Public Law
Members of Chambers have particular expertise in the following areas:
- Regulation and professional disciplinary proceedings.
- Public procurement and local government.
- Human rights in the commercial context.
Our sectoral expertise in the underlying areas of law is a particular asset for our clients. The regulatory fields in which we have been involved are wide-ranging:
- financial services and banking R. v FSA and Rosneft ex parte Yukos, SIB Securities Investment Board, ex p Sunlife, Central Bank of Trinidad & Tobago v Gulf Insurance Limited, Parker v FSA; and advisory work both for the FSA and for regulated firms;
- Law Society and barristers Ahmed, Re P. Collins v Law Soc etc (as well as in respect of work involving disciplinary tribunals in Law Society v Simms; R v The Law Society; Dooley v The Law Society; Sheikh v The Law Society);
- accountancy (including accountants' Joint Disciplinary Scheme);
- aviation Thomas Hill & Dedham Vale Society v Civil Aviation Authority;
- health services (including GMC).
Members of chambers have also been instructed in public interest inquiries (e.g. Equitable Life, Wickes plc, Queen’s Moat House Hotels, Barings). Members are also frequently involved in regulatory work involving various sports: see Media, Entertainment and Sports Law for details.
We offer expertise across a wide range of public procurement and local government work. The latter includes local authority vires; constitutional and standards issues; financial controls; and judicial review proceedings involving specific functions such as community care and education. Leading recent cases include Cookson & Clegg v MoD (procurement remedies), R (Western Riverside Waste Authority) v Wandsworth LBC (charging for waste disposal), R (Grant) v Lambeth LBC (repatriation for illegal immigrants) and R (London Oratory School) v Schools Adjudicator (interviews for applicants to faith school). High-profile advisory clients include the GLA on procurement policy, and Westminster City Council on the disposal of Dolphin Square.
It is important to be able to spot, apply and respond to human rights issues in commercial litigation. We do so in a wide variety of situations: the use of privileged information obtained in litigation; judicial independence; AWG v Morrison; Islamic Human Rights Commission v the Civil Aviation Authority.