19 Facts About Phil Shiner

Philip Joseph Shiner was born on 25 December 1956 and is a British former human rights solicitor and convicted criminal.

Phil Shiner was struck off the roll of solicitors in England and Wales in 2017 over misconduct relating to false abuse claims against British troops.

Phil Shiner was Head of Strategic Litigation at Public Interest Lawyers from 2014 until the firm's closure on 31 August 2016.

Phil Shiner had previously been Principal at Public Interest Lawyers Ltd from 1999 to 2014.

Phil Shiner later attended the University of Birmingham and the University of Warwick.

Phil Shiner was an honorary research fellow at the University of Warwick from 1999 to 2004, an honorary professor of law at London Metropolitan University from 2005 to 2013, and a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics from 2005 to 2013.

Phil Shiner was named human rights lawyer of the year in 2004, an award given jointly by the human rights organisations Liberty and JUSTICE, for "his tremendous skill, tenacity and dedication to fighting for justice".

Phil Shiner had "led the pursuit of legal claims against British troops for their treatment of Iraqi detainees after the 2003 invasion".

Phil Shiner claimed that "UK soldiers had captured, tortured and murdered innocent Iraqi civilians after the Battle of Danny Boy near Amara in 2004".

Phil Shiner was charged before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal but did not attend its two-day hearing, after telling it in writing that "he was unwell and could not afford to pay for a defence lawyer".

Phil Shiner "admitted eight allegations of acting without integrity, including that he made 'unsolicited direct approaches' to potential clients", and he admitted "another allegation of acting recklessly".

In June 2022, Phil Shiner was charged with three counts of fraud and entered a plea of Not Guilty.

Phil Shiner was alleged to have failed to disclose to the Legal Aid Agency that he had engaged in cold-calling to solicit cases and had paid referral fees to agents in Iraq.

On 30 September 2024, Phil Shiner pleaded guilty to three counts of fraud, and his sentencing was scheduled for December that year.

The judge noted that Phil Shiner had "breached the considerable trust reposed in solicitors" and was "thoroughly dishonest," although he accepted that Phil Shiner did not personally benefit from the frauds.

Phil Shiner's misconduct has caused real distress to soldiers, their families and to the families of Iraqi people who thought that their loved ones had been murdered or tortured.

Phil Shiner's disgrace resulted in criticism by former army officers of Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, the Labour Party's shadow attorney general.

In February 2018, the Insolvency Service found that Phil Shiner had sold his own house to his family and put it into a trust that had allowed him to live there.

Phil Shiner was portrayed by Toby Jones in the 2021 BBC Two drama Danny Boy, which retold the story of the Al-Sweady Inquiry.