Gillian Jones QC

Red Lion Chambers

The criminal Bar was particularly strained last year, with trials delayed and chambers struggling financially. For Red Lion Chambers’ joint head of chambers Gillian Jones QC, the year was also challenging. She had to help chambers navigate the crisis while also managing her own hefty caseload.

This included the first criminal trial to run after the Covid-induced pause in May. Jones was prosecuting former Unaoil executives on behalf of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO).

After a seven-week trial at the Old Bailey, the jury ruled in favour of the SFO, finding that the executives bribed government officials to win $1.7bn (£1.26bn) worth of oil contracts following
the fall of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Part of the case will go to a retrial this year after a hung jury. But this was the test case for criminal trials in a Covid-world, with the courts moving to a completely paperless system. Jones and her team worked entirely from iPads, with jurors also provided with iPads to read documents.

This year, Jones will hear a number of matters that were postponed last year, including murder trials and serious financial crime allegations.