Public and administrative Law

Cloisters has a long and proud history of being at the forefront of the development of public and administrative law. The home of public law luminaries such as Sir Stephen Sedley, Dame Laura Cox and the late Sir Anthony Bradley, its barristers are instructed to advise and appear in public and administrative law cases touching upon a wide variety of substantive areas of the law including human rights, immigration, community care, education, housing, inquests, public inquiries, licensing, constitutional and electoral law.

Cloisters barristers are instructed predominantly by Claimants, both commercial and legally-aided.

Highlights of Cloisters’ public and administrative law work include:

Catherine Casserley appeared for the Claimant in R (Rowley) v Minister for the Cabinet Office [2022] 1 WLR 1179 in which it was held that failures to provide British Sign Language (‘BSL’) interpretation for Government covid briefings amounted to a failure on the part of the Cabinet Office to make reasonable adjustments, contrary to s.21 of the Equality Act 2010 and was accordingly a public law error. Rowley is the leading case on reasonable adjustments in a public law context.
Jaques Algazy KC appeared in commercial judicial review proceedings (a licensing dispute), brought by a generic medicine manufacturer.
Jaques Algazy KC and Claire McCann together advised the British Association of Dermatologists on judicial review proceedings concerning the rostering of dermatologists on A&E rotas.
Declan O’Dempsey and Sheryn Omeri KC appeared for and advised the Claimant in R (Jollah) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWHC 330 (Admin) (later affirmed on appeal by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court) which is now the leading authority on the question of whether the unlawful imposition of bail conditions upon those released from immigration detention amounts to false imprisonment for which damages may be awarded.
Sheryn Omeri KC appeared for the Claimant in R (on the application of Bernadette Sargent) v First Minister of Wales [2019] 4 WLR 64 in which the Divisional Court held that a press statement issued by the First Minister of Wales had given rise to a legitimate expectation that he would have no involvement in the preparatory work for an inquiry into the circumstances leading up to the death of former member of the Welsh Assembly, Carl Sargeant. Such expectation had been breached by the First Minister setting the remit for the drafting of the protocol governing the inquiry and his control over the final form of the protocol.
Tom Brown appeared in R (ZV) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] ACD 138 in which the Administrative Court considered the lawfulness of the Claimant’s immigration detention in circumstances where a referral had been made to the National Referral Mechanism to determine whether she had been a victim of modern slavery and the substance of the Government’s obligation to provide assistance to the Claimant.
Rachel Barrett advises the Labour Party in respect of disputes concerning party membership, ensuring that these are resolved applying public law principles. She is also a contributing author of Supperstone, Goudie and Walker on Judicial Review.
Josh Jackson appeared for the Claimant in R (YR) v London Borough of Lambeth [2023] ACD 14 a leading case on local authorities’ duties to homeless people under Part VII of the Housing Act 1996 and s.11(2) of the Children Act 2004.