2 Bedford Row

High Court challenges to decisions in the criminal law sphere are an important safeguard against administrative excess but they are a niche practice area. Several members of chambers have specialist knowledge and experience of advising and conducting judicial review cases in criminal and quasi-criminal areas both for the claimant and the defendant.

Members of chambers have been instructed in a broad range of cases such as seeking declarations of incompatibility relating to legal aid payment rates in confiscation cases, the closure of courts, the separation of an imprisoned mother and her child, prisoners' access to the media, decisions made by the CCRC, the refusal to order a public inquiry into riots at a detention centre and magistrates' costs orders, as well as evidential matters such as the use of hearsay evidence, the burden of proof, making restraint orders and the decision to commit a case for trial. Chambers have also acted in cases where search warrants have been quashed by the Administrative Court