Rebecca Griffiths (née Oakley) > Chambers of Christopher Rees > Cardiff, United Kingdom > Barrister Profile

Rebecca Griffiths (née Oakley)

Position

Current Appointments

Disability Qualified Member, Social Entitlement Tribunal
List B Specialist Regulatory Advocate, Health and Safety and Environmental Law
Criminal Law Panel B, Welsh Government
Level 3 Prosecutor, Crown Prosecution Service
Rape Panel, Crown Prosecution Service

Practice Areas

General Crime, Disciplinary Law, Regulatory Law, Environmental Law and Animal Welfare.

General Crime and Disciplinary Law

Rebecca has extensive experience defending those charged with serious sexual, violent and other criminal offences, including representing professional clients and police officers in both criminal and internal disciplinary proceedings. She regularly prosecutes, representing the Crown Prosecution Service, the Department for Work and Pensions, many regulatory bodies and Local Authorities, the Welsh Government and the Probation Service. Rebecca is experienced in cases involving money laundering, benefit fraud and regulatory offences.

Notable cases:
R v Davies, Davies, King and King:Prosecuting a conspiracy to employ illegal immigrants on behalf of the Complex Casework Unit of the Crown Prosecution Service.
Junior in a number of complex cases, including Operation Texas (large-scale drugs conspiracy), Operation Evasive (environmental offences) and Operation Rhino (police misconduct).

Regulatory and Environmental Law and Animal Welfare

Rebecca has a special interest in the field of regulatory law, providing advocacy and advice across all the major disciplines. She is experienced in representing companies and individuals facing prosecution or regulatory proceedings and in prosecuting on behalf of various Local Authorities and a number of Government Departments and statutory bodies, including:

• Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
• The Department for Trade and Industry
• The Health and Safety Executive
• The Environment Agency
• Natural Resources Wales
• The Food Standards Agency

Rebecca understands the demands of prosecuting such cases and is sensitive to the importance of transparency, cost-effectiveness and public accountability, as well as ensuring that enforcement action complies with appropriate policies. Understanding that cases in this area require substantial collaboration within the prosecuting team, she ensures that clear advice and correspondence are provided promptly, carrying out regular reviews to ensure that cases progress effectively and that deadlines are met. Rebecca’s experience includes the following types of regulatory law:

Environmental:

• Waste, including hazardous waste
• Pollution
• Statutory nuisance
• Variation, Information, Suspension, Prohibition, Stop and Enforcement Notices
• Environmental Permits and Waste Transfer Notices
• In preparation for the inauguration of Natural Resources Wales in April 2013, Rebecca was instructed to review several hundred pieces of primary and secondary legislation encompassing the full breadth of environmental law and to advise the Environment Agency Wales on the body’s forthcoming powers.

Health and Safety:

• Work-related deaths
• Personal liability
• Work-at-height
• Transport
• Machinery
• Small, medium and large organisations, including the self-employed, employers, directors and partnerships
• Improvement and Prohibition Notices
• Memoranda of Understanding

Trading Standards:

• Trade descriptions
• Trade marks
• Unfair trading regulations
• Safety regulations in sectors such as tobacco and cosmetics

Animal Health:

• Animal cruelty and unnecessary suffering
• Farmed animals
• Protected species

Food Hygiene:

• Food standards and safety

Fraud:

• Social Security, Council Tax and Housing Benefits
• Corporate fraud
• False accounting
• VAT evasion
• Tax fraud

Proceeds of crime and confiscation

Taxi and Hackney Carriage Licenes

Notable cases:
R v Morganite Electrical Carbon Ltd:Prosecuting a work-related death on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive.
R v Nolan Recycling Ltd: Prosecuting a work-related death on behalf of the Health and Safety Executive.

Career

Called 2005; Gray’s Inn.

Languages

French (fluent).

Memberships

Criminal Bar Association.

Education

Bar Vocational Course, Cardiff Law School, 2004-2005: Graded ‘Outstanding;’ Angel Chambers Award for Criminal Practice;
Cardiff University & Universite de Toulouse, 1999-2003: 2:1, LLB Hons Law and French; Distinction in Oral Proficiency.

Leisure

Interests: Church, music, theatre, travel, sport, photography and charity work.
Rebecca enjoys mentoring college, university and post-graduate law students and was the South Wales Regional Co-ordinator for the Citizenship Foundation’s National Bar Mock Trial Competition. Rebecca has also acted as an external examiner for the Bar Standards Board Bar Professional Training Course.