Mr James Strachan KC KC > 39 Essex Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile
39 Essex Chambers Offices
81 CHANCERY LANE
LONDON
WC2A 1DD
England
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Mr James Strachan KC KC
Position
Areas of practice include: public and administrative; planning and environment; commercial; financial services; local government; civil liberties and human rights; privacy and freedom of information. Notable recent cases include: Orabator v HMP Holloway [2010] EWHC 58 (repatriation of foreign prisoners); R (Smith) v Land Registry [2010] EWCA Civ 2000 (adverse possession of highways); R (U) v SIAC [2010] EWHC 813 (bail in SIAC); R (KB) v Secretary of State for Justice [2010] EWHC 15 (prisons and YOI); Guildford BC v Sec of State for Communities [2009] EWHC 3531 (greenbelt extensions); MetroConstruction v LB Barnet [2009] EWHC 2956 (conservation area designations); Brown v Carlisle City Council [2009] EWHC 2519 (EIA); S & Marper v UK [2008] ECHR 1581, ECtHR (retention of fingerprints and DNA);Capel Parish Council v Surrey County Council [2009] EWHC 350 (EU Waste Directive and waste incinerator); Home Secretary v AR [2008] EWHC 3164 (Prevention of Terrorism Act Control Order); WK v Home Secretary and A v Croydon [2009] EWHC (age assessments); Heffernan v Rent Service [2008] UKHL 58, [2008] 1 WLR 1702 (locality for housing benefit); South Cambridgeshire v First Secretary of State [2008] EWCA Civ 1010 (greenbelt and travellers); Jeffery v First Secretary of State [2007] EWCA Civ 584 (discontinuance orders); West Midlands International Airportv Secretary of State for Communities and LocalGovernment [2008] EWHC 2309 (airport expansion); Heather Moor & Edgecomb v Financial Ombudsman Service [2008] EWCA Civ 642 (ombudsmanand human rights); Burney v Burns Anderson [2007] 4 All ER 246 (ombudsman and pensions); R v London Borough of Bromley ex p Barker [2007] 1 AC 470, HL & ECJ (environmental impact assessments); R(IFG) v Financial Ombudsman Service [2005] EWHC 1153 (powers of ombudsman); R(X) v Chief Constable of West Midlands Police [2004] EWCA Civ 1068 (criminal record disclosure); A v West Yorkshire Police [2004] UKHL 21, [2004] 2 WLR 1209; Goodwin v UK [2002] 35 EHRR 18 (rights of transsexuals and Article 14); R (Adriano) v Surrey County Council [2003] Env LR 24 (incinerator permission); Evans v First Secretary of State [2004] Env LR 1523 (striking out of s288 proceedings); Associated Newspapers, News International, Guardian, Telegraph and BBC v Home Secretary, AD and LL (anonymity in control orders) [2005] EWHC Admin.
Career
Called 1996, Middle Temple; QC 2013; General’s ‘A’ Panel of Treasury Council 2008 (following B Panel 2004-08 and C Panel 2000-04) and to Welsh Assembly Government Panel of Counsel. Publications include ‘Crown Proceedings’ Atkins Court Forms Vol 13 (2008); ‘The Right to Privacy’ Your Rights (Liberty 2008); ‘The Right to Privacy in English Law’ [2002] EHRLR 129; ‘Privacy Postponed’ [2003] EHRLR Special Issue; ‘Magistrates’ in Human Rights and Judicial Review (Butterworths 2001).
Memberships
COMBAR; PEBA; ALBA.
Education
Oxon (MA); College of Law (Diploma of Law, Commendation); BVC (outstanding) 1995 Harmsworth Major Entrance Exhibition (Middle Temple).
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Energy
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 3James Strachan KC –39 Essex Chambers ‘James has a forensic brain, and he gives clients confidence that he has a total grasp of the issues.’
London Bar > Administrative law and human rights
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 4James Strachan KC –39 Essex Chambers ‘He is totally unflappable, crisp, precise and doesn’t take bad points. James is an authoritative presence in court.’
London Bar > Inquests and inquiries
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 4James Strachan KC – 39 Essex Chambers ‘James has that rare combination of a huge brain and spot-on judgement. He gets straight to the heart of the issue.’
London Bar > Financial services and fintech regulation
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 2James Strachan KC –39 Essex Chambers ‘James is the pre-eminent silk at the intersection of public administrative law and financial services regulation. He is totally unflappable, crisp, precise and doesn’t take bad points. He has an unerring ability to win cases.’
London Bar > Planning
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1James Strachan KC – 39 Essex Chambers ‘James is excellent in every aspect. Very knowledgeable, excellent courtroom gravitas, puts his clients at ease. He is very user-friendly to work with.’
39 Essex Chambers is a notable set in the fields of planning, environment and infrastructure. The team is praised for having an ‘emerging cohort of talented juniors’ and silks who are ‘well-known for their excellence within the practice area.’ James Strachan KC led the ‘bright and articulate’ Rose Grogan in Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site Ltd v Secretary of State for Transport (No.2) – a revival of the litigation concerning the proposed construction of a road tunnel under Stonehenge. The main objectors were represented by barristers who have also separately been involved in other notable cases; Victoria Hutton having represented London Luton Airport Operations Limited in proceedings concerning the airport’s proposed expansion, Richard Harwood OBE KC working on the second challenge to the DCO for the re-opening of Manston Airport and Christiaan Zwart representing a private landowner opposing the Aquind electricity interconnector.