Timothy Crosland

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

Timothy J E Crosland, called to the Bar in 1994, was charged with professional misconduct for deliberately breaching the Supreme Court's embargo on a draft judgment in R (Friends of the Earth) by disclosing it on 15 December 2020, for which he had been found in criminal contempt of court by the Supreme Court. He self-reported but did not attend the BSB tribunal hearing and contended he had renounced his status as a barrister and that the proceedings breached ECHR Articles 9 and 10. The Tribunal rejected those jurisdictional arguments and unanimously found all charges proven. It found the breach deliberate and calculated, with no remorse or insight, causing harm to the administration of justice. The Tribunal disbarred him on each charge and ordered costs of £3,120. The Tribunal noted his asserted belief that he acted with integrity but made no express finding of dishonesty.

Duties found breached:

• No improper communication with the court
• Uphold public trust in the profession

Aggravating factors:

• Deliberate, indeed calculated, nature of the actions
• Mr Crosland had been refused permission to disclose the draft judgment yet did so
• No evidence of regret, remorse or insight
• Significant harm and potential harm to the administration of justice and the reputation of the profession