Eric Metcalfe > Monckton Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile
Monckton Chambers Offices
1 & 2 RAYMOND BUILDINGS, GRAY'S INN
LONDON
WC1R 5NR
England
- Set Profile
- Go to...
Eric Metcalfe
Position
Eric is a specialist in human rights, information law, public law and EU law.
He is direct access qualified.
He has advised and acted for a wide range of human rights organisations including the ACLU, the AIRE Centre, ARTICLE 19, the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Human Rights Watch, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Index on Censorship, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, JUSTICE (the UK section of the International Commission of Jurists), the Kurdish Human Rights Project, the Legal Resources Centre, Liberty, the Media Legal Defence Initiative, and Privacy International. He has carried out human rights work in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Russia, Rwanda, Taiwan and Turkey.
Career
Called 1999.
Memberships
He is a member of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s A Panel and the general editor of Sweet & Maxwell’s Human Rights Law Reports. He was previously a member of the Attorney General’s B and C panels, an external fellow of the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law and the director of human rights policy at JUSTICE, the UK section of the International Commission of Jurists. He is direct access qualified.
Education
BA, LLB (University of Canterbury, NZ), LL.M. (Queen’s University, Canada), D Phil (Oxon).
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Data protection
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 3Eric Metcalfe – Monckton Chambers ‘Eric’s knowledge of data protection law is extremely impressive – he is by far the leading expert in this field. He is a pleasure to work with and always takes the time to chat through any complex issues.’
Monckton Chambers has a well-established reputation for data protection and information law, with members also offering strong expertise in intersecting areas, including public and commercial law. Gerry Facenna KC, leading Nikolaus Grubeck, represents the Information Commissioner in TikTok’s appeal against a £12.7m fine imposed for breaches of UK data protection law, including failing to use children’s personal data lawfully. Harry Gillow also acted for the Information Commissioner in the Public Law Project appeal against a decision that they were not entitled to disclosure of the Home Office’s criteria for assessing sham marriages. In Karpichkov v NCA, Eric Metcalfe successfully represented the claimant resist a strike-out application brought by the National Crime Agency, with the High Court ruling that a former KGB double agent can sue the agency for data protection breaches related to personal information disclosed to the Latvian authorities.
London Bar > European Union relations
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 3Eric Metcalfe –Monckton Chambers ‘Eric is excellent at drafting, a persuasive and tough advocate, and easy to get on with.’
Monckton Chambers offers ‘a wide array of barristers with excellent knowledge of EU law’, with members regularly advising and litigating on behalf of private sector clients, UK government, local authorities, NGOs, and EU institutions and member states. Eric Metcalfe successfully acted for the claimant in the High Court case of Karpichkov v NCA, with the judge dismissing the agency’s strike-out application on the basis of the claimant’s rights under EU data protection legislation, the ECHR and EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Josh Holmes KC and Jack Williams appeared for the applicants, Symphony Environmental Technologies PLC and Symphony Environmental Ltd, at the General Court in Luxembourg in relation to a damages action under Article 340 TFEU against various EU institutions. Alan Bates acted for the claimant in Cruelty Free International v Secretary of State for the Home Department, as the High Court clarified the relationship between the EU Cosmetics Regulation and the REACH regulation in the context of animal research into chemical safety.
London Bar > Administrative law and human rights
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 1Eric Metcalfe – Monckton Chambers ‘Eric is such a joy to work with for many reasons: he is skilled in explaining complicated legal concepts in simple terms, tailoring it to the audience, and is very quick to respond in fast paced litigation. His written and oral advocacy is outstanding. Judges appreciate his advocacy and are assisted by both his submissions and questioning of witnesses. ‘