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2010 saw several members of the Scottish Bar handle many high-profile human rights and public law cases in the Supreme Court, including Eba v AG, Cadder v HMA, AXA General Insurance Ltd v The Lord Advocate, SNP v BBC, and Greens, Stanger & Wilson’s judicial review case.

Ampersand has a ‘variety of counsel who are accomplished in dealing with public and administrative law matters’. Aidan O’Neill QC, who ‘grasps his topic very quickly’ and is the ‘go-to advocate to push a novel point’, has a leading civil liberties, public, EU and competition law practice, and was involved in the Cadder case. Alan Dewar QC, who has a notable administrative law practice, was involved in the AXA case with Jane Munro, who is ‘first rate’ and is ‘one of the most intellectually able junior counsel at the Scottish Bar’, .

Axiom Advocates is ‘without doubt one of the leading stables in public law at the Scottish Bar’. David Johnston QC, Richard Keen QC and James Mure QC were involved in the AXA case and Gerry Moynihan QC was involved in the SNP v BBC case and Greens judicial review matter. ‘There isn ’t a junior at the Scottish Bar with a more impressive practice in public law than Anna Poole.’ Morag Ross, who is ‘extremely diligent’, handles a wide range of judicial matters, and James Wolffe QC is an ‘extremely talented advocate’.

At Hastie Stable, Chris Pirie is a ‘rising star’, who is ‘hardworking and intelligent’, and was involved in the Greens judicial review case.

At Murray Stable, Jonathan Mitchell QC, Lorna Drummond and Simon Collins were all involved in the Eba case. The ‘unflappable’ Mungo Bovey QC, who ‘tenders advice objectively and stands by it’, and Ailsa Carmichael QC were involved in the SNP v BBC case. Alan Summers QC, who is ‘intellectually one of the most able seniors at Scottish Bar’, was involved in the Cadder case. Andrew Webster is a ‘popular and well-liked member of the Bar’.

Solicitor-advocate Elaine Motion, who heads up Balfour + Manson LLP’s litigation team, is recommended for public law and professional discipline matters.

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Legal Developments in the UK

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  • COUNCIL TAX

    In Harrow LBC v Ayiku [2012] EWHC 1200 (Admin) Sales J held that the word “or” in the Council Tax (Exempt Dwellings) Order 1992, art 3 Class N, had a disjunctive meaning, therefore it was sufficient for the non-British spouse of a foreign student to satisfy one or other of the two conditions, namely being prevented from taking paid employment or being prevented from claiming benefits, in order to qualify as a “relevant person” who was exempted from liability to pay council tax.
    - 11KBW

  • QUEEN’S SPEECH

    Bills already introduced pursuant to the Queen’s Speech on 9 May 2012 include Local Government Finance Bill and Electoral Registration and Administration Bill, both accompanied by Explanatory Notes, which in each case address ECHR compatibility.
    - 11KBW

  • Standards

    In R (Calver) v Adjudication Panel for Wales [2012] EWHC 1172 (Admin) Mr Calver was a member of Manorbier Community Council who successfully challenged the decision of the Panel to dismiss his appeal against a decision by Prembrokeshire County Council Standards Committee censuring him for a number of comments or blogs posted by him on a website he owned and controlled.
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  • A justified retrospective

    Clive Sheldon - QC debates the pros & cons of retrospective tax legislation
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  • Public Sector Equality Duty (“PSED”)

    In R (Greenwich Community Law Centre) v Greenwich LBC [2012] EWCA Civ 496 the Court of Appeal held that the Council had had “due regard to the PSED when making changes to its funding of community legal advice services”. At para 30 Elias LJ said:
    - 11KBW

  • Public Sector Equality Duty

    Surrey County Council conducted a review of its Library Service. This culminated in a Report to the Council’s Cabinet. The Recommendations in the Report included that there should be consultation about a community-partnership approach at selected Libraries.
    - 11KBW

  • Judicial Review

    The Judgment of Lindblom J in The Manydown Co Ltd v Basingstoke and Deane BC [2012] EWHC 977 (Admin) repays attention. The Claimant sought to challenge by judicial review 2 decisions of the Council: (1) the Council’s refusal to reconsider its position on the development of a site that it owns (and is the subject matter of a Joint Development Partnership Agreement with the Claimant); and (2) a decision of the Council’s Cabinet approving a selection of sites for development which did not include this site.
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  • The Health and Social Care Act 2012: impact on adult social services

    After its torrid passage through Parliament, the Health and Social Care Bill received Royal Assent on 27 March 2012. The Act deals principally with healthcare reform, but it also contains some amendments to the legislative framework for social care. It will come into force on a day yet to be appointed by the Secretary of State.
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  • Immigration update May 2012

    In this issue:
    - Penningtons Solicitors LLP

  • Premium service for tier 2 and 5 sponsors to be launched

    A premium service for sponsors will be launched by the UKBA on 6 April 2012. The service is designed specifically for companies that sponsor international employees under tier 2 and 5 of the points based system and aims to provide them with enhanced support.
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