Nick is regarded as one of the country’s leading public law barristers, regularly acting in the some of the most complex, important and high-profile cases in the field.
His practice covers the full range of public and regulatory law matters, including (by way of example) human rights and civil liberties, constitutional law, national security and counter-terrorism, public procurement, criminal justice and penal law, EU law, discrimination, public international law, tax, and nationality, immigration and asylum law.
His cases are often at the cutting edge of legal developments, and he has appeared in many reported cases and at all levels of the domestic court and tribunal system up to and including the Supreme Court.
He is one of only a handful of members of both the Attorney General’s “A panel” of counsel and of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s “A panel” of counsel.
Featured Public Law cases
R (KA and 6 others) v SoS for the Home Department, SoS for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and SoS for Defence [2022] EWHC 2473
Representing HM Government in challenge concerning Operation Pitting, the evacuation of Afghanistan in August 2021, and its subsequent policy towards those remaining in Afghanistan.
R (Project for the Registration of Children as British Citizens and O) v SoS for the Home Department [2021] 1 WLR 3049, [2021] 4 All ER 445, [2021] Imm AR 965, [2021] INLR 424
Judicial review challenge to the fees charged to children to register as British citizens, now before the Supreme Court.
R (Good Law Project, Dale Vince, Ecotricity New Ventures Ltd and others) v Prime Minister and SoS for Health and Social Care (2021)
Representing the Prime Minister and Health Secretary in challenge to the Government’s Covid-19 mass asymptomatic testing programme, known as ‘Operation Moonshot’, and the procurement exercise relating to it.
KP (India) v SoS for the Home Department (2021)
Court of Appeal case concerning the applicability of the principles of finality, res judicata and issue estoppel in the statutory tribunals.
R (Dickins) v Parole Board [2021] 1 WLR 4126, [2021] ACD 83
Judicial review concerning the Parole Board’s powers to reconsider its decisions where previously unavailable evidence has come to light.
R (G-A-Y Group Ltd) v SoS for Health and Social Care (2020)
Judicial review of the hospitality curfew imposed in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
R (Marie McCourt) v Parole Board of England and Wales [2020] EWHC 2320, [2020] ACD 127
Challenge to the Parole Board’s decision to release Ian Simms, who murdered Helen McCourt in 1988 and who has refused to reveal the location of her remains; also concerning the standing of victims to bring judicial review claims.
SoS for the Home Department v QT [2019] EWHC 2583 (Admin)
Representing the Home Secretary in review of the decision to impose terrorism prevention and investigation measures (TPIM) on QT, a member of Al-Muhajiroun (ALM).
R (National Farmers Union) v SoS for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2020] EWHC 1192 (Admin), [2021] Env LR 1
Judicial review of decision to prevent badger culling in Derbyshire in 2019, involving allegations that the Prime Minister and his fiancée had improperly interfered in the decision-making process.
SoS for the Home Department v Devani [2020] 1 WLR 2613, [2020] Imm AR 1183
Concerning the circumstances in which the courts are permitted to reject a foreign government’s assurances of good treatment following extradition; and the slip rule in the tribunal jurisdiction.
R (Al-Enein) v SoS for the Home Department [2020] 1 WLR 1349, [2020] Imm AR 553, [2020] INLR 365
Court of Appeal decision relating to the vires of the Secretary of State’s good character policy for naturalisation applications; and clarification of the JCWI constitutional law principle.
SoS for the Home Department v JS (Uganda) [2020] 1 WLR 43, [2020] Imm AR 258, [2020] INLR 67, The Times, 10 January 2020
Court of Appeal case concerning the meaning and applicability of the Refugee Convention and the circumstances in which refugee status can be cancelled or withdrawn.
Belhaj & Boudchar v Rt Hon Jack Straw, Sir Mark Allen CMG, MI6, MI5, Attorney General, Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Home Office (2018)
Representing all 7 defendants in claim involving allegations of British government and intelligence agency complicity in kidnap, extraordinary rendition and torture of the former leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and his pregnant wife.