DREW HOLINER

Magister (Moscow, First Class) (Russian law); GDL (BPP); MCIArb; Russian Law expert
CALL DATE: 2005 (England & Wales), 2002 (Russia)

SUMMARY

Drew is the only barrister in England and Wales who is also a qualified member of the Russian Bar.  He has over 10 years of experience in litigation, advocacy and advisory work in Russia and other republics of the former Soviet Union, with a strong grasp of Russian and CIS substantive and procedural law and its practical implementation.

Drew's commercial practice is focused on public & private international law issues arising in commercial, company, tax, property, human rights, regulatory and public law litigation and before government bodies.  Following his call to the English Bar, he has been instructed in English law matters in high-value commercial, insolvency and tax litigation and arbitrations with cross-jurisdictional aspects, and frequently provides expert evidence on English and Russian law.

On the human rights front, Drew has been instructed in or advised on dozens of cases before the European Court on Human Rights (ECtHR), and has experience in the successful application of its procedural rules, including obtaining confidentiality and priority orders, as well as interim relief.  He also has specialist experience with human rights issues faced by NGOs and religious associations in civil rights, tax and property disputes.

Drew is fully fluent in both English and Russian and is equally comfortable working in either language.

 

RECENT MAJOR CASES

Commercial Litigation & Arbitration

  • Acting for Russian chemical producer in EUR 10mln ICC arbitration of shipping dispute under English law
  • Acted for Russian oil company in Russia's largest ever insolvency involving application of English, Russian and international human rights law
  • Acted for US metals company seeking enforcement of USD 25mln arbitral award in Russia against allegations of risk of double recovery form parallel action in England
  • Provided expert evidence for Luxembourg investment company in dual multi-billion rouble ICC arbitrations concerning validity and enforceability of amendment to arbitration agreement raising questions of Russian company and agency law
  • Provided expert evidence for Russian gas company on English law classification of an undersea interconnector and capacity sublet agreements in Russian tax litigation

Human Rights Law

  • Acting for former Russian oil company executive in ECtHR challenge to his prosecution for white-collar crimes, as well as the Russian government's failure to secure timely and appropriate medical treatment in detention
  • Acting for Russian NGO in ECtHR challenge to ministry orders to disclose confidential correspondence and information on members' private lives
  • Acting for director of American NGO in ECtHR challenge to his deportation from Russia with application of CoE Guidelines on Forced Return
  • Acting for tenants of Siberian condominium in ECtHR to the unlawful privatisation of the building's common areas and the courts' application of the good faith purchaser rule

NGO and religious organisations

  • Acted for NGO in judicial review of Russian tax authority's decision to apply profit tax to grants exempted under EU-Russia and US-Russia bilateral assistance agreements
  • Advised Russian multinational NGO to successfully secure VAT exemption for imported media under the Nairobi Protocol to the Florence Agreement
  • Acting for three religious organisations in ECtHR challenge to Convention compatibility of provisions of Russia's Religious Associations Act
  • Acting for Russia's largest democratic opposition party in ECtHR challenge to its exclusion from regional elections

 

COMMERCIAL LITIGATION & ARBITRATION

  • Acting for Russian chemical producer in EUR 10mln ICC arbitration of shipping dispute under English law
  • Drafted multi-billion dollar claim in challenge to expropriation of Russian oil company through irregular auction held in breach of Russian competition law
  • Advised FSA-regulated corporate advisory firm on UK and EU competition and merger controls applicable to proposed share acquisition in energy sector
  • Drafted application for judicial review of freezing order imposed by Russian bailiffs on entirety of oil company's assets
  • Acted for Luxembourg investment company in dual multi-billion rouble ICC arbitrations concerning validity and enforceability of amendment to arbitration agreement raising questions of Russian company and agency law
  • Acted for Russian oil company in Russia's largest ever insolvency involving application of English, Russian and international human rights law

 

HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

  • Acting for former Russian oil company executive in ECtHR challenge to his prosecution for white-collar crimes, as well as the Russian government's failure to secure timely and appropriate medical treatment in detention
  • Acting for Russian NGO in ECtHR challenge to ministry orders to disclose confidential correspondence and information on members' private lives
  • Acting for head of American NGO in ECtHR challenge to his summary deportation from Russia with reliance on the CoE Guidelines for Forced Return
  • Acting for American national in ECtHR challenge to his exclusion from Russia raising questions of application of the Convention to the international zone of an airport and Article 1 of Protocol No. 7 to persons seeking re-entry
  • Acting for three religious organisations in ECtHR challenge to Convention compatibility of provisions of Russia's Religious Associations Act
  • Acting for former deputy mayor of Magadan (Russia) charged with corruption in ECtHR challenge to conditions of detention and motives of prosecution
  • Acted in successful defence of Armenian church minister charged with incitement to refuse to perform military service
  • Acted in human rights challenge to deregistration of American NGO before Supreme Court of Georgia (CIS)
  • Secured reinstatement of accountant dismissed from Armenian police force under ministerial order prohibiting employment of "religious sect" members
  • Secured reinstatement of six women dismissed from Azerbaijani gas refinery on grounds of religious belief

 

PRIVATE INTERNATIONAL LAW

  • Acted in defence against claim to enforce English court judgment in Russia raising issue of whether a regime of reciprocity exists between Russia and UK
  • Acted for US metals company seeking enforcement of USD 25mln arbitral award in Russia against allegations of risk of double recovery from parallel action in England
  • Advised Russian gas company on English law classification of an undersea interconnector and capacity sublet agreements in Russian tax litigation
  • Advised securities firm on contractual force of interest on drawdowns under revolving credit facility governed by English law in Russian tax litigation
  • Acted for Russian oil company challenging the validity of an agreement governed by English law purporting to assign a bankruptcy petition lodged against it to its principal competitor

 

PUBLIC & ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

  • Acting for Russia's largest democratic opposition party in ECtHR challenge to its exclusion from regional elections
  • Acting for Russian NGO in ECtHR challenge to arbitrary application of medical and educational licensing laws
  • Advised Canadian-educated lawyer in successful challenge to his removal from the register of advocates in Russia involving application of UNESCO and CoE conventions on the Recognition of Higher Education in the European Region
  • Acted for NGO in successful defence of winding-up petition arising from Russian government audit with reliance on the European Convention

 

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW

  • Drafting and advice on ECtHR challenge to the expulsion of the native residents of a British overseas territory involving impact of reorganisation of an overseas territory on the UK's international obligations, application of limitation rules to classified information and waiver of international law rights
  • Drafted application to ECtHR against Armenia concerning the legal status and enforceability of ancillary undertakings made upon CoE accession (admissible)

 

TAX AND PROPERTY

  • Acted for NGO in judicial review of Russian tax authority's decision to apply profit tax to grants exempted under EU-Russia and US-Russia bilateral assistance agreements
  • Advised Russian multinational NGO to successfully obtain VAT exemption for imported media under the Nairobi Protocol to the Florence Agreement
  • Acting for tenants of Chelyabinsk condominium in ECtHR challenge to privatisation of the building's common areas and the courts' application of the good faith purchaser rule
  • Advised French cultural association on ECtHR challenge to retroactive EUR 40mln tax bill imposed on received donations

 

AWARDS

Drew was given the 2007 St. Petersburg Bar Award for Criminal Defence Achievement for his representation before the ECtHR of a former oil company executive charged with white-collar crimes and suffering from AIDS, having obtained interim orders for his transfer to a civil hospital and appointment of a bipartisan medical commission.

 

RECENT PUBLICATIONS AND RELATED ACTIVITIES

  • “Litigating in the Russian Courts With a View to Strasbourg” European Court Litigation: A Manual, Moscow, Memorial, 2006.
  • “European Court Tackles Russian Domestic Procedure”, EHRAC-Memorial Bulletin, No. 2 (2004)
  • “The Limits of Freedom of Conscience and Religion in the Jurisprudence of the European Court”, Rossiyskaya yusticia, Nos. 7, 8 (2003)
  • “Admissibility Criteria for Applications to the European Court: Russia's Experience”, Religia i pravo, No. 1 (2003)
  • “Armenia: Relapse into Soviet Law”, Religia i pravo, No. 2 (2002)

Drew has lectured at a number of legal training seminars conducted under the auspices of the EU, Council of Europe, FCO, ABA and various NGOs concerning application of the European Convention on Human Rights within domestic legal systems.  These have included training of members of the bar, judiciary, government officials and NGOs in both Eastern and Western Europe.

Drew is a member of the Steering Committee of the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC).

 

FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Russian (fluent); Kirghiz (conversational); French, Spanish (basic); has worked with Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian

 

PERSONAL INTERESTS

Outdoors travel, skiing, Russian banya and independent music, debating, chess and the economic and political development of the former Soviet republics.