www.osservatoriosullalegalita.org/
Scrive Michael Herman del Times che l'avvocato che quest'anno ha assistito
David Mills - marito del ministro della Cultura inglese Tessa Jowell - nel
corso dell'inchiesta riguardante i suoi rapporti finanziari con l'ex primo
Ministro italiano Silvio Berlusconi (indagine ora trasmessa alle autorita'
italiane), entrera' nel Crown Prosecution Service, l'Ufficio dell'Accusa
inglese, simile alla Procura in Italia.
David Kirk, socio dello studio legale londinese Simons Muirhead and Burton,
entrera' nel Crown Prosecution Service il 1 agosto con la carica di capo
dipartimento di una nuova sezione specializzata anti-frode. I casi che d'ora
in avanti toccheranno a questa nuova sezione, in passato, venivano assegnati
a vari dipartimenti all'interno del CPS.
Il CPS ha diramato un comunicato ufficiale annunciando la nuova nomina. Richard
Foster, capo del CPS, definisce Kirk "uno degli avvocati specialisti piu'
rispettati del paese" e considera il suo ingresso "un grande asset per il
CPS".
Il comunicato contiene anche una nota biografica di David Kirk: barrister
(avvocato con diritto di parola nelle corti) nel 1974, e' entrato, nel 1976,
nell'ufficio del Direttore della Pubblica Accusa, dove per dieci anni si
e' occupato di delitti gravi, comprese le frodi; nel 1985 e' stato distaccato
all'ufficio dell'Attorney General come consulente giuridico (l'Attorney General
e' il principale consigliere giuridico della Corona in Inghilterra e Galles,
rappresenta la Regina e il Governo in tribunale, e ha poteri di supervisione
sull'accusa, che e' pero' di competenza del Direttore della Pubblica Accusa
e del Crown Prosecution Service).
A partire dal 1988 Kirk si e' dedicato all'attivita' privata, dapprima presso
Stephenson Harwood, dove ha contribuito a costituire il primo team della
City specializzato in frodi e violazioni delle norme di competenza delle
agenzie di controllo, e poi, dal 1994, presso Simons Muirhead and Burton,
dove ha diretto l'ufficio che segue i processi per frode, specializzandosi
nell'affrontare le accuse portate dal Serious Fraud Office (Ufficio per le
Frodi Gravi), dal Customs and Excise, e dall'Inland Revenue (Uffici delle
Tasse e del Fisco).
Il Signor Kirk - secondo The Times - al momento del suo ingresso nel Crown
Prosecution Service, rinuncera' completamente all'attivita' privata.
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news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4774180.stm
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Questo e' il testo completo di una dichiarazione fatta nel marzo di quest'anno
dall'avvocato David Kirk per conto del suo cliente David Mills.
In particolare ci sono alcuni commenti sui magistrati di Milano:
"Dev'essere chiaro a tutti che i pm italiani stanno fornendo informazioni
alla stampa sul mio cliente con l'intenzione di celebrare il processo sui
media invece che nei tempi e nelle sedi appropriate, rendendogli la vita
cosi' impossibile che finira' col voler mettere fine al procedimento laggiu'
con la massima rapidita' grazie a qualche ammissione. Egli insiste che non
lo fara', perche' e' innocente".
(It must be clear to all that the Italian prosecutors are feeding information
to the press about my client with the intention of trying the case in the
media rather than by due process, and making life so impossible for him that
he will seek to bring the proceedings there to a quick end by making an admission.
He insists that he will not do so, as he is innocent.)
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4774180.stm
Last Updated: Saturday, 4 March 2006, 14:07 GMT
In Full: David Mills' statement
Here is the full statement made by solicitor David Kirk in which it was announced
that his client David Mills and Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell were to separate
after 27 years of marriage.
I am David Mills' solicitor, and am making this statement on his behalf.
First while the temptation for some to try the Italian case themselves day
by day must be irresistible, the fact is that a proper legal process is under
way in Italy, which will take some months to conclude.
My client is confident about the outcome of these proceedings.
Secondly, my client wishes to state categorically that he has never been
bribed by Mr Berlusconi or by anyone on his behalf.
He very much regrets that, through a bizarre series of events for which he
must take his share of responsibility, that accusation has been made against
Mr Berlusconi. Mr Mills knows that the documents will prove this.
He further states that the money which is alleged to be a bribe from Mr Berlusconi
was paid to Mr Mills for proper reasons and in good faith from funds held
for his client, Diego Attanasio, and that the relevant documents in the case
unambiguously corroborate the truth of his account.
Mr Mills has paid all taxes due on all amounts received by him from Mr Attanasio,
including on the amount which he considered to be a gift, which has been
taxed as income in his hands.
My client accepted the Revenue's view that the absence of a written deed
of gift rendered the payment taxable, whatever the circumstances, or identity
of the donor and informed them who had in fact paid the money to him.
There has been a good deal of misinformed comment about the mortgage taken
out by my client and his wife in September 2000, which was paid off shortly
after.
Although the document was, in law, a mortgage or charge over their jointly
owned house, it was in effect simply a way of guaranteeing the bank, which
had lent money to Mr Mills personally, against a fall in the value of the
investments he was buying.
It was a short term loan secured in the first place on the value of the securities
bought and was in fact paid off after a short time.
At that time there was no mortgage, in the usual sense, on their house in
London.
Apart from what I am saying now, neither I nor Mr Mills will be making any
comment on any material in this case which may make its way into the press.
It must be clear to all that the Italian prosecutors are feeding information
to the press about my client with the intention of trying the case in the
media rather than by due process, and making life so impossible for him that
he will seek to bring the proceedings there to a quick end by making an admission.
He insists that he will not do so, as he is innocent.
This whole business has imposed a dreadful strain on my client and his marriage.
He fully accepts responsibility for these pressures and for the situation
into which he put his wife, who he knows is entirely blameless in all of
this.
He is as mortified as she has been angered by the embarrassment he has caused
her.
They hope that over time their relationship can be restored, but, given the
current circumstances they have agreed to a period of separation.
They ask that the privacy of their children be fully respected.