020 7242 4986
London: 2-3 Gray's Inn Square
Cardiff: One Caspian Point
London: 2-3 Gray's Inn Square
Cardiff: One Caspian Point
considered. strong.
considered. strong.
We have had a distinguished history as a specialist planning set for over 50 years and we continue to be recognised as one of the five foremost Planning sets by both Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500; currently 7 silks and 12 juniors are ranked as leaders in the planning and environmental field by the Legal Guides.
We work for over 300 local authorities and a wide range of private clients including national commercial clients. We are ranked as one of the leading local government sets, with highly rated expertise in our specialist areas, by Chambers & Partners and Legal 500. We provide first-class representation in all of our principal areas of work. Individual members of the team also feature in both Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500.
We deal with all types of civil litigation, big and small, and all means of dispute resolution. We have experts in every field and cover cases proceeding in all courts and tribunals. Members also give advice on proceedings and disputes, and on how to solve legal problems, day in and day out, working to achieve a satisfactory outcome, in or out of court. We can deal with all types of case, whether they turn on factual issues or complicated legal argument or procedural points.
We have had a distinguished history as a specialist planning set for over 60 years and we continue to be recognised as one of the five foremost Planning sets by both Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500; currently 7 silks and 15 juniors are ranked as leaders in the planning and environmental field by the legal guides.
The limits of Environmental Law may be difficult to define but it is an increasingly important branch of the law which has developed considerably in recent years, and is regulated by increasingly complex and sophisticated legislation, often originating in the European Union.
The licensing team is nationally recognised to be at the forefront of advising, training and educating across the whole field of licensing, including alcohol, entertainment, gambling and taxi licensing. We have already considered the issues, and have the answers at our fingertips. We advise: licensing authorities; police; the leading industry operators; and the main trade associations.
We act for over 300 local authorities. We have extensive experience of defending and challenging decisions in a wide range of fields including planning, housing, highways, environment, property, compulsory purchase, employment, community care, children’s services, immigration, human rights and licensing.
We work for over 300 local authorities and a wide range of private clients including national commercial clients. We are ranked as one of the leading planning sets, with highly rated expertise in our specialist areas, by both Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500. We provide first-class representation in all of our principal areas of work. Individual members of the team also feature in both Chambers & Partners and the Legal 500.
Members have been involved in cases which have shaped the law: cases which have developed the common law and cases which have resulted in changes to statutory schemes. We have provided details of some of these on other pages.
We are acknowledged experts in the major legal directories: recognised as a leading set in the fields of administrative and public law (Legal 500), local government law (Chambers and Partners) and planning (Legal 500; Chambers and Partners). This wide-ranging skill base means we have extensive experience of judicial review proceedings and similar statutory challenges.
Chambers has a long tradition of involvement with criminal work, dating back to the late 19th Century. Sir Edward Marshall Hall KC and Norman Birkett KC were in these Chambers and we still act in major cases: Anthony Scrivener QC has a justly deserved reputation in this field. Chambers is “recognised as being a key player in the consumer and regulatory sector,” (Chambers and Partners 2008) and has a solid reputation for corporate manslaughter and fatality work” (Legal 500 2007).
In a seminal judgment, Mr. Justice Keith has ordered restitution of licence fees charged to sex shops by Westminster City Council.
A judicial review of Westminster’s sex licensing fees was brought by 7 owners of 13 sex shops in Soho and Covent Garden.
The essence of their claim was that while a duly authorised licensing committee had determined the annual fee for sex shops under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 for 2005-2006 at £29,102 per annum, an it had failed to determine a fee for any year thereafter, until January 2012 when it determined that the renewal fee should be £18,737.
The Court of Appeal has given important guidance on the approach to costs when judicial review claims settle before final hearing. In an age assessment claim against the London Borough of Croydon the Claimant M unsuccessfully sought an order that the Borough should pay all his costs.
The Master of the Rolls gave guidance that will assist parties in settling claims at an earlier stage and laid out the rules that should apply when the Court is left to determine where costs will lie.
Anthony Porten QC acted for a consortium of builders in a recent Village Green Inquiry which raises an important point of interest: issue estoppel.
Mrs Malcolm applied originally in 2006 under s.13 of the Commons Registration Act 1965 for land at Hucknall to be registered as a TVG. Following an eight day Inquiry the application was dismissed on various grounds – use had not continued up to the date of the application, being prevented by the erection of fences a few days earlier; use had not been as of right due to (a) deference and (b) prohibitory signs.
In a decision of significance for all planning practitioners, the Supreme Court in Tesco Stores v Dundee City Council [2012] UKSC 13 rejected Tesco's challenge and determined that the interpretation of planning policy is a matter of law and not to be left to the discretion of local planning authorities. Guidance has also been provided on the approach to "suitability" in the context of the sequential test.
This is an important planning case in the High Court concerning the scope of the doctrine of material change of use by intensification, and the proper interpretation of Part 8 of the General Permitted Development Order 1995.
Permission has been granted for Hertfordshire County Council to appeal to the Court of Appeal.