By Owen Bowcott From The Guardian UK

After a whirlwind week in which she beat attempts to conceal royal communications, the ‘formidable’ Dinah Rose QC shows no signs of slowing

Pivoting forward over a barrister’s lectern, flexing confidently on her toes, Dinah Rose QC invariably demonstrates absolute command of the courtroom. There is no undue deference to judges – even in the supreme court. Her winning appearance for the Guardian in the case of Prince Charles’s secret letters is the latest in a series of legal victories over government secrecy that have elevated her public profile. Rose’s knowledge of the UN’s little-known Aarhus convention, on the public’s right to environmental information, proved significant in the case.

It’s been a busy week for her: triumph over the attorney general’s attempt to conceal royal communications, defeat in the court of appeal over cuts to criminal solicitors’ contracts, an employment tribunal hearing, a Gibraltar gambling case and consultations with clients. Her powers of analysis and ability to seize on resonant detail are in demand.

“Dinah is the finest advocate of her generation,” said Cori Crider of the human rights organisation Reprieve. “[We] didn’t really know the public law bar when we brought our first major case for [former Guantánamo Bay inmate] Binyam Mohamed, but it took us no time at all to see that she strikes fear into the heart of every spy, securocrat and obstinate minister in Britain.”

The description commonly used by other lawyers is “formidable”. Rose’s manner of narrowing her eyes as she prepares to pounce, like a tiger, on a poorly expressed idea or flaw in an opponent’s argument can be unnerving – if not scary.

Such exceptional confidence is the product of more than 25 years at the bar and a fearless approach. It has thrust her into the most contentious cases. She has represented Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, at the supreme court; Abdel Hakim Belhaj, the Libyan dissident subjected to rendition, in claims against MI6; Rupert Murdoch’s News International in phone hacking trials; and the Home Office as a security-cleared special advocate in sensitive immigration cases.

Professional colleagues have saluted her abilities, designating her barrister of the year in 2009 and public law silk of the year in 2013. She has passed the stage of being hired for her grasp of a single, arcane area of the law; the BBC retained her to lead its investigation into the Jimmy Savile scandal.

Listening to Rose batting arguments back and forth in an extradition case against Clare Montgomery QC, said one admiring observer, was like watching a “beautifully matched tennis game”.

The youngest of four children, Rose, now 49, was brought up in London. Her father was a solicitor, her mother a historian specialising in medieval naval history. Her elder brother, David, was at one time a Guardian reporter.

Her father’s example did not lead her to the law. “He gave me one useful piece of advice: ‘Don’t be a solicitor,’” she recalled. “But I had a strongly developed sense of injustice. When I was five, a teacher unfairly accused me and I remember being incredibly distressed. It was a false accusation and I wasn’t given an opportunity to defend myself. It left me with a sense that people need to be able to put their case.”

Rose studied history – the Crusades and Anglo-Saxon monasticism – at Oxford, graduating with a first-class degree. She qualified as a barrister in 1989, joining Blackstone Chambers in central London – a set not associated with any political persuasion. She was appointed Queen’s counsel in 2006 and often appears against James Eadie QC, a fellow member of chambers who regularly represents the government.

David Pannick QC, also at Blackstone, is a fan. “I have acted alongside her and against her,” he said. “The former is a more comfortable and relaxing experience. She is a formidable advocate, extremely clever, very articulate and totally fearless.

“You don’t tell the supreme court, as she did in the Julian Assange case after their judgment, that they acted unfairly in not putting a point to her – and [should] arrange a further hearing – unless you are a very brave and confident advocate.

“She doesn’t hold back. She is extremely friendly outside court but once in the boxing ring, it’s every man or woman for themselves. It doesn’t matter how long you have known her. She represents the interest of her clients.”

Rose has paid tribute to her husband, Peter Kessler, a TV producer who made the Mrs Merton comedy show, for bringing up their two young daughters. She told Chambers Student: “Marrying a male barrister is a disaster. They’ll always think that their cases are more important than yours and they’ll earn too much money and persuade you to give it up or go part-time. He just lifted a huge burden of anxiety from me and really liberated me to focus on my career, and that’s an enormous gift to give someone.”

Kessler, in a riposte posted online, explained that his wife’s commitment to work freed him to focus on other careers – including founding a free school. It may be a sign of how far equality has advanced at the bar that Rose’s achievements are not viewed as emblematic of female success; there are many successful women barristers.

The top rank of QCs earn in excess of £1m a year but she also does some work pro bono – without a fee. Rose has said she has no desire to become a judge. An expert on competition law, she also appears in the commercial courts.

Her public speeches have developed a distinctive line of reasoning, adopting common law principles to defend the Human Rights Act and attack the government’s expansion of secret court hearings. Blackstone, a distinguished 18th-century lawyer, features regularly. She confesses to a fondness for the turbulent era of Boswell and Johnson and “beef and liberty”.

Disillusion at Liberal Democrat support for secret courts – introduced into civil hearings for security-related cases – triggered her resignation from the party in 2013. She cited her experience as a special advocate in accusing Nick Clegg of betraying the party’s guiding principles. “I’m a floating voter,” Rose has said. Her views are still made forcefully on Twitter, to which she is a frequent contributor.

Philippe Sands QC, a professor of international law at University College London, is another admirer. “She is completely fearless, deeply principled and utterly independent,” he said. “A brilliant combination of an acute mind and a strategic thinker.

“You want to be on her side. She can be fearsome; she pushes arguments to the limit – but in the right way.”

If you needed someone to defend you, Sands said, Rose or Ben Emmerson QC, counsel to the government’s inquiry into child abuse, would be the best choice. “You feel you are in the presence of someone who is able to peel apart different layers in an argument. Dinah is also great fun to be with; a passionate advocate.”

Rose explains her capacity to confront a disapproving bench thus: “In any kind of advocacy, especially civil liberties cases, you encounter a certain amount of judicial scepticism. It’s the duty of every advocate to be courteous but fearless. The more you do, the less intimidating it is.”

She has been prominent in protest campaigns against government cuts to criminal solicitors’ legal aid. Taking up the megaphone at a demonstration against outside the Ministry of Justice two years ago, she pointed out that the justice secretary, Chris Grayling, was destroying small businesses and undermining the free market – turning on the Conservative party’s traditional supporters.

Such elegant arguments, however, have not prevailed. “The current climate is extremely difficult … for anyone who wants to go to the bar now,” she admitted. “It’s quite a grim prospect.”

Potted profile
Age: 49

Career: Barrister

High point: Persuading the supreme court to release Prince Charles’s letters to ministers despite the attorney general’s objections

Low point: Feeling terrified as a junior barrister going to court

What she says: “It’s the duty of every advocate to be courteous but fearless”

What they say: “She can be fearsome; she pushes arguments to the limit”

IMAGE: Dinah Rose Rose has been described as ‘the finest advocate of her generation’ by Cori Crider of the human rights organisation Reprieve. Photograph: Kate Peters for the Guardian

For more on this story go to: http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/mar/28/dinah-rose-qc-prince-charless-letters