Paul Cavin KC
Criminal King's Counsel
- Year of Call
- 1995; Door Tenant
Criminal Law
Paul is a Door Tenant of Walnut House, with family connections to the South West. He is also Head of Chambers at 2 Harcourt Buildings in London.
Paul Cavin KC specialises in homicide, fraud, corporate crime – particularly bribery and corruption but also money laundering, cyber crime, and proceeds of crime.
He is regularly instructed by the CPS and the SFO and was on the Attorney General’s Criminal List for many years. Before his call to the bar he trained as a solicitor at a city firm (where he gained experience in all aspects of commercial law before qualifying in the commercial litigation/fraud group).
He is a member of the Private Prosecutors’ Association and the Fraud Lawyers Association.
Bribery and Corruption
Paul was instructed by the SFO in R v Mabey & Johnson – the first corporate plea to historic multi-jurisdictional overseas corruption in the UK. The company was prosecuted via a plea agreement for admitted corruption in 5 countries dating back many years. The successful conclusion of this case led the government to introduce Deferred Prosecution Agreements. Paul was intimately involved in all aspects of the case, from the ‘face to face’ negotiations of the plea agreement, drafting the monitoring agreement (the first ever used in the UK) and advising on such matters as confiscation (particularly how to protect the company from insolvency) and reporting restrictions.
Fraud
Paul prosecuted and defended numerous multi-million pound fraud cases for many years before his appointment as Queen’s Counsel. Recent cases include:
Homicide and Other Serious Crime
Paul has prosecuted the full range of serious crime and in particular has expertise in and a continuing interest in prosecuting human
trafficking cases, ‘baby shaking’ cases and homicide. He led for the prosecution in the trials arising from Operation Hudson – a joint Border
Agency/NCA investigation into the trafficking of children from Nigeria for the purposesof prostitution. This case remains the biggest and most high profile case in this field, involving the extradition of the ringleader from Nigeria and considerable cross-border cooperation. The ringleader received the largest sentence ever imposed for these types of offence (22 years) and the case was reported in the media across the world. Paul received an official commendation from the Border Agency and the National Crime Agency for his work on the Operation Hudson cases. He has further lectured on the subject in the UK and to law enforcement agencies of Dubai.
Paul has particular experience in the complex medical evidence that arises in cases of non-accidental injury to children. He has prosecuted complex cases involving injuries to the infant brain (subdural, subarachnoid and parenchymal) and has a detailed knowledge of the medical issues in such cases. As a junior Paul was instructed to prosecute in homicide cases at the Central Criminal
Court.
Money Laundering
In the last few years Paul led for the prosecution in a number of multi-handed high value money laundering cases.
Confiscation & Restraint
He has been instructed by the crown for many years in this area and continues to be so in silk. He has recently been instructed in an application to discharge a pre-charge restraint order in relation to assets constituting the benefit from a massive immigration fraud uncovered by a BBC Panorama investigation.
Corporate Defence
Paul has defended a number of Health & Safety cases for corporate defendants as well as trading standards cases for major corporations. He has also acted for major UK banks in resisting witness summonses in criminal trials.
Biographical and Other Information
- Queen's Counsel: 2018