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Dr Gunnar Beck
Door Tenant
Call: 2000
Reader in EU Law and Legal Theory, SOAS, University of London
After completing his DPhil at Nuffield College, Oxford, supervised by Professor Sir Isaiah Berlin, Dr Beck undertook Pupillage at what is now Francis Taylor Building, and worked in the EU and Competition Group at Herbert Smith. He is now a Reader in EU Law and Legal Theory in the University of London and sometime parliamentary adviser (EU Legislation) to the European Scrutiny Committee & Legal Services Office, House of Commons as well as being a Door Tenant of Great James Street Chambers. Dr. Beck is currently writing a book entitled The European Court of Justice and Legal Reasoning.
He is able to provide high level advice and representation on all EU law matters, including constitutional issues, competition law, extradition, EU environmental law, free movement and other specialist areas. He also has particular expertise in the rapidly growing areas of EU citizenship and human rights law.
At Herbert Smith he acted for Vodaphone in connection with the Mobile Phone Termination Charges Inquiry before the Competition Commission.
He has also acted to as legal adviser to the UK parliamentary delegates at the Convention on the Future of Europe and as UK delegate to the Collaborateurs Cttee of the Convention under Lord Kerr, Secretary General to the Convention. In adition he has provided legal advice to the House of Commons European Scrutiny Committee in its inquiries into various aspects of the proposed Constitutional Treaty and the Treaty of Lisbon. To that Committee he has contributed – either singly or jointly – special reports on EU criminal law, Justice and Home Affairs Issues at EU level, Subsidiarity, The IGC and Treaty of Lisbon, Article 308, and on Mobile Phone Roaming Charges.
Dr. Beck appeared as either junior or sole counsel in judicial review, planning inquiry and lands tribunal cases as well as in repossession and county court hearings. He has appeared in court or provided legal advice in the following areas of law: implemenation of EC Directives, the need for an environmental impact assessment under EU law; free of movement of persons, judicial review of refusals of appeals against examination results at tertiary and secondary educational level (for the appellants), compulsory purchase; landlord & tenant; building contract disputes, other contract cases.
Since 2005 he has regularly presented seminars, lectures and other training sessions at leading City law firms on the EU Constitutional Treaty, the isssue of Kompetenz-Kompetenz, the EU Reform Treaty, comitology and current development in EU citizenship and human rights law.
Publications
· “Human Rights Adjudication under the ECHR between Value Pluralism and Essential Contestability”, European Human Rights Law Review, Issue 2 2008, pp. 214-244
· “The Mythology of Human Rights”, Ratio Juris. Vol. 21 No. 3 September 2008 (312-47)
· “Pluralism in Human Rights Adjudication”, seminar paper delivered at the Thomas More Institute, Finsbury Sq/Netherhall Gdns, London on 19 May 2008, subsequently published at: http://www.thomasmoreinstitute.org.uk/?q=node/67
· “The ECJ judgment in Cadman, the state of Community anti-discrimination law, and how the legal becomes the political”, European Law Review August 2007
· “The British Parliament and the Convention on the Future of Europe”, European Law Review, October 2005
· “The English courts and the Application of Community Law”, Irish Journal of European Law vol 12 (no. 2) (2005) IJEL pp. 182-214
· “The problem of Kompetenz-Kompetenz: A conflict between Right and Right, in which there can be no praetor”, European Law Review (I/2005),
He has also authored a book: J.G. Fichte and I. Kant on Freedom, Law and Rights, to be published by Lexington Books (Rowman & Littlefield) and is currently editing a book on the relationship between EU and national law throughout the European Community.
Dr Beck speaks German and French.
