Public Law & Regulatory

Caroline is Deputy Head of 3PB’s Administrative Law Unit.

Recent public law and regulatory cases include:

• R (Compton) v Wiltshire PCT [2009] EWHC 1824 (Admin), Lawtel 28th July 2009 – judicial review of a Primary Care Trust's decisions in respect of the closure of hospital facilities (lawfulness of consultation process; principles governing the apparent bias of advisors to public authorities).
• Challenging decisions of Police Forces and the Police Medical Appeals Board in relation to the receipt of injury awards/pensions - advising as to the merits of judicial review proceedings and drafting submissions for hearings before the Board.
• Representing a Councillor accused of breaching the Code of Conduct before his Local Standards Committee. Thereafter, appealing to the First Tier Tribunal (Local Government Standards of England Chamber).
• Judicial review proceedings on behalf of the UK Border Agency, including challenging the improper exercise of a judge’s discretion to grant leave to appeal out of time; and a judicial review arising from a Crown Court decision to condemn excise goods as forfeit (right to a fair trial; right to access to court).
• Multi-party litigation arising from the detention of individuals at Guantanamo Bay and other facilities (complicated issues relating to disclosure and international human right and humanitarian law).

Having observed judicial review from both sides of the public law spectrum, Caroline is sensitive to the frustrations and complexities of litigating both for and against public authorities.

Significant cases during pupillage:

• R (Compton) v Wiltshire PCT [2008] EWCA Civ 749, 1 WLR 1436: the current leading Court of Appeal authority on protective costs orders (new guidance on the criteria and procedure for making and setting aside protective costs orders; the scope of “general public importance” test).
• Article 7 ECHR challenges in the context of asset forfeiture cases.
• Appearing before the Privy Council as a junior in a Petition seeking leave to appeal against murder convictions in Jamaica.

Prior to being called to the Bar, Caroline gained extensive experience of advising on public law and human rights issues. At the Public Law Project, she advised on diverse matters ranging from the powers of the Criminal Records Bureau and DVLA to challenging the provision of asylum support/support for ‘looked after’ children. One of her more unusual cases involved challenging the decision of a PCT Joint Exceptions Panel concerning the provision of elective plastic surgery.

As part of the ‘Permission Stage Project’, Caroline interviewed dozens of solicitors - working for central and local Government, leading private firms and NGOs - about their experience of the judicial review process. These interviews related to specific judicial review applications covering all the core public law areas, including housing, prison law, education and asylum support.

Caroline is happy to accept pro bono instructions in this field.

Published Articles

• “Corner House Revisited: The Law Governing Protective Costs Orders”, Judicial Review March 2009, [2009] JR 43