17 01 2024
Planning Court hands down judgment in important case for drop-in planning permissions
Environmental law: Alex is ranked in the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners for environmental law. He has been instructed on cases concerning climate change, pollution, environmental protests, pesticide regulation, protected habitats, invasive species, and animal rights. His clients include NGOs and campaigners such as Animal Equality, Campaign for National Parks, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, ClientEarth, Compassion in World Farming, the Environmental Law Foundation, Extinction Rebellion activists, Fossil Free London, the Good Law Project, Friends of the Earth, Rights: Community: Action, the RSPB, Transport Action Network, WWF-UK, and Urban Squirrels.
Public law: Alex’s public law practice is broad and includes discrimination, human rights, education, community care and immigration matters. His clients include individuals (such as vulnerable children, destitute asylum seekers, migrants, homeless persons, and persons with disabilities), and public bodies such as state schools.
Planning law: Alex’s clients include individuals, community groups, local authorities, consultants and developers. He has previously been ranked as one of Planning Magazine’s top-rated junior barristers under 35.
Alex accepts direct access and pro bono instructions where appropriate. He is a legal reviewer for the charity Freedom From Torture and has done a lot of work for the Environmental Law Foundation.
Alex has a doctorate in public international law from Cambridge, as well as law degrees from Oxford and LSE. During his doctorate he researched the legality of military intervention in civil wars. His previous work experience includes teaching economics, working in a secure prison, and working at the Law Commission on its driverless cars project. In his spare time he enjoys films, video games, and Scandinavian heavy metal music. He also enjoys picking up heavy objects and putting them back down again.
Alex practices in all aspects of environmental law and is ranked in both of the main legal directories in this area. He is particularly interested in pollution, climate change and the overlap between equality law and planning.
Alex works with a variety of environmental NGOs and campaigners such as Animal Equality, Campaign for National Parks, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, ClientEarth, Compassion in World Farming, the Environmental Law Foundation, Extinction Rebellion activists, Fossil Free London, the Good Law Project, Friends of the Earth, Rights: Community: Action, the RSPB, Transport Action Network, WWF-UK, and Urban Squirrels.
Notable instructions include:
Alex has a broad public law practice and is regularly instructed in judicial review matters. He is often on the claimant side, but has also acted for Defendant local authorities, universities and educational institutions.
Recently he has been instructed in public law cases involving elections, special educational needs assessments in schools, Housing Benefit, Universal Credit, asylum and immigration, age assessments and the vires of public authority actions. He has a particular expertise in judicial review claims relating to asylum accommodation and has been involved in many cases on behalf of asylum seekers.
Recent cases include:
Alex has a strong education law practice and been instructed on a variety of education matters. He advises individuals, schools, local authorities and the DfE. He is regularly instructed in SEN appeals and discrimination challenges in the First-tier Tribunal, involving issues such as whether an EHC plan should be made, choice of placement, overprovision, unreasonable public expenditure, and whether non-NHS approved treatments can be included in an EHC plan.
He often advises schools and local authorities on discrimination and equality issues.
He was instructed by Ofsted in a significant judicial review of a report brought by the educational establishment in question.
Alex has a keen interest in human rights, civil liberties and Equality Act issues. A lot of his work in this area is done on Legal Aid.
Notable work includes:
Alex regularly appears in immigration and asylum hearings, in the First-tier Tribunal, Upper Tribunal and High Court. He has appeared in the Upper Tribunal in several deportation cases and has a particular expertise in cases involving the EEA Regulations.
He also regularly advises on unlawful detention and false imprisonment cases, including merits and quantum issues.
Alex has an in-depth knowledge of international law. During his PhD he taught students on the undergraduate international law module. His doctoral research considered issues such as terrorism, military intervention, self-determination, neutrality and the UN Charter. He has presented his research at several academic conferences and at the UK Law Commission. His research on civil wars was cited in Professor Gray’s International Law and the Use of Force (4th ed), the leading academic textbook on military intervention.
Alex has been instructed on cases involving international human rights obligations, the extra-territoriality of UK discrimination legislation and the UNHCR. He acted for the defendant in a challenge to a UK resettlement scheme for refugees fleeing Syria, in which the claimant argued too many Muslim were being admitted onto the scheme in breach of equality law and public international law (Led by David Blundell KC).
He has also provided advice on a variety of public international law matters, including:
Alex accepts planning instructions from individuals, community groups, local authorities and property developers, and regularly advises on a range of planning issues. He is often instructed as sole counsel against leading planning KCs in inquiries and judicial review/statutory review claims. He has previously been ranked as one of Planning Magazine’s top-rated junior barristers under 35.
Notable cases include:
Alex’s briefing note on the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, written with Paul Brown KC, has been widely circulated and attracted a signed written response from the Secretary of State.
A lot of Alex’s planning work has an environmental element and can be seen under the environmental expertise tab.
Landmark's barristers often work at the intersection of our core practice areas; bringing a wide range of skills, knowledge and experience to bear on a particular dispute or issue facing a client.
Our focus is always on achieving the best possible outcome for our client. By viewing the client's objectives in a holistic way - and not purely through the lens of one rigidly-defined legal area - we deliver the best possible advice and representation in complex matters that engage multiple specialist areas of law.
Whether it's providing support as an individual cross-practice barrister or a cross-disciplinary team of Landmark counsel, we are able to draw on an outstanding array of complementary skillsets and knowledge bases. This often achieves a better result than instructing multiple barristers from different specialist sets. This also improves the quality of client care through increased levels of communication, quicker response times, and a coordinated approach to clerking and fees, made possible by our team-based cross-practice approach.
Please contact our practice management team for more information.
Alex chairs the Public Interest Litigation Group within chambers. Much of his work has a public interest element and involves legal challenges brought to further his clients’ wider campaigning objectives, as can be seen under the other tabs.
He accepts Legal Aid instructions and pro bono instructions in appropriate cases.
Aarhus Convention and Environmental Justice
Air Quality
Climate Change and Emissions Trading
Ecology and Biodiversity
Environmental Assessment (Environmental Outcomes)
Environmental Enforcement
Environmental information
Environmental Regulation
Habitats and Species
Nuisance
Pollution and Contaminated Land
Protection of the Countryside
Water
Wildlife
Education
Human Rights and Civil Liberties
Immigration
International
EU Law post-Brexit
Judicial Review
NHS, Health and Community Care
Development Plans and other planning policy
Green Belt
Heritage
Planning Appeals, Inquiries and Hearings
Planning Enforcement and Injunctions
Planning Judicial and Statutory Reviews
Residential
Public Interest Litigation
Energy
EU Law post-Brexit
Alex is a very dedicated barrister. He has strong analytical skills and an impressive work rate."
cases
17 01 2024
Planning Court hands down judgment in important case for drop-in planning permissions
Full Presentation
09 03 2023
Webinar / Blog Launch ‘Aarhus’
The Rt. Hon. Lord Carnwath of Notting Hill, James Maurici KC, Jacqueline Lean, Nick Grant, and Alex Shattock
cases
20 02 2024
Inspectors’ recommendations removing net zero policies from development plan document found to…
news
30 06 2022
High Court rules Home Office’s Special Development Order granting itself permission for asylum…
news
10 02 2021
Home Office abandons military barracks-style asylum camp at Yarl’s Wood
news
18 03 2021
Government agrees to review of inaccessible shielding communications
news
17 02 2022
Disabled mum succeeds in 40k benefits appeal
news
03 04 2023
Human rights claim succeeds after 16-year immigration ordeal
news
24 12 2024
Landmark Chambers appears in 11 out of 12 of Planning’s 12 key rulings of 2024
blog
04 12 2024
47 - HAVE INFRASTRUCTURE CHALLENGES GONE TOO FAR? A DEBATE ...
Aarhus
Full Presentation
07 11 2024
Legal Remedies and Tools to Address Just Transition Challenges event
Satya Jeremie, Natasha Jackson, and Alex Shattock
Full Presentation
05 11 2024
Planning High Court Challenges 2024 webinar series - Session 1: Environmental law issues
Jenny Wigley KC (Joint Head of Chambers), Alex Goodman KC, Dr Ashley Bowes, Matthew Fraser, Alex Shattock, and Nick Grant
blog
23 10 2024
44 - Aarhus Basics No 3: The Third Pillar of the Aarhus Convention
Aarhus
inquiry
08 10 2024
Planning permission for zoo quashed following animal rights challenge
cases
03 10 2024
Upper Tribunal clarifies law on the application of the EU principle of proportionality to the…
cases
13 09 2024
High Court Quashes Whitehaven Coal Mine Permission
Environment, Legal 500, 2024
Environment, Chambers and Partners, 2024
Research for Chambers UK Bar, 2022
Email to Chambers from solicitor client
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