Heather Williams QC

Overview: Heather Williams' specialises in civil liberties and human rights cases in both the public and private law sphere. She has a particular expertise in claims arising from unlawful detention, official misconduct and discrimination. Her areas of work include police and prison law, immigration detention claims and related judicial review work. She also has a substantial employment law practice. She regularly undertakes appellate, trial, drafting and advisory work. She was appointed a QC in October 2006.

Recent cases: Heather's recent cases as leading counsel include:

• Representing the claimant in Smith v Chief Constable of Sussex [2008] UKHL 50, [2008] 3 WLR 593, a test case before the House of Lords on when the police owe a duty of care in negligence to protect potential victims of crime;
• Article 5 claims for unlawful detention arising out of public order policing, in the House of Lords in Austin v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2009] UKHL 5, [2009] 1 AC 564 and now pending before the European Court of Human Rights;
• Acting for the intervener, the Equalities & Human Rights Commission, before the House of Lords in R (JL) v Secretary of State for Justice [2008] UKHL 68, concerning the Article 2 investigative obligation arising in prisoner near suicide cases;
• Successfully resisting the defendant's appeal to the Court of Appeal in Ministry of Justice v Scott [2009] EWCA Civ 1215, a decision that expanded the circumstances in which complainants can be sued in malicious prosecution;
• Establishing that the Ministry of Justice's Independent Assessor had employed an unlawful approach when evaluating loss of liberty compensation for a victim of a miscarriage of justice: R (Miller) v Independent Assessor [2009] EWCA Civ 609;
• Appearing before the Privy Council in relation to an appeal concerning an award of compensation for long term unlawful detention, Takitota v Attorney General [2009] UKPC 1;
• An appeal to the Court of Appeal relating to the burden of proof for victimisation claims in race discrimination cases, Oyarce v Cheshire County Council [2008] EWCA Civ 434;
• A test case before the Court of Appeal as to the applicability of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 to employers' sick pay policies: O'Hanlon v Revenue & Customs Commissioners (2007) ICR 1359;
• A judicial review concerning the meaning of "miscarriage of justice" in the statutory compensation scheme: R (Clibery) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2007] EWHC 1855 (Admin).

In addition to appellate work, Heather regularly acts for claimants in complex private law actions, often involving very substantial financial claims and undertakes judicial review work.

What the directories say: Heather is ranked in Chambers & Partners Directory 2010 as a leading silk for civil liberties work and for police actions (claimant). She is also ranked as a leading silk for civil liberties / human rights work in the Legal 500 2009-10 directory. Comments include:

Chambers & Partners 2010: Heather is "incredibly bright and a really good fighter. The organisation of her arguments into a coherent whole is a wonder to behold". She is also "just amazing in police law".

Chambers & Partners 2009: Heather is "an outstanding silk". She is "extremely tenacious and with fantastic attention to detail" and has "the ability to tell you in no time at all how strong a claim is".

Areas of practice: Heather's main areas of expertise (alphabetically listed) are as follows:

• Discrimination - complex / high value Employment Tribunal claims, including equal pay work; County Court discrimination cases arising from police, prison and immigration detention; appellate test cases.
• Employment - discrimination actions in particular (see above); claims arising from dismissals; extensive Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal experience.
• Immigration - substantial actions arising from unlawful detention.
• Inquests - particularly those arising from deaths in custody and other suspected police malpractice.
• Miscarriage of Justice compensation - claims to the Ministry of Justice determined under section 133 Criminal Justice Act 1988 in difficult / substantial cases. Related judicial review work (see public law, below).
• Police actions - private law claims against the police, for example complex malicious prosecutions actions, police shooting cases and HRA cases; related appellate work.
• Prisoners - private law claims for unlawful detention, serious assault and breach of Convention rights. Judicial review work regarding release, discipline etc.
• Public law - judicial review claims particularly in the criminal justice / policing area, including decisions not to prosecute (e.g. acting for Neville Lawrence when the CPS previously decided not to re-prosecute over his son's death), decisions relating to police complaints and determinations of miscarriage of justice applications.
• SIAC - work before the Special Immigration Appeal Court for claimants, including in nationality and terrorism related cases.

Publications: Heather is the co-author of the textbook "Police Misconduct: Legal Remedies" (4th ed) published by the Legal Action Group in April 2005 and a co-contributor to the regular updates on developments in this legal area in the Legal Action magazine. She is the co-editor and a contributing author of a new loose-leaf practioners' guide on Equality and Discrimination to be published next year by Oxford University Press.

Positions of responsibility: Heather is joint deputy-head of Doughty Street Chambers and Chair of the Chambers' Barristers Forum; she sits as a part-time Employment Judge; she is a member of the Legal Services Commission's Public Interest Appeals Panel.

Membership of associations: Heather is involved with relevant professional organisations, including the Discrimination Law Association, the Police Actions Lawyers Group, the Industrial Law Society and Justice.

Year of Call

1985

Queen's Counsel

2006

Education

LLB Hons (First Class), Scarman Scholar (awarded for first place in Bar finals).

Email Address

h.williams@doughtystreet.co.uk

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Specialist Teams

Member :

• Actions Against the police
• Employment and Discrimination
• Human Rights
• Prisoner's Rights
• Public and Administrative Law