Philip Joseph Shiner & John Dickinson
JurisdictionEngland & Wales
BodySolicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT)
Professionsolicitor
Case number11510/2016
Date01/01/2016
OutcomeReprimand
Allegation / charges
Breaches, Failures
Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision
SanctionReprimand
CostsGBP 2,000
Dishonesty foundNo
John Dickinson, an employed solicitor at Public Interest Lawyers working on the Al-Sweady Inquiry, admitted that between March 2013 and March 2014 he failed to keep the Al-Sweady clients properly informed about the declining prospects of their allegations of cold-blooded executions at Camp Abu Naji, breaching Principles 4, 5 and 6 and Outcome 1.12. The matter was resolved on the papers via an Agreed Outcome. The Tribunal expressly noted there was no allegation of lack of integrity or dishonesty against him. He was reprimanded and ordered to pay £2,000 in costs.
Duties found breached:
- Uphold public trust in the profession
- Non-discriminatory acceptance and cab-rank
- No conflict between current clients
Mitigating factors:
- Low likelihood of future misconduct; respondent retired and not intending to return to practice
- Genuine insight demonstrated through admissions and mitigation statement
- All material aspects of the single allegation admitted
- No prior disciplinary record
- Ultimate responsibility and control of the matter rested with the First Respondent (sole director/shareholder of PIL)
Duties engaged
Other decisions involving this respondent
Matched by respondent name — may include a different person with the same name.