News & Events
News & Events
Joshua Hitchens acted as part of a team who were successful in a constitutional rights appeal for two appellants who wrongly served additional time in prison in Duncan and Jokhan v Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago. Joshua Hitchens was led by Anand Beharrylal QC in a constitutional rights appeal against the Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago for two appellants whom, due to an error by the Court of Appeal in criminal proceedings, were required to serve 29 months in prison after their earliest date of release which they ought not have served. The Privy Council allowed the appeal of Duncan and Jokhan (Appellants) v Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago (Respondent) (Trinidad and Tobago) [2021] UKPC 17 and the matter was remitted to the…
News, International, Public Law 21 Jul, 2021
The High Court yesterday granted permission to bring judicial review proceedings in The Queen (On the Application of ZLL) v The London Borough of Camden. Joshua Hitchens acts for the Claimant instructed by Derek Bernardi of Camden Community Law Centre. The case relates to the accommodation of homeless people during the pandemic and whether leaving the homeless on the streets during Covid-19 is automatically a breach of the rough sleeper’s rights under Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Camden considers that the “Everyone In” programme instigated by central government in March 2020, requiring all those at risk of rough sleeping to be accommodated has come to an end. It asserts that only those who have Covid-19 or are symptomatic, those rough…
News, Public Law 16 Jun, 2021
Yesterday, the European Commission published its assessment of the UK’s application to accede to the 2007 Lugano Convention. The Commission advises the EU to reject the UK’s application to join the Convention for two key reasons. First, the Commission notes that those non-EU countries which have acceded to the Lugano Convention “all participate, at least partly, in the EU’s internal market” – this being by way of the EEA agreement for Norway and Iceland, and a number of bilateral trade agreements for Switzerland. This economic link, or “high degree of economic interconnection”, between those third countries and the EU’s internal market, says the Commission, is a key basis for their accession to the Convention. By contrast, the Commission says, the…
Brexit, Legal Blog & Publications, News, Public Law, Travel, Public, Travel 5 May, 2021
Tim Nesbitt QC and Alex Cisneros were successful this month in a Court of Appeal case, in which the Court of Appeal gives authoritative guidance on the approach required of Court of Protection under Article 6 of ECHR when considering excluding a party from proceedings. The case was an appeal against orders made by Mr Justice Hayden, the Vice-President of the Court of Protection, to exclude the mother of a highly vulnerable 19-year-old woman (“P”) from proceedings relating to the best interests of P. Allegations of sexual abuse by her partner against P had been made and were being investigated by the police. Tim Nesbitt QC and Alex Cisneros represented the mother, who had been excluded without being given an…
News, Public Law 20 Apr, 2021
Joshua Hitchens, led by Anand Beharrylal QC, represented the successful appellant in this appeal against the Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago for wrongful arrest and false imprisonment of a soldier of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force. The soldier of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (‘TTDF’) had been arrested and detained for kidnapping on Christmas Eve before being released without charge late on Boxing Day. The appellant was on duty in TTDF uniform and driving a TTDF vehicle in the company of another soldier when the vehicle was stopped. The appellant was then arrested essentially because he had in his possession $7000 in an envelope and due to a police intelligence report that TTDF soldiers were involved in…
News, Public Law 8 Apr, 2021
Outer Temple Chambers is delighted to welcome Joshua Hitchens to our public law team. Joshua qualified in 2018 and practises in all of Chambers’ specialisms. He is a member of the Equality and Human Rights Commission Panel of Counsel and has acted in a number of high-profile public law matters. Most recently, he acted for the Claimant in the landmark case of R(Ncube) v Brighton and Hove City Council, Shelter Intervening [2021] EWHC 578 (Admin) in which it was established that Covid-19 is an emergency for the purposes of the Local Government Act 1972 and that local authorities have statutory powers to accommodate those with no recourse to public funds during the pandemic. He is also currently instructed in a…
News, Public Law 15 Mar, 2021
An independent group of barristers are providing a forum, chaired by OTC, for BPTC students to discuss and get advice about the difficulties encountered taking their exams this summer. The Bar Standards Board (BSB) exams have not gone well so far this year, first being postponed due to Covid-19, then suffering technical problems during the online exams. Back in May, the BSB announced that the centralised assessments on the Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) and the Bar Transfer test (BTT) would be offered as computer based exams in August after the April exams had to be cancelled. Pearson VUE’s OnVUE secure global online proctoring solution was supposed to enable students and transferring qualified lawyers to sit the exams remotely. However…
Events, News, Public Law 13 Aug, 2020
The Court of Appeal clarifies the relationship between the Family Courts and the Immigration and Asylum Chamber in assessing the risk of female genital mutilation. John McKendrick QC and Claire van Overdijk represented the Secretary of State for the Home Department (SSHD) in the recent case of Re A (A Child) [2020] EWCA Civ 731, which raised an issue of importance concerning the relationship between the jurisdiction of the Family Courts and the First Tier Tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber (IAC) and the overlap that exists when the risk of FGM is assessed for the purposes of a decision in each of those jurisdictions. The Court of Appeal confirmed that when the Family Court considers an application for…
News, Public Law 19 Jun, 2020
John McKendrick QC was instructed to represent the Official Solicitor in her capacity as statutory office holder in the recent case of EG v Parole Board and Others. The Official Solicitor occasionally, but rarely, acts as office holder rather than litigation friend before the courts. Mrs Justice May was required to determine the consequences of the uncertainty of how an incapacitated prisoner could pursue his appeal before the Parole Board without an accredited representative or a litigation friend. The EHRC, Law Society, Lord Chancellor and the Official Solicitor were added to the proceedings. Mrs Justice May interpreted the 2019 Parole Board Rules to permit the appointment of litigation friends and found EG had been the subject of a violation of…
News, Public Law 10 Jun, 2020
