We are delighted to have been shortlisted for two awards at the Lexis Nexis Legal Awards 2025:
- Chambers of the Year
- Employment Team of the Year
We also have seven members who have been involved in three of the seven shortlisted cases of the Year:
Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council (Law Society intervening) [2023] EWCA Civ 1416)
This landmark Court of Appeal case established that the Court can order parties to engage in mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), consistently with the right to a fair trial under Article 6 ECHR. The Bar Council intervened, given the ramifications of the case for dispute resolution generally.
Amy Rogers KC acted for the Bar Council.
(R (on the application of A (Syria) and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] UKSC 42)
In this appeal the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the Home Secretary’s appeal, and held that Rwanda is not a safe country for the UK to send asylum seekers to for determination of their claims. In a judgment given by Lords Reed and Lloyd-Jones, the Supreme Court’s ruling was based on evidence as to (i) Rwanda’s poor human rights record; (ii) defects in Rwanda’s procedures and institutions for processing asylum claims; and (iii) Rwanda’s recent failure to comply with the non-refoulement principle in an agreement for the removal of asylum seekers from Israel to Rwanda.
Christopher Knight acted for AAA (Syria) and HTN (Vietnam) instructed by Duncan Lewis
(R (on the application of Independent Workers Union of Great Britain) v Central Arbitration Committee (Roofoods Ltd t/a Deliveroo, interested party) [2023] UKSC 43)
This appeal concerned the collective bargaining rights of Deliveroo drivers. A unanimous Supreme Court dismissed the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain’s claim under article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (“ECHR”) to be recognised for the purposes of collective bargaining. The Supreme Court held that Deliveroo riders were not in an employment relationship for the purposes of article 11 ECHR, and the provisions of that article which protect trade union activity do not apply to them. The Supreme Court, observing that the European Court of Human Rights has reiterated that states have a wide margin of discretion in how they choose to protect trade-union freedom, held that article 11 does not go so far as to include a right to compulsory collective bargaining.
Christopher Jeans KC, Tom Cross and Raphael Hogarth represented the 2nd Respondent instructed by Lewis Silkin. Daniel Stilitz KC and Stephen Kosmin acted for the Intervener, Secretary of State for Business and Trade instructed by the GLD.
The full shortlist can be found here. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on Thursday 13 March 2025.
