Controversial High Court Judge Peter Smith has been thumped by the Court of Appeal, which said his shortcomings in a case were "so serious" it would have to allow an appeal against one of his decisions, and branded his letter to a barristers' chambers "disgraceful" .

Saudi prince Abdul Aziz appealed against an unfavourable ruling by Smith on several grounds, one of which was an allegation that Smith was biased against Aziz's barristers, Blackstone Chambers. A member of Blackstone had publicly criticised Smith for hijacking a British Airways case to whine that it had lost his luggage. In response Smith fired off a tired and emotional letter to Blackstones in which he vowed "I will no longer support your chambers".

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In its judgment allowing Aziz's appeal, the Court of Appeal saved its motherload for Smith's letter:



Despite the spanking, the court decided that an "informed and fair-minded observer" would not conclude that Smith was biased, but allowed the appeal anyway on grounds that Smith's performance in the case had been unsatisfactory in other respects.

Smith has brushed off CofA censure before. During the BA case, he said, "I have plenty of regrets about the way in which the Court of Appeal went about their decision [to remove me from another case], but, like you I suspect, we are no longer surprised by what happens in the Court of Appeal".

A spokesman for the Judicial Office said Smith "has agreed to continue to refrain from sitting at the present time”.
 
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