Mark Savill
Call 1993 Inner Temple
Call to the Bar of Northern Ireland 2006
Court of Protection
Mark Savill is a widely experienced advocate called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1993 and the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2006. He was appointed a part-time judge of the First Tier Tribunal (Mental Health) in 2004 and has sat on a variety of Tribunals throughout the North West. He was appointed to the Special Tribunal for the Lebanon’s list of defence advocates in 2010 (www.stl-tsl.org).
During his time sitting as a part-time judge Mark has dealt with many cases involving a wide variety of mental disorders such as bi-polar disorder, paranoid schizophrenia and anorexia in the context of detention for assessment and treatment under sections 2 and 3 of the Mental Health Act 1983. He is experienced in the care and treatment process for patients detained under the provisions of the Act and in addition he has dealt with a number of cases involving the utilisation of supervised community treatment orders.
He has been consistently rated in Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500 under both Criminal and Regulatory work:
2004 ‘stands out thanks to sparkling feed-back from his peers’
2005 ‘one of two juniors leading the way at Deans Court’
2006 ‘a lawyer fast becoming one of the first names you call in a crisis according to solicitors’
2007 ‘a highly rated junior’
2008 ‘displays maturity beyond his years’
2009 ‘a practitioner of undoubted merit’
2010 ‘a very smooth performer’
2011 ‘fearless and level headed’ and ‘very thorough and conscientious’
He is also experienced in disciplinary cases, appearing before the General Medical Council’s Interim Order, Review and Fitness to Practise panels, as well as prison parole and adjudication hearings.
From 2005 to 2010 the Treasury Solicitor instructed him as First Junior counsel to the Rosemary Nelson Inquiry. This inquiry was set up by the Government to inquire into allegations of state collusion in the murder of the prominent solicitor Rosemary Nelson in Northern Ireland in 1999 and whether the subsequent investigation of her murder was conducted with due diligence www.rosemarynelsoninquiry.org.
Throughout this time he was based in London, Belfast and Armagh and has undergone security vetting to the highest level. He is accustomed to working within a team as well as managing one, in addition to dealing with novel issues of law and procedure and marshalling and analysing very large quantities of both highly sensitive and non-sensitive material, including intelligence product arising from terrorist activities.
His time on the Inquiry included a number of occasions when the Inquiry was the subject of judicial review proceedings in relation to its anonymity rulings and its entirely inquisitorial procedures.
In addition, he was involved in the inquisitorial questioning of witnesses from a variety of backgrounds, including politicians, senior detectives, non-governmental organisations, Special Branch officers, security service and army personnel, as well as alleged terrorists. He also worked closely with a team of retired detectives reviewing the largest single murder investigation in Northern Ireland's history.
Mark regularly delivers seminars relating to advocacy skills and his areas of work, either in chambers or at solicitors’ offices.