Public Law

We advise and act for:

• Individuals who wish to challenge public authorities. This includes, of course, the actions or decisions of courts, tribunals, and all forms of governmental bodies or officials, including police and prison officers, and health and education body decision-makers
• Government departments, including the Official Solicitor
• Local authorities
• NHS and health professionals’ bodies
• Police forces and police authorities
• Coroners

Our team provides sound and astute tactical advice helping our clients to navigate the, often complex, situations and the options that may arise in relation to representation within, or in a challenge to a public law decision-making that affects the client’s interests. We recognise the issues are always of considerable importance to our client and may have profound effects upon the lives of individuals, and sometimes in the development of the law.

Our barristers are experts in interpreting statutory schemes, understanding the limits of powers, advising on how public bodies are required to act to comply with their duties under the Human Rights Act 1998, data protection and information law, international conventions to which the United Kingdom is a party, and the important Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010.

We regularly appear in leading public law cases in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, and the High Court. Our counsel are also briefed to appear regularly in specialist courts and tribunals, such as the Court of Protection, the First-Tier and Upper Tribunals and Coroner’s Courts, as well as in numerous other venues where key public law decisions are taken for example in education matters, professional discipline, or Parole Board hearings, to name but a few.

For details of the specialists within our Public and Administrative Law team, please follow the links below to subject areas or contact our group clerks for advice.

• Animal Law
• Civil Liberties & Human Rights
• Court of Protection
• Community Care
• Data and Information rights
• Education Law
• Inquests, Public Inquiries and Coronial Law
• Mental Health
• Public Procurement
• Local Government
• Prison and Police Law

We also have practitioners with individual specialities within administrative law, as listed in the profiles of individual barristers. This includes a wide range of niche matters, such as representation in matters before the Contract Review Board of the Legal Aid Agency, public procurement, safeguarding matters, and discrimination in the provision of services and goods (often involving Equality Act 2010 duties). Please contact the public law clerks for more details.

24 Hour Urgent Advice

Our dedicated and experienced clerking team provides 24-hour service, 365-days-a-year to arrange, where appropriate, for urgent advice and representation from members of the Public Law team, and prides itself on dealing with emergency orders and out-of-hours applications smoothly.