Heather Williams QC

The main focus of Heather Williams' practice is on actions against the police, linked work such as Home Office compensation claims for wrongful convictions and discrimination claims (the latter mostly in the employment field). She was ranked in the 2006 Chambers & Partners Directory as a joint no.1 leading junior for police actions (for the claimant) and for human rights work. She was also ranked in the Legal 500 Directory as a leading junior in the "Civil Liberties and Human Rights" category.

In October 2006 she was appointed a QC.

Her actions against the police practice involves civil jury trials and also related appeals and judicial review work. She is instructed regularly by most of the leading firms specialising in this area. She has acted for a number of clients in substantial High Court actions concerning serious miscarriages of justice, including for Michael O'Brien, who recently received a £300,000 settlement from South Wales police (believed to be a record figure for non-pecuniary loss in a civil action claim). In Michael O'Brien's case she was also part of the counsel team who successfully argued for the first time in a civil action against the police that "similar fact" evidence of officers' misconduct in other investigations was admissible evidence: O'Brien v Chief Constable of South Wales [2003] EWCA Civ 1085. The House of Lords upheld this decision, in what is now the leading authority on the use of similar fact evidence in police cases: [2005] UKHL 26.

Heather Williams has acted or advised in relation to a number of high profile and / or complex cases involving policing, including acting for the Menson family in relation to police failures in investigating the death of Michael Menson; for Neville Lawrence in relation to the Crown Prosecution Service's decision not to launch a new prosecution for offences arising out of Stephen's death; for a former Commissioner of the Commission for Racial Equality in relation to alleged race discrimination by the police; and for Lotfi Raissi, the pilot wrongly accused of involvement in the September 11th atrocities. She has also acted in a number of race discrimination claims against the police, including in a case that has proceeded to trial, Joseph v Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police (such trials are still relatively rare).

She also acts in civil claims brought by prisoners, for example for unlawful detention. She acted for the claimant in Home Office v Butchart [2006] EWCA Civ 239, a case where the Court of Appeal accepted for the first time that the duty of care owed by prison authorities to a detainee encompassed a duty to take reasonable steps to prevent him / her suffering psychiatric injury whilst in custody.

Heather Williams also assists clients with applications to the Home Office for compensation for miscarriages of justice and has been involved in several cases recently where the actual / expected level of compensation is over half a million pounds. She acted for the Claimant in O'Brien v Independent Assessor [2004] EWCA Civ 1035 which was the first judicial review claim to challenge the principles of assessment employed under this scheme. Mr O'Brien succeeded on most of the issues before the Court of Appeal in this case. Other recent judicial review work has included the challenge to the Criminal Cases Review Commission's failure to refer Timothy Evans' notorious conviction for the murder of his daughter back to the Court of Appeal: R (Westlake) v CCRC (2004) The Times 19 November. She is also part of the counsel team involved in the judicial review challenge to the changes to the miscarriage of justice compensation scheme announced in April 2006: R (Bhatt Murphy & Ors) v Secretary of State for the Home DepartmentCO/5932/2006.

Heather Williams also has a substantial discrimination practice covering unequal treatment on all the main grounds (including sex, race and disability). She acted throughout the litigation for Julie Bower who obtained record damages of nearly £1.5 million for sex discrimination and she has advised on other cases involving substantial settlements. Recent appellate case work has included:Office of National Statistics v Ali [2004] EWCA Civ 1363 (whether claimant - who acted in person when the litigation commenced - was permitted to amend his originating application to add a further claim of discrimination) and Spicer v Government of Spain [2004] EWCA Civ 1046 (elements of claim for indirect discrimination in relation to pay). She is an approved Panel counsel for the Commission for Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Disability Rights Commission. As well as employment discrimination claims, she has acted in a number of County Court discrimination cases involving, for example, actions against the Home Office, local authorities, national political parties and major commercial companies.

In October 2005 she was appointed a Part-Time Employment Tribunal Chairman and she sits in the London South region.

Heather Williams 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 area of the law published in theLegal Action magazine. She also presents seminars on her areas of practice. Recent topics she has covered have included the Employment Equality (Religion & Belief) Regulations 2003 and similar fact evidence in police cases. She is a member of the relevant professional organisations, including the Discrimination Law Association and the Police Actions Lawyers Group.

last updated October 2006

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

Specialist Teams

Heather Williams QC is a member of the following specialist law teams:

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