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Alastair Brown
GENERAL INFORMATION
Alastair Brown is one of the most experienced criminal law practitioners in Scotland. Before coming to the Bar, he was, as a solicitor advocate, an Advocate depute for nearly 6 years. Before that, he was a senior and long-serving member of the Procurator Fiscal Service, where his work included, from time to time, particular responsibilities in relation to financial crimes, regulatory prosecutions and human rights law. As editor of Greens' Criminal Law Bulletin, assistant editor of Scottish Criminal Case Reports, a contributor to loose-leaf publications and the author of several books, he is a prominent commentator on Scots criminal law. He holds a doctorate in international criminal law and, on the nomination of the UK Government, he serves as an expert evaluator for the Group of States against Corruption, evaluating, and reporting with recommendations on, the anti-corruption law and practice of countries as diverse as Azerbaijan and Italy.
PRACTICE
Criminal law, especially:
- Criminal appeals
- Fraud, business and regulatory crime
- Money laundering and confiscation
- Sexual offences
- Homicide
International criminal law, including extradition
Asset recovery
Fatal Accident Inquiries
Human Rights law
Professional disciplinary proceedings
SELECTED CASES
Mclean v HM Advocate 2005 SCCR 586 (appeal - conflict of interest affecting defence counsel)
HM Advocate v Assad, Ahmad and Gurie, Glasgow High Court, February - March 2006 (trial - first Scottish prosecution for money laundering under Proceeds of Crime Act 2002)
HM Advocate v Hemed Aberdeen High Court, March - April 2008 (trial - multiple rapes, exceptionally vulnerable complainers)
Cannell v HM Advocate 2009 SCCR 207 (appeal - availability for consideration of jury in Moorov situation of evidence relating to a charge of which accused was acquitted)
Ahmad v HM Advocate 2009 SLT 794 (appeal - money laundering - whether necessary to prove predicate offence; resolves conflicting cases in Court of Appeal, under reference to European law)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Journal and case reports
General Editor of Greens' Criminal Law Bulletin.
Assistant Editor of Scottish Criminal Case Reports
Loose - leaf publications
Renton & Brown's Criminal Procedure Legislation, W Green (appeal, proceeds of crime and extradition sections)
Renton & Brown's Statutory Offences, W Green/Sweet & Maxwell, (business and international crime division)
Books
Human Rights Law Basics, W Green, 2000.
Criminal Evidence and Procedure: An Introduction, 2nd edition, Butterworths, 2002 (3rd edition scheduled for 2010)
Regulation of Investigatory Powers in Scotland, W Green, 2003.
Human Rights Act 1998 Annotated, W Green, 2004.
Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 Annotated, W Green, 2004.
Money Laundering, W Green, 2009
Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 Annotated, W Green, 2009
Articles
"Insider Dealing and the Criminal Law." (in Insider Dealing: Papers presented at a Seminar, ed H MacQueen, David Hume Institute/Edinburgh University Press, 1993).
"Two Cases on Corroboration" 1998 Scots Law Times (News) 71.
"Criminal Evidence and Procedure" (in A Practical Guide to Human Rights Law in Scotland, ed the Honourable Lord Reed, W Green, 2001)
"Extradition Act 2003" Current Law Statutes Annotated
"Crime (International Co-operation) Act 2003" Current Law Statutes Annotated
"Offences Against the State" in Stair Memorial Encyclopaedia of the Laws of Scotland, Criminal Law, Reissue (ed Sheriff CN Stoddart; General Editor Prof NR Whitty).
"Ten Years After: Reviewing the Effectiveness of the 1998 Human Rights Legislation" 2008 Scottish Criminal Law 395
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Faculty of Advocates Criminal Bar Association
European Criminal Law Association
Scottish Public Law Group