Agreement reached on Charter action costs
The Save Our Society campaign (SOS) has reached agreement with the Royal Pharmaceutical Society on the costs it has to pay following last year’s court action over the new Charter.
Both sides have agreed the Society costs are £255,000, the SOS
and the Society confirmed this week.
The SOS is appealing to members of the Society for donations to help
meet the costs that have to be settled by 6 March.
The four members of the SOS who brought the High Court challenge — Hassan
Argomandkhah, Mark Koziol, Graham Phillips and Mike Williams — have
already contributed £124,000 from their own pockets towards the
bill. A further £82,000 has been donated from 400 SOS pharmacist
supporters, each of whom made personal donations of between £10
and £10,000.
The four pharmacists at the centre of the court action additionally have
to meet their own legal costs that they estimate will be at least another £45,000.
Mark Koziol said this week he had no regrets about taking the legal action.
He said: “It is one of the things in my career of which I am most
proud — that I was able to take steps to prevent the December 2003
Charter taking effect. I have no regrets.”
An SOS spokesman added: “Our intentions have always been principled
and the decision to settle now demonstrates that, as always, we have
the best interest of the profession at heart.
“We believe that as an entirely new council is to be elected this
year, inheriting an unfinished legal process would have severely handicapped
its development to the detriment of members.”
The four SOS members went to the High Court last year seeking a ruling
that 16 members and former members of the Council and the Society had
failed to follow correct procedure when they petitioned the Privy Council
for a new Charter.
The case was rejected by the court and costs were awarded against the
SOS pharmacists.
But the legal action meant the Privy Council had to halt its consultation
on the proposed new Charter until after the court proceedings were completed.
This did not happen until after the 2004 Council election, at which all
seven seats were taken by SOS supporters. A revised new Charter was subsequently
drafted by the newly elected Council taking into account some of the
SOS recommendations.
The four SOS members ask that donations are sent to Save Our Society,
PO Box 2641, Birmingham B1 3BR (cheques payable to SOS Campaign) or paid
directly into the SOS bank account: SOS Campaign, Bank of Scotland, sort
code 80-02-22, account number 00109606. |
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