Aidan O"Neill KC > Matrix Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile

Aidan O"Neill KC

020 7404 3447 aidanoneill@matrixlaw.co.uk

Position

Aidan O’Neill QC (Scot) QC is dual-qualified and a “double silk”.  He is a senior counsel in practice in England and Wales, and a leading member of the Scottish bar.   He has a wide ranging European law/public law practice both north and south of the board.  He is a specialist in EU law, human rights and constitutional law.  He was awarded the Legal 500 UK Bar Award for EU law silk of the year in 2015. His expert legal advice is regularly sought, particularly on the impact of EU law on other areas of UK law, including on charity law, employment law, environmental law, equality law, private international law, public procurement, and trade law.  He has argued cases as senior counsel before the the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, as well as before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the House of Lords and on numerous occasions before the UK Supreme Court.  Among his more recent cases are: Scotch Whisky Association  v. Lord Advocate [2017] UKSC on the EU law compatibility of the legilsation imposing a minimum price for the retailing of alcohol; R (UNISON) v. Lord Chancellor [2017] UKSC 51 JR of validity of the Employment Tribunals and Employment Appeal Tribunal Fees Order 2013 requiring payment of court dues/fees for claims to ETs and appeal to EAT; Janah v. Libya [2017] UKSC on the right to access a court a obtain substantive remedy in employment dispute claims otherwise barred by claims to State immunity under national legislation;  R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union  [2017] UKSC 5 on whether the UK Government could rely upon its prerogative powers to trigger Article 50 TEU for the UK to leave the EU; “A” v. General Council of Bar of Northern Ireland [2017] UKSC on the compatibility of NI Bar Council rules requiring instruction of senior counsel with Convention right to lawyer of one’s choosing; AB v. Her Majesty’s Advocate [2017] UKSC 25 on the Convention compatibility of legislation sleectively removing a reasonable belief defence as to the age of a sexual partner; Shindler v. Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster 24 May [2016] UKSC 2016/0105 [2016] EWCA Civ 469 [2016] EWHC (Admin) 957 challenge to the EU and common law constitutional compatibility of the exclusion from the Brexit referendum franchise of British citizens who had exercised their EU free movement and citizenship rights to live outside the UK for more than 15 years; Christian Institute  v. Lord Advocate [2016] UKSC 51 [2015] CSIH 64, [2015] CSOH 7 on the incompatibility with EU and Convention law standards for data protection of the Scottish “named person” legislation; R (Hainsworth) v. Ministry of Defence 1 December 2015 UKSC re Article 5 of Directive 2000/78 and the duty of an employer to make reasonable adjustments within the context of associative discrimination to accommodate the disability needs of a dependent child of an employee; R (Sandiford) v. Foreign and Commonwealth Office [2014] UKSC 44; [2013] EWCA Civ 581; [2013] EWHC 168 (Admin) re funding for legal representation of British nationals facing the death penalty abroad; R. (Chester) v Secretary of State for Justice/McGeoch v. Lord President of the Council [2013] UKSC 63; [2011] CSIH 67; [2011] CSOH 65 on the EU law compatibility of the blanket ban on prisoners voting; Bulls v. Preddy and Hall [2013] UKSC 73 – whether Christian guest house owners could, on grounds of religious conviction, lawfully refuse a double-bedded room to a couple in a civil partnership; Animal Defenders International v. United Kingdom (2013) 57 EHRR 21 (Grand Chamber, 22 April 2013) – whether the ban on paid “political” broadcast advertising was compatible with right to free expression under Article 10 ECHR; Walton (formerly Roadsense) v. Scottish Ministers [2012] UKSC 44 – EU law and the Aarhus Convention in relation to duties of strategic environmental assessment, public consultation and statutory title of “persons aggrieved” to object to road schemes on environmental grounds; Ravat v. Halliburton Manufacturing & Services Ltd. [2012] UKSC 1; [2010] CSIH 52 – whether a UK employment tribunal had jurisdiction to adjudicate on an unfair dismissal claim from an oil industry employee working outside the EU; AXA General Insurance v. Lord Advocate [2011] UKSC 46; [2011] CSIH 31; [2010] CSOH 2 – judicial review of the validity and Convention compatibility of the Damages (Asbestos-related conditions) (Scotland) Act 2009; Cadder v. Her Majesty’s Advocate [2010] UKSC 43 – on the Convention right to have a solicitor present during a police interview while in police detention; R (JF and Thompson) v. Minister of Justice [2010] UKSC 17 – Article 8 ECHR right to privacy and its compatibility with the imposition of indefinite period of notification on the sex offenders register without provision for review.   Aidan O’Neill also has a niche practice in the area of sports law.  Recent cases include:Mike Ashley v. Scottish Football Association [2016] CSOH 78 – judicial review of a determination of a Judicial Panel and Appellate Tribunal of the SFA; Tonev/Celtic FC v. Scottish Football Association [2014] SFA Appellate Tribunal nyr – appeal against a determination of the SFA disciplinary tribunal making a finding of misconduct in use of racist abuse by one player against another and with consequent imposition of sanction of match suspension; Rangers FC v. Scottish Football Association [2012] CSOH 95, (judicial review of vires of imposition by SFA Disciplinary Panel of sanction of one year transfer ban on players in respect of a finding that the club had brought the game of association football into disrepute)

Career

Called 1987 (Scotland); standing Junior Counsel to the Scottish Office 1997-99; QC Scotland 1999; called England and Wales Inner Temple 1996; QC (England and Wales) 2017;   publications: EU law after Brexit: a guide for the perplexed (Hart Publishing, forthcoming); EU Law for UK Lawyers: the domestic impact of EU law within the UK (Hart, 2nd ed 2011); Judicial Review in Scotland: a practitioner’s guide (Butterworths 1999); Decisions of the European Court of Justice and their Constititutional Implications (Butterworths 1994); contributing editor (Scotland) for Clayton & Tomlinson Law of Human Rights (2nd ed, 2009); author of chapters in various academic legal books and of a numerous of articles in scholarly journals, particularly in the field of constitutional law, human rights and EU law.

Languages

French and Italian.

Memberships

Fee paid (part-time) Chair of the First Tier Tribunal of the Scottish Tax Tribunal since 2015; Chairman of the Edinburgh Centre for Constitutional Law and Honorary Fellow in the School of Law, University of Edinburgh (2013-2015); Visiting lecturer and course leader in “Human Rights law in Practice”, Diploma in Legal Practice at Edinburgh Law School 2009 & 2010; Visiting Professor in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, and Senior Research Scholar and Fellow in the Program in Law and Public Affairs, Princeton University, NJ, USA (Sep 2007-Jun 2008)

Education

University of Edinburgh (LLB (Hons) first class); University of Edinburgh (Diploma in legal practice); University of Sydney, Australia (LLM (Hons) first class); European University Institute, Florence (LLM); University of Edinburgh (LLD).