Richard Gordon KC

Richard Gordon is widely recognised as one of the leading silks in Administrative and Public Law, Constitutional Law, EU Law and Human Rights/Civil Liberties. Increasingly, his work encompasses public law issues arising in competition, commercial regulatory and energy cases. He acts in international jurisdictions at the highest level as well as in the UK. He has also recently co-authored Sanctions Law (Hart Publishing 2019) an area of law that complements the different areas of his practice.

Much of his work is at appellate level and he makes frequent appearances in the Supreme Court. But he also acts at first instance in cases (whether involving public law or not) engaging important or complex points of law.

Some of Richard’s recent cases/advisory work encompasses 4 appearances in the Supreme Court over the past 12 months including a successful appearance in the Electoral Commission’s first intervention in a constitutional challenge; advising a prominent group in Northern Ireland on the compatibility of the protocol in the draft EU Withdrawal Agreement with the Belfast Agreement; advising Facebook on the seizure of papers by the Digital Media and Sports Select Committee of the House of Commons; successfully representing the Climate Change Committee in an environmental judicial review challenge to the Government’s decision not to amend its carbon emissions targets, appearing in an important case in the Court of Appeal about the susceptibility to judicial review of a ‘skilled person’ under the Financial Services and Markets Act, a challenge to the assisted dying laws and the Charlie Gard case which reached the Supreme Court and created a widespread debate across the country. He has recently been instructed in a judicial review case in Hong Kong for the Department of Justice involving a challenge to the Hong Kong laws which prohibit same sex marriage.

Throughout his career Richard has won landmark victories in cases that have changed the law. He acted successfully in the Supreme Court for the Government of Wales in the high-profile case brought by Gina Miller to challenge the triggering of Brexit by the Executive rather than by Parliament. Also in the Supreme Court he won an important case involving the deprivation of liberty of persons lacking capacity which overturned three different judgments of the Court of Appeal. He won the Bournewood Case in the European Court of Human Rights which led to amendments to the Mental Capacity Act and in Coughlan he secured a Court of Appeal judgment that brought in the doctrine of substantive legitimate expectation. He has won victories in Europe over the illegality of NHS waiting lists (Watts v UK), legal protection for wild birds under the Birds Directive (the RSPB Case), and the need for environmental impact assessments for old planning permissions (Wells v UK).

Richard has acted for Claimants and Defendants in public law, EU and fundamental rights cases spanning all areas whether in the field of energy law, environmental law, commercial, pharma regulation, sanctions, procurement, telecommunications, pensions and numerous others. He possesses considerable constitutional expertise and specialises in advising clients (such as the BBC, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Comptroller and Auditor General) on appearances before select committees and disclosure issues. He was also appointed as a special adviser to an inquiry by the Public Administration Select Committee into civil service impartiality.

He is a specialist on issues relating to Brexit. Aside from being instructed in Miller, following the EU referendum, he co-advised the IP Federation on whether Great Britain could continue to participate in the Unified Patent Court after Brexit. The advice was shared with the UK Government and later published. His co-authored paper for the Constitution Society on The Immediate Legal Consequences of Brexit (which was published before the 2016 referendum) was used by the Government immediately after the referendum. He has co-authored three other papers on Brexit for the Constitution Society on (respectively) the legislative options, the negotiating process and the continuing jurisdiction of the CJEU under the draft agreement. Richard has been commissioned by Oxford University Press to co-author a book on the EU (Withdrawal) Act. He also appeared before the House of Lords Constitution Committee alongside Lord Neuberger in November 2017 to give evidence about the Withdrawal Bill prior to its enactment.

He holds and has held a number of visiting senior academic appointments including a Visiting Professorship at University College London and has authored several works on public and constitutional law, civil liberties and EU law. He co-authored the 2^nd edition of EU Law in Judicial Review (OUP).

He acts for a very wide range of clients that include individuals, large public bodies, local authorities, and corporations. Richard is a trustee of a newly established Foundation for the promotion of the rule of law in Africa and a Member of the Advisory Board of the Constitution Society.

Richard was CEDR accredited as a Mediator in 2015.

YEAR OF CALL: 1972 YEAR OF SILK: 1994