EMAG

The independent action group for current and ex Equitable Life policyholders, funded by contributions.

Equitable Members Action Group

Equitable Members Action Group Limited, a company limited by guarantee, number 5471535 registered in the UK

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Best Media Stories: 10/02/2009 - EMAG challenges Sir John Chadwick's appointment.

Press - EMAG challenges Sir John Chadwick's appointment.

Law firm questions appointment of Equitable judge

The Herald, Simon Bain 10th Feb, 2009

The appointment by the Treasury of a recently retired judge to advise it on a hardship fund for Equitable Life policyholders is unconstitutional and in breach of the judicial code.

That is the view of City law firm Bindmans, adviser to the Equitable Members Action Group (EMAG) and the firm which backed the successful challenge in 2007 by four pensioners against the government over lost workplace pensions.

The judge, Sir John Chadwick, has been appointed to give private advice to the government on a means-tested hardship fund, in defiance of the recommendations of the parliamentary ombudsman to set up an independent compensation scheme. Yet a year ago just before he retired, it was Chadwick who issued a judgment favourable to the government on the issue of the ombudsman's constitutional powers.

Bindmans says it was "the very issue which will arise in any challenge to the government's response" over Equitable, adding: "It is hard to imagine that a judge who had determined an issue between two non-government parties would, after retirement, accept an appointment to advise one party on an issue related to that, on which the judge had been called upon to rule. Such an approach would undermine the appearance of judicial independence and impartiality.

"It involves the appropriation of judicial authority, potentially for the benefit of one party against its opponents."

EMAG is urging the Treasury to revisit Chadwick's appointment as it "undermines the constitutional principle of separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary".

Paul Braithwaite, secretary, said: "The process proposed is nothing more than a cheap trick to lend a veneer of judicial respectability to a dodgy hardship scheme."

Treasury minister Ian Pearson will tomorrow be asked to explain to the Public Administration Select Committee (PASC) why his immediate boss Yvette Cooper "apologised" in the Commons last month over Equitable.

EMAG says Cooper "appeared to deliver a fulsome apology and implied comprehensive acceptance of the parliamentary ombudsman's report, without disclosing that the command paper released later that day was totally at odds with the tone of her statement".

It revealed that the government had rejected three of the ombudsman's four findings of injustice, "effectively excluding more than one million policyholders from any form of redress".


Equitable Life members move to block compensation judge

Rupert Jones in The Guardian, 10 February 2009

Equitable Life members today challenged the government over its decision to appoint a retired judge to advise on compensation for policyholders, saying the move appeared to be in breach of official rules on judicial conduct.

The Equitable Members Action Group (Emag) said last month's decision to appoint former Appeal Court judge Sir John Chadwick to advise the government was arguably "an abuse of power" because it appeared to contradict the official "guide to judicial conduct," which prohibits retired judges from providing legal advice. The claim came in a letter from Emag's solicitors, Bindmans.

Emag called on the government to cancel Sir John's appointment and rethink its proposals on compensation which, it claimed, would leave more than 90% of the Equitable Life scandal's victims with nothing. Emag has sent copies of the correspondence to the Treasury, the Lord Chief Justice and the Lord Chancellor.

Last month, the government announced Equitable policyholders who lost money in the insurer's near-collapse in 2000 could be entitled to redress, though it could take at least two years for the payments to be made. In a statement to MPs, Treasury minister Yvette Cooper apologised to more than a million policyholders on behalf of regulators and successive governments for the "maladministration" that had led to the insurer's near-collapse in 2000.

She said the government would set up a payment scheme for policyholders which would focus on helping those investors who had been "disproportionately affected" by the events at the insurer, which was brought to its knees after a court ruled it had to honour guarantees made to pensions customers.

Cooper rejected recommendations from the parliamentary ombudsman that the government should offer compensation to all Equitable members. Instead, the former judge is being asked to study Equitable's books to work out which policyholders had been hardest hit, and what proportion of their losses could be attributed to the maladministration accepted by the government.

Paul Braithwaite, of Emag, said today: "The process proposed is nothing more than a cheap trick to lend a veneer of judicial respectability to a dodgy hardship scheme."

The guide to judicial conduct states that retired judges must not "offer or provide legal advice to any person". Stephen Grosz, head of public law and human rights at Bindmans, said the decision to instruct Sir John "appears to contradict the Lord Chancellor ... It may be argued it is irrational and/or in breach of a legitimate expectation, and in consequence an abuse of power, for the government to appoint Sir John Chadwick to advise it in such a matter as this".


New fight over Equitable Life

Press Association 9th Feb, 2009

An Equitable Life policyholder action group has challenged the Government over a decision to appoint a retired judge to advise it on compensation payouts for people at the society.

The Equitable Members Action Group (Emag) has written to the Lord Chief Justice and the Lord Chancellor about the appointment of former Appeal Court judge Sir John Chadwick.

Sir John was appointed last month to advise the Government on ex-gratia payments for policyholders "disproportionately affected" by the problems at Equitable, following a damning report into its regulation of the society by the Parliamentary Ombudsman.

But it rejected calls from the Ombudsman to set up an independent tribunal to calculate the compensation.

Emag said its lawyers had advised it the Government's decision to appoint a retired judge undermined the constitutional principle of separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.

The group also claims the Government's decision to reject several of the findings of maladministration made by the Parliamentary Ombudsman will restrict the period that Sir John can look at to between May 1999 and when the society closed to new business in December 2000.

As a result, it estimates that 90% of Equitable members will not qualify for Government compensation.

Paul Braithwaite, of Emag, said: "The process proposed is nothing more than a cheap trick to lend a veneer of judicial respectability to a dodgy hardship scheme.

"The Treasury's latest ruse means that more than 90% of the victims of this scandal would receive absolutely nothing."

Last month the Parliamentary Ombudsman Ann Abraham launched a scathing attack on the Government over its response to her report on Equitable Life.