Lucy Jones

Lucy practises in all areas of public law and human rights, including judicial review proceedings and claims under the Human Rights Act 1998.

In her previous role as Government Legal Adviser, Lucy advised on a range of public law issues affecting central government.

Her recent work in this field includes:

• The Central European University v Hungary – ECHR claim against the Hungarian Government, challenging closure of the CEU’s operations in Budapest (acting for the applicant university led by Philippe Sands KC, 2023-present).
• Judicial review proceedings concerning the renewable energy sector (acting for an interested party led by Jason Coppel KC, settled in 2024).
• R (Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain) v Central Arbitration Committee (Interested Party: Deliveroo) – Supreme Court appeal addressing collective bargaining legislation and riders’ Article 11 ECHR rights (assisting counsel team for Deliveroo as a pupil, [2023] UKSC 43).
• Derbyshire NHS Trust v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (MIND intervening) – judicial review addressing remote assessments for the sectioning of mentally unwell patients (assisting Tom Cross as a pupil, [2023] EWHC 3338 (Admin)).
• R (TZA) v A Secondary School – judicial review addressing the requirements of the public sector equality duty in relation to school exclusion decisions (assisting Tom Cross as a pupil, [2023] EWHC 1722 (Admin)).

Lucy practises in all areas of information and data protection law, including claims under the UK GDPR / Data Protection Act 2018 and appeals under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

In her previous role as Government Legal Adviser, Lucy advised on the digital chapters of a number of international trade agreements and contributed to the drafting of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill.

Her recent work in this field includes:

• High Court group litigation following a highly publicised ransomware attack (acting for the defendant led by Anya Proops KC and Robin Hopkins, 2024-present).
• British Business Bank plc v Information Commissioner and Helen Cross – appeal under the FOIA maintaining non-disclosure in the Bank’s favour (acting for the Bank led by James Cornwell, [2024] UKFTT 632 (GRC)).
• R (Bridges) v Chief Constable of the South Wales Police – judicial review addressing the legality of automatic facial recognition technology (as Judicial Assistant to Lord Justice Singh, [2020] EWCA Civ 1058).
• Acting for requesters and the Information Commissioner in several FOIA appeals before the First-tier and Upper Tribunal.

Lucy practises across the full range of commercial and statutory employment law.

Her recent work in this field includes:

• Miller v University of Bristol – a high-profile claim against the University of Bristol in which the University was found to have discriminated against Professor Miller because of his anti- Zionist beliefs (for the claimant assisting Zac Sammour, 1400780/2022).
• McKnight v Chelsea Football Club Ltd – a claim of unfair dismissal (for the defendant assisting Zac Sammour, 2208134/2022).
• Appearing unled in a range of discrimination and unfair dismissal claims before the Employment Tribunal, including experience of obtaining restricted reporting and anonymity orders for cases involving allegations of serious sexual misconduct.

Lucy also accepts instructions in field of professional discipline and has previously appeared unled in the High Court for the General Medical Council in Cook v General Medical Council [2023] EWHC 1906 (costs application).

Lucy maintains a growing PIL practice with experience across investment arbitration, law of the sea, inter-state disputes and international criminal law.

Highlights of her experience include:

• Smart City Solutions v. Guyana – an ICSID arbitration concerning a parking concession in the capital city of Georgetown (acting for Guyana led by Paul Reichler, 2023 – present).
• Guyana v Venezuela (Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899) – a case concerning the international boundary between the two States as determined by an arbitral award dating from 1899 (acting for Guyana led by Paul Reichler, 2024 – present).
• Request for an Advisory Opinion submitted by the Commission of Small States on Climate Change and International Law to ITLOS (assisting Remi Reichhold counsel for Mauritius, as a pupil).
• Advising on the negotiation of the UK’s international trade agreements (as Government Legal Adviser).
• Advising on WTO law and bilateral investment treaties (as Government Legal Adviser).
• Prosecution of Goran Hadžić by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws of war (intern for the Prosecution).

Lucy accepts instructions from economic operators and authorities in cases involving the application of the procurement and subsidy rules. She brings experience in this field from her time as a solicitor in Freshfields’ Dispute Resolution Team and previously contributed to the creation of a post-graduate module for King’s College London (assisting Michael Bowsher KC and Jane Jenkins).

Lucy recently acted pro bono in a successful bid challenge for a charity (led by Jason Coppel KC).