News & Events

Public Law

Follow

John McKendrick QC acts for NHS trust in High Court Jehovah’s Witness case

John McKendrick QC is currently acting in the High Court, London for an NHS trust responsible for the treatment of a 17 year-old Jehovah’s Witness. The boy, who has leukaemia and who lives in the south east of England, has refused potentially life-saving blood product treatment for his condition, because of his religious beliefs. NHS trust doctors are respecting the boy’s views and doctors are not treating him with blood products. Lead barrister for the trust, John McKendrick QC said that the boy had refused to consent to treatment involving “blood products” and that the teenager was “extremely articulate about his Jehovah’s Witness faith”. John regularly appears before the Administrative Court, Court of Protection, Family Division, the Tribunal system and the…

News 7 Jun, 2019

Court of Appeal hands down guidance on ‘limbo’ status and Article 8 in the deportation context

In RA(Iraq) v SSHD [2019] EWCA Civ 850 (handed down on 17 May 2019), Claire van Overdijk successfully represented the Secretary of State for the Home Department in a case concerning the so-called ‘limbo’ status – whereby a person is prevented by continuing circumstance in their country of origin from being deported, but also prevented by lack of leave to remain in the UK from working, receiving normal State benefits, renting or buying property, or accessing the full range of NHS benefits. The appellant argued that together these constitute a disproportionate interference with family or private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In the judgment, the Court provides a comprehensive overview of domestic and ECtHR case…

News 17 May, 2019

Equality & Human Rights Commission panel appointments

Chambers is pleased to announce the appointments of Claire van Overdijk, Sarah Crowther QC, Alex Line and Katarina Sydow on their recent appointments to the Equality & Human Rights Commission panel of counsel. Claire is appointed to the A panel and Sarah and Alex are appointed to B panel with Katarina appointed to C panel. They all look forward to working with the Commission and assisting in representation and advisory cases. The appointments run from 1st April 2019 for a term of four years.

News 16 May, 2019

Sarah Crowther QC on freedom of expression and contract law

Sarah Crowther QC was a guest speaker at the UCL Contracts and Freedoms conference yesterday, on the conflict between fundamental rights and contractual obligations in cyberspace. As part of a panel chaired by Lord Sales, examining freedom of expression and contract law, Sarah commented on a paper presented by Nick McBride of Cambridge University on the practice of social media platforms in blocking accounts and barring users on the basis of their Terms of Service. Freedom of contract is seen as a key strength of English commercial law, yet the uncertainties over Brexit, and the potential impact upon English law as the applicable law of choice, highlight the importance of considering the limits to parties’ freedom of contract. Sarah practises…

News 10 May, 2019

Ashers Bakery case at UK Supreme Court – Sarah Crowther QC gets judgment

The long-awaited judgment in Ashers v Lee was today handed down by the UK Supreme Court, with OTC Silk Sarah Crowther. More widely known as the ‘gay cake’ case, this is a landmark free speech victory for Ashers Bakery over whether Christian owners of a bakery can lawfully be required to ice a cake with a message promoting same-sex marriage. The background: In 2015, Ashers Bakery was found to have discriminated against a customer on the grounds of sexual orientation and political opinion. The complicated case seemed to be nearing its conclusion, when the last-minute postponement of the hearing extended the appeal issues. Then, the Attorney General intervened into the case claiming there was a potential conflict between Northern Ireland’s…

News 10 Oct, 2018

The British Legal Awards 2017: Finalists

We are delighted to have been shortlisted in Legal Week’s British Legal Awards 2017 – Chambers of the Year category. The British Legal Awards hosted by Legal Week in association with The City of London Law Society, takes place at the end of the LegalWeek Connect, and is due to be attended by 1,000 lawyers. All 29 categories have been carefully chosen to reflect the ever-complex and challenging work of business lawyers at law firms, within legal departments and at the Bar. Key awards this year include The City of London Law Society Lifetime Achievement Award, Chambers of the Year, Law Firm of the Year, General Counsel of the Year, Editor’s Award: Law Firm Leader of the Year and the Legal…

News 20 Oct, 2017

‘Well-being’ principle in judicial review case – Care Act 2014

The High Court has recently handed down judgement in R (on the application of JF acting through his mother and litigation friend KF) v The London Borough of Merton [2017] EWHC 1519 (Admin). The case concerned a judicial review claim against the content of needs assessment under the Care Act 2014. It was conducted by a local authority for a young adult with very severe and complex care needs. It also concerned a challenge against the local authority’s decision to transfer the young adult to an alternative care home. The judicial review claim succeeded on both grounds. The Claimant was represented by Alex Line of Outer Temple Chambers. This case is a recent and important example of a successful challenge…

News 5 Jul, 2017

Outer Temple welcomes Alex Line

We are pleased to announce that Alex Line has joined Outer Temple Chambers to work across our Employment and Public law Practice Areas. Alex is primarily a civil practitioner whose practice is focused particularly on the areas of education (about which he is passionate), social welfare, court of protection, public law, employment and discrimination. He regularly appears in employment tribunals, county courts and different chambers of the First-Tier Tribunal. Alex has also High Court, Employment Appeal Tribunal and Upper Tribunal experience and will add further strength and depth to the growing team. For more information on Alex’s practice, please click here.

News 17 Mar, 2017

Claire van Overdijk joins Outer Temple Chambers

We are delighted to announce that Claire van Overdijk has joined Chambers. Claire is a public law specialist and private clients (trusts and estates) barrister, with expertise in private international law. She was appointed to the Attorney General’s B Panel on 1 September 2016 following two years on the C Panel. Her extensive experience in mental capacity law and the Court of Protection has allowed her to establish a dual practice with specialisms in the health/welfare and property/financial affairs jurisdictions of the court. Claire is the first and currently the only practitioner at the Bar to date to be recognised as a leader in both areas of the COP’s jurisdiction and is a welcome addition to our Public law and Commercial &…

News 14 Mar, 2017

Lambeth & Southwark Council Tender win

Outer Temple Chambers is pleased to announce that it has been successful in its bid to provide external legal services to Lambeth and Southwark Councils for Employment and Education Law matters. This strengthens our relationship with numerous Boroughs of London and other Councils following further success in tender bids for the London Borough Legal Alliance (LBLA), whose new Framework started earlier in the year. Outer Temple provides high quality Barristers for Employment, Education and Public Law matters.

News 14 Sep, 2016

Paul Rogers & Katarina Sydow in diplomatic immunity case

Paul Rogers and Katarina Sydow were instructed to represent the Director of Public Prosecutions (“DPP”) to resist a claim for judicial review at a hearing on 28 and 29 June 2016 before Lord Justice Lloyd Jones and Mr Justice Jay. The claim was brought by the Freedom and Justice Party and members of the deposed former government of Egypt, among others, against the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (“FCO”) and the DPP, with Amnesty International and Redress intervening and the Metropolitan Police joined as an Interested Party. The Claimants sought the arrest  in the UK of the current Egyptian Chief of Staff, Lt-General Hegazy, for alleged offences of torture committed in Egypt, pursuant to the universal jurisdiction provided by section 134 of…

News 7 Jul, 2016

John McKendrick QC acts in complex Mental Health case

John McKendrick QC is appearing in the Supreme Court on 26 April 2016, on behalf of Mr Lee Hirons, the appellant. The issue in the case is whether the recall of the appellant to hospital under s.42(3) Mental Health Act 1983 was unlawful and should entitle him to relief, because he was not given adequate reasons at the time the recall warrant was executed, nor within 72 hours in breach of the applicable policy of the Secretary of State. Mr Lee Hirons was made the subject of a restricted order under the Mental Health Act 1983. A few weeks after his conditional discharge from hospital a warrant was executed for his recall. He was told at the time that it was…

News 26 Apr, 2016

Portfolio Builder

Select the expertise that you would like to download or add to the portfolio

Download    Add to portfolio   
Portfolio
Title Type CV Email

Remove All

Download


Click here to share this shortlist.
(It will expire after 30 days.)