had a very important role to play in the development of the international justice system and claimed that the most effective court room advocates at The Hague were from the UK because they are used to the adversarial system, unlike those who are used to a civil law system where the judges ask most of the questions. 

He also expressed his concern that BHM is just for one month instead of all year round and BLD Founder and Chair Debo Nwauzu spoke about BLD’s first BHM event five years ago and subsequent events. She thanked the hosts and greeted all those attending, giving a special welcome to the speakers and all the international lawyers who are part of the International Lawyers of Africa programme. Debo also spoke about BLD’s various programmes and the need for more sponsorship, members and volunteers.

BLD’s ground-breaking annual Black Letter Law was launched at the event and some of those pictured on the cover, including Sandra Wallace, Shah Qureshi, Sailesh Mehta and Michel Massih QC, paid tribute to Debo for her work.

Sailesh also chaired the panel of speakers, which included Courtenay; Anesta Weekes QC, of 23 Essex Street Chambers, who is a criminal law specialist and also appears before the Privy Council acting pro bono for death row appellants in the Caribbean; Thomas Laryea,  who is based in Washington DC and was, until very recently, the Assistant General Counsel at the International Monetary Fund; and Paul Bugingo, a partner and Director of Africa Development at international law firm Denton Wilde Sapte. All agreed that there are an insufficient number of BME lawyers internationally and offered positive advice, including applying for jobs.

BPP Law School Dean and Chief Executive Peter Crisp presented three-year scholarships to David John and Nazifa Chowdhury, who this year won a pioneering competition – launched by the BPP Law School, together with BLD, Barclays and Reed Smith - aimed at Year 12 students with the chance to obtain a scholarship to study Law and receive mentoring and work experience at Barclays and Reed Smith.