Harvey Murray

Call: 2004 Middle Temple

Education: LLB (Hons) University of Newcastle Upon Tyne, BVC Nottingham Trent University

Introduction

Harvey was born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand and studied at Auckland University before coming to the UK. Upon completing his qualifications, Harvey spent some time as an agent advocate in the County Courts around the North East.

Family and Civil

Harvey joined Fountain Chambers as a pupil in 2004 and initially had a general practice including criminal Crown Court work. Having a specific interest  in civil and family law, Harvey has now specialised and built up a substantial practice in those two areas placing him in an attractive position to cover overlapping litigation including TOLATA and enforcement issues. His civil practice also encompassess personal injury and complex contractual disputes.

He has experience in all aspects of family law and regularly accepts instructions from all parties in public and private law proceedings, including Local Authorities and Guardians. His previous experience in the criminal courts also serves him well when dealing with injunctive proceedings and disclosure aplications by the police.

Harvey appears in the County Court and Family Proceedings Court on a daily basis. He also has experience in the High Court, Divisional Court (Queen's Bench Division) and family and criminal cases in the Court of Appeal.

Recent and significant cases:

Nicholls v Nicholls [2008] All ER (D) 249

Contempt of court and purging contempt. Defendant had breached a non-molestation order, and an occupation order on five occassions, and had previously received custodial sentence and a suspended sentence. The judge had been right to impose a custodial sentence of 12 months, and to activate the suspended sentence. Matters should have been deployed in the course of an application to the trial judge to purge her contempt.

Duffy v Chief Constable Cleveland Police [2007] All ER (D) 76

Case stated. Appropriate mens rea. The deputy district judge had failed to have regard to the subjective element of the issue of self-defence raised by the defendant, as such she had fallen into error.

Legge v Legge [2006] All ER (D) 245

Injunctive proceedings. A sentence of nine months' imprisonment, suspended for the duration of a non-molestation order, was manifestly excessive, in the context of a history of past breahes of non-molestation orders, where shorter suspended sentences had proved to be effective deterrents to further breaches.

Associations

Family Law Bar Association

North Eastern Circuit

Middle Temple Inns of Court