Richard Drabble KC > Chambers of David Holland KC and Jenny Wigley KC > London, England > Barrister Profile
Landmark Chambers Offices
Landmark Chambers
180 FLEET STREET
LONDON
EC4A 2HG
England
- Set Profile
- Go to...
Richard Drabble KC
Position
Richard Drabble KC was called to the Bar in 1975 and took silk in 1995. He is a Bencher of Inner Temple; a former Chairman of ALBA and a current member of the Bar Council’s Law Reform Committee.
He practices in public law. He has appeared in many leading human rights and environmental cases. He appeared as (very) junior counsel in CCSU v Minister for the Civil Service (GCHQ). He acted for the government in connection with the decision to grant planning permission for Terminal 5 at Heathrow; with a judicial review challenge to the Airports White Paper; and resisting a challenge by Greenpeace to consultation on nuclear policy. His practice has a particular emphasis on social security, immigration, environmental, planning, local government and human rights law. He has appeared at all levels of the domestic court system, including the Supreme Court and House of Lords. He has also appeared before the ECtHR in Strasbourg (for example in Chapman v UK; Stec v UK; and Tsfayo v UK) as well as the CJEU (for example Stewart v SSWP [2012] PTSR 1; and the Grand Chamber hearing of the joined cases of Tele 2 Sverige and Watson and others v SSHD [2017] QB 771). He appeared in Trinidad in Jones v AG in a successful constitutional challenge to the law criminalizing homosexual activity; and before the Privy Council in The Minister of Home Affairs (Bermuda) v Barbosa [2019] UKSC 41. He has recently appeared in the Supreme Court in cases raising important human rights issues, including KV (Sri Lanka) v SSHD [2019] 1 WLR 1849; Kiarie v SSHD [2017] 1 WLR 2380; and IT (Jamaica) v SSHD [2018] 1 WLR 5273. In terms of social security, he appeared in the Supreme Court in the challenges to both versions of the benefits cap; and for the claimants in the bedroom tax case of R (Carmichael) v SSWP [2016] 1 WLR 4550 and the later case on remedies RR (Appellant) v SSWP [2019] 1 WLR 6430. He is instructed by Sainsburys to resist the Valuation Officers appeal concerning the rating of supermarket ATMs in the Supreme Court in March 2020.
Career
Called 1975; Inner Temple; silk 1995.
Memberships
Administrative Law Bar Association (former chairman); Planning and Environment Bar Association; Bar Council Law Reform Committee.
Education
History, Downing College, Cambridge.
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Social housing
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 3London Bar > Immigration (including business immigration)
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Landmark Chambers acts for claimants, NGOs, and the government in leading cases across the High Court, Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court, leveraging the set’s strengths in public law to expertly handle immigration litigation. David Blundell KC has represented the government across a number of high-profile cases, appearing before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission in the ongoing Shamima Begum citizenship revocation litigation, and in the case of R (Howard) v SSHD as to the legality of the good character requirement for naturalisation under the Windrush scheme. Samantha Broadfoot KC and Tim Buley KC are both involved in work around the Rwanda litigation on behalf of refugee and NGO claimants. Richard Drabble KC remains a key figure in this field.