Shomik Datta
Practice Areas
- Planning
- Housing
- Property
- Commercial and civil litigation
- Community Care
- Court of Protection
- Compulsory Purchase and Compensation
- Environment
- Immigration and Asylum
- Data Protection and Personal Privacy
- Election Law
- Financial Services
- Fraud: Civil
- Inquests and Inquiries
- Licensing
- Local Authority Governance and Services
- Public Law and Judicial Review
- Regulatory Law
What They Say
"knowledgeable, organised and always on top of a case"
Chambers and Partners
Recent Key Cases
DCLG policy shift on Green Belt?
04.04.2016
On 31 March 2016 the Secretary of State granted outline planning permission for 1,500 units at Perrybrook, Brockworth, Gloucestershire. The land is within the Green Belt, and it was therefore ...
Transcript now available in significant brownfield land judgment
30.03.2016
The transcript of the judgment of Charles George QC (sitting as Deputy High Court Judge) has now become available in Dartford Borough Council v SSCLG [2016] EWHC 635 (Admin.). The ...
Matt and Jenny aim for Supreme three in a row
30.03.2016
In R(N) v Lewisham LBC [2015] AC 1259, Matt Hutchings and Jennifer Oscroft represented the successful local authorities. They convinced the Supreme Court that temporary housing for homeless applicants was not “occupied ...
No duty to give reasons for a grant of planning permission in the Green Belt contrary to officer advice
29.03.2016
In the first case to examine whether a duty to give reasons for a grant of planning permission might arise following the abolition of the statutory requirement to do so ...
Court of Appeal clarifies meaning of “policies for the supply of housing” at paragraph 49 NPPF
17.03.2016
In joined appeals Hopkins v SSCLG and Cheshire East DC v SSCLG [2016] EWCA Civ [168] the Court of Appeal considered the scope of paragraph 49 NPPF, which is engaged ...
Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse: Investigation into Institutional Failures in the Anglican Church
16.03.2016
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, chaired by the Hon. Dame Lowell Goddard DNZM, has launched 13 investigations into a broad range of institutions. One of these is into ...
Be wary of claimants who try to manipulate the High Court
14.03.2016
Local authorities often receive mandatory orders, made at short-notice on the papers, when the High Court is told that a family will be homeless without urgent ex parte relief. As ...
Listed building challenges ruled Totally Without Merit
11.03.2016
Mr Justice Hickinbottom gave judgment yesterday in two related challenges to public law decisions of the Welsh Government concerning the Grade II* listed former North Wales Hospital, Denbigh. This stunning ...
Herefordshire Council cleared of misfeasance allegations
26.02.2016
Herefordshire Council has been held to have acted lawfully in suspending referrals to Rosedale Care Home in Ross-on-Wye and advising and assisting its residents to move to other homes when, ...
Step Changes Proposed to Summary Reviews
24.02.2016
Rory Clarke and Josef Cannon consider the implications of the recently proposed changes to the Summary Review procedure in the Licensing Act 2003. Reforms to the Summary Review procedure in the ...
High Court in Northern Ireland to decide whether Omagh bomb hearing will be held in secret
24.02.2016
The High Court of Justice in Ireland will today hear an application for judicial review relating to the Omagh bombing with took place in Ireland in 1998; in what will ...
Gerard Forlin QC instructed in health and safety case
12.02.2016
Gerard Forlin QC has successfully represented a company in a case involving a seriously injured young person. Following submissions to HSE, the regulator has concluded the company should not be ...
Decision reached on court closures
12.02.2016
Andrew Lane reports on the implications of the Ministry of Justice’s “Proposal on the provision of court and tribunal estate in England and Wales”. On 11th February 2016 the Ministry of Justice ...
Bingo in pubs: Gambling Commission wins Greene King appeal
10.02.2016
In a much-anticipated decision, the Upper Tribunal has found that the Gambling Commission acted within its legal powers when it refused to grant Greene King a bingo operating licence to ...
Cornerstone Barristers in fracking inquiry underway in Lancashire
09.02.2016
The appeal brought by Cuadrilla against the decisions of Lancashire County Council to refuse planning permission for fracking developments in Lancashire has started this morning in Blackpool. Cornerstone Barristers’ Estelle ...
Pump and Boneyard loses licence
05.02.2016
The facts of Pump and Boneyard, whose licence was finally buried by District Judge Angus Hamilton on 3rd February, read like a licensing exam paper. The venue was formerly a ...
Bedroom tax challenge succeeds in the Court of Appeal
28.01.2016
On 27 January 2016 the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in the conjoined bedroom tax appeals of R (on the application of Susan Rutherford, Paul Rutherford and Warren Todd ...
High Court holds that some residential gardens are brownfield land
21.01.2016
The High Court (Charles George QC sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge) handed down judgment today in Dartford Borough Council v Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government ...
Latest News Stories
Local Government Lawyer: A growing reluctance to quash?
01.04.2016
Martin Edwards has written an article for Local Government Lawyer looking at recent planning decisions and the apparent reluctance to quash planning permissions even in cases where an acknowledged legal ...
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Reckless bankers to face possible prosecution
23.03.2016
As of 7 March 2016, senior managers in UK banks, building societies or Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) designated investment firms can face up to 7 years in jail and / ...
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New Law Journal: Reckless bankers could go to jail
21.03.2016
Gerard Forlin QC has commented on the introduction of the new Senior Managers and Certification Regime (SM&CR) for an article in New Law Journal. Under the new regime, senior bankers could ...
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Estates Gazette: Quicker to bring but harder to win?
21.03.2016
Martin Edwards has written a column for Estates Gazette in which he looks at the extent to which the Planning Court has made planning permission challenges more efficient and some of ...
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Parliamentary Inquiry into Prostitution
21.03.2016
A team from Cornerstone Barristers is advising a national feminist organisation appearing in an inquiry into prostitution. The Home Affairs Select Committee is conducting an inquiry into prostitution, and in ...
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Gerard Forlin QC participating in Bar Council Mission to Seoul and Shanghai
11.03.2016
Gerard Forlin QC has been selected to participate in the Bar Council Mission to Seoul, South Korea and Shanghai, China, from 4-7 April. The Mission, led by Chairman of the ...
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Cornerstone Housing Day 2015 - Presentations
03.03.2016
Presentations from the Cornerstone Housing Day 2015 are now available to view on the newly launched Local Government Law.tv platform. Click the links below to view previews of the videos. Key developments ...
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Sir Anthony Hidden QC
01.03.2016
The funeral of Sir Anthony Hidden QC will be held at noon on Wednesday 2nd March at St. Mary's church, Wimbledon.
Journal of Planning & Environmental Law: Confidential information in planning applications
22.02.2016
Philip Coppel QC has written an article for the March edition of the Journal of Planning & Environmental Law on the use and disclosure of confidential information in planning applications. ...
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Estates Gazette: Neighbours or Nimbys?
22.02.2016
Martin Edwards has written a piece for the Estates Gazette planning notes column on a recent case involving a neighbourhood plan and how it scuppered a developer’s residential scheme on ...
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Practical Law: Anti-Social Behaviour
10.02.2016
Richard Hanstock has contributed to two notes for Practical Law on the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. The first note looks at civil injunctions introduced under Part 1 ...
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New Pan London Adult Safeguarding Policy Launched
10.02.2016
The keenly awaited new Pan London Adult Safeguarding Policy and Procedures was launched yesterday at a celebratory event at BMA House, Tavistock Square, London. The new policy aims to deliver ...
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Gerard Forlin QC comments on Health and Safety penalty guidelines
08.02.2016
Gerard Forlin QC has written articles for New Law Journal, Health and Safety at Work Magazine and SHP online on the new health and safety guidelines introduced by the Sentencing Council. Gerard notes that ...
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Cornerstone Housing Newsletter - February 2016
01.02.2016
The latest Cornerstone Housing newsletter includes: The death of the social rented sector? Selective thoughts on the Housing and Planning Bill – Ranjit Bhose QC Private registered providers: back to the ...
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LexisNexis Webinar: Regulatory aspects of fracking
29.01.2016
Estelle Dehon and Ashley Bowes have co-presented a webinar on fracking regulation and planning law for LexisNexis. The webinar provides practical guidance on a range of issues including: The licensing ...
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Philip Kolvin QC of Cornerstone Barristers appointed Board Member of the SGSA
27.01.2016
Cornerstone Barristers is pleased to announce that its Head of Chambers Philip Kolvin QC has been appointed as a Board Member of the Sports Grounds Safety Authority, the national regulatory authority ...
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Cornerstone Barristers' Housing Seminar Programme 2016
27.01.2016
The Cornerstone Housing Team will be hosting a series of seminars throughout 2016 designed to keep you up to date on major legal developments in the social housing sector. Please see below ...
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Gerard Forlin QC speaks at Environment and Strategy breakfast seminar
27.01.2016
On 3 February Gerard Forlin QC is speaking at a breakfast seminar on Environment and Safety hosted by Mayer Brown International LLP. Gerard will be speaking alongside Michael Hutchinson, Head ...
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