Overview: Paul specialises in cases involving the rights of (1) disabled adults and children; (2) detainees; and (3) the families of those who die in custody, along with more mainstream public law and human rights work. He has a particular expertise in mental health and mental capacity law; discrimination law (especially disability); community care and health law; social welfare; actions against prisons, the police and other criminal justice agencies, including related inquests and civil actions. More than 90 of his cases have been reported.
He has led in the Supreme Court (Rabone v Pennine Care NHS Trust) and appeared in nine Supreme Court and House of Lords cases. He appears regularly in the Court of Appeal and High Court as sole or leading junior and also appears in the Privy Council, Court of Protection, SIAC and Upper Tribunal.
He was Law Society Advocate of the Year, 2009, and shortlisted as Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year 2007. He is the author of 'Blackstone's Guide to the Mental Health Act 2007'.
Paul balances his work for individuals with instructions from public authorities (local authorities and health bodies) and NGOs.
Appointments: Special Advocate (2007); member of the Equality and Human Rights Commission specialist panel (2011); member of the Legal Services Commission Special Controls Review Panel (2011).
What the directories say: Since 2005 Paul has been consistently recommended in the leading directories (Chambers and Partners and the Legal 500) as a leading junior in Human Rights and Civil Liberties and Administrative and Public law. Recent comments include he is "popular with both clients and solicitors alike" and is "in the law for the right reasons, as his values chime with those of the people he acts for." He has "a great public law mind" and is "excellent on his feet", with "a well-earned reputation for intellectual incisiveness" and "a very polished approach".
Membership of associations: ALBA; HRLA; Liberty; Committee member of the Law Society Mental Health & Disability Committee, 2001-2008; member of the Editorial Board, Community Care Law Reports.
Paul's particular areas of expertise include:
Public and Administrative law. Paul is recognised as a leading public lawyer and has expertise across a number of subject areas, notably mental health, healthcare and community care, discrimination, inquests, data protection, education, criminal justice, legal aid, social security, prison and police law, details of which can be found in subject specific entries, below. Recent cases include R (Purdy) v. Director of Public Prosecutions [2009] UKHL 45 in the successful challenge to the DPP's policy in relation to assisted suicide and R (D) v Department for Work and Pensions [2010] EWCA Civ 18; [2010] 1 W.L.R. 1782, acting for a number of prisoners transferred to psychiatric hospitals in two linked judicial review appeals in relation to the Social Security (Hospital In-Patients) Regulations 2010 which removed all entitlement to benefits. Paul also has experience in related areas of public law, for example claims under the Public Contracts Regulations 2006, having recently contested successful judicial review proceedings against the Legal Services Commission challenging the legality of the tendering process for civil contracts in R (Public Interest Lawyers) v Legal Services Commission [2010] on grounds including breach of the 2006 Regulations.
Mental Health and Capacity law. Paul represents adults and children in 'best interests' applications under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 in the High Court and Court of Protection, including those concerning the protection of vulnerable children and adults, the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment and deprivations of liberty. Recent cases include A Local Authority v DL (2011) 14 C.C.L. Rep. 441 (Theis J), [2011] 3 W.L.R. 445 (Wall P), Surrey CC v MA [2011] EWCA Civ 190 (Court of Appeal), A Local Authority v A [2010] EWHC 978 (Fam) (High Court, Family Division, Munby J). Paul also represents individuals detained or subject to guardianship or community treatment orders under the Mental Health Act 1983. He has appeared in many of the leading cases on mental health and capacity law in the last 15 years including the Bournewood litigation culminating in HL v United Kingdom (2004), the seminal case on deprivations of liberty of incapacitated adults, and he is the author of the Blackstone's Guide to the Mental Health Act 2007, published in January 2008 (OUP).
Community Care and Health. Paul represents disabled and otherwise vulnerable adults and children in judicial review claims of public authorities in relation to health, community care and education services including decisions relating to the assessment and provision of services; direct payments; the changing of eligibility criteria; charging; and the closure of care homes. He has appeared in a number of recent cases including R (JL and LL) v. Islington LBC [2009] EWHC 458 (Admin) (Administrative Court), a successful judicial review challenge to Islington LBC's 'eligibility criteria' for disabled children's services (as sole counsel) and R (Garnham) v. Secretary of State for Health [2009] EWHC 574 (Admin) (Administrative Court) joined cases challenging the policy of the Health Secretary not to make direct payments available to patients receiving NHS continuing care services, including a challenge under Article 8 and 14 ECHR (as sole counsel). He has recently appeared in a number of cases involving cuts to public services including R (Patel) v Brent LBC (2011).
Equality and Discrimination law. Discrimination issues arise in many of Paul's cases, in particular disability discrimination, whether as free-standing discrimination claims or in conjunction with claims for judicial review invoking the public sector equality duties. In 2010 he led a team who successfully sued the Ministry of Justice in joined judicial review/ disability discrimination proceedings on behalf of a wheelchair-using prisoner under the Equality Act 2010 in relation to his conditions of detention, which settled for a substantial sum of compensation and an apology (R (Baybasin) v MOJ), and the successful challenge in R (Public Interest Lawyers) v Legal Services Commission [2010] included a ground relying on the public sector equality duty in s 49A Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (now the combined PSED in s 149 Equality Act 2010).
Corporate Governance & Policy. Paul advises individuals and local authorities and other public bodies and NGOs in relation to issues concerning corporate governance of public bodies (in particular public contracting) and the development of policy, notably in relation to the protection of vulnerable adults and children.
Inquests and Inquiries. Paul is instructed in inquests arising out of deaths in custody and other deaths engaging State responsibility under Article 2 including police shootings, self-inflicted deaths in prison and other detaining institutions. Recent examples are Re. Karl Lewis (deceased) (2008) (self-inflicted death in a YOI); Re. Tosh Sanderson (2010) (police shooting); Re. Andrew Sheppard (self-inflicted death in police custody). Paul also appears in related civil actions (see below). He has a particular expertise in the rights of the deceased and their families arising under Article 2 and has spoken regularly on this subject, including at the Sweet & Maxwell Inquests and Inquiries conferences in 2011.
Actions against the police and public authorities. Paul spent the first five years of practice as a criminal barrister and has a specialist interest in public law, civil actions and HRA challenges to the actions of the police and other investigating agencies (arrests, questioning, the taking and retention of intimate samples, the execution of search warrants), prosecuting authorities (decisions to prosecute and not to prosecute) and inferior courts and tribunals (issue of search warrants, orders for third party disclosure and the like). Paul appeared in the ground-breaking case against the DPP on behalf of Debbie Purdy challenging his failure to provide prosecution guidance in relation to cases of assisted suicide (R (Purdy) v DPP) and brought the first successful HRA challenge to a decision of the CPS to discontinue the prosecution of a mentally disordered man, R (B) v DPP (2009). In 2010 he represented the victim of a serious sexual assault in JR and HRA proceedings against the DPP following the discontinuance of the prosecution of her assailant: the matter settled with a public apology from the DPP and compensation of £16,000 (R (KH) v DPP).
Paul also appears in civil actions arising out of deaths in custody and recently intervened in the Court of Appeal on behalf of JUSTICE in a civil action arising out of the death of a drugs suspect while in detention, on the question of whether the defence of ex turpi causa applies to claims under s 6 HRA (Daniel v HMRC). He intervened in the House of Lords cases of Van Colle (2008) and Savage (2008) concerning the Article 2 duties of the police and of psychiatric hospitals, respectively, and intervened on behalf of Mind, JUSTICE, Liberty and Inquest in the recent Supreme Court appeal in Rabone v Pennine Care NHS Trust (2011). In 2010 he also appeared in the Court of Appeal in R (Lewis) v HM Coroner concerning the ambit of the jury's verdict in Article 2 inquests and in the High Court in Morgan v Ministry of Justice on the liability of the Crown in civil actions where multiple public authorities are involved.
Prison law & Criminal Justice. Paul represents prisoners and other detainees (mental health and immigration) in judicial reviews and other civil actions arising out of their detention, conditions of detention (e.g. R (Baybasin) v MOJ), deaths in custody (see above) and other decisions including transfers into conditions of lesser security and to and from psychiatric hospital. He appeared for one of the claimants in R (LSS) v Youth Justice Board (2009) challenging the YJB's decision to close a number of Local Authority Secure Children's Homes, with the consequent impact upon the most vulnerable detainees. He led Alison Pickup in an intervention on behalf of HIV+ immigration detainees in the Court of Appeal on behalf of Medical Justice in R (MD (Angola)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2011).
Criminal appeals, notably death row appeals in international courts and Privy Council domestic appeals raising Human Rights and mental health issues. Paul represented Peter Sutcliffe in his tariff-setting appeal in December 2010 and is currently representing a death row prisoner in St. Vincent in his appeal against a murder conviction.
National Security. Paul is a Special Advocate and acts on behalf of terrorist suspects in control order proceedings, the Special Immigration Appeal Commission (SIAC), judicial reviews and employment tribunal proceedings. He appeared in the House of Lords in AF & Others v SSHD [2009] UKHL 28, acting as one of the Special Advocates in Prevention of Terrorism Act control order appeals to the House of Lords.
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Year of Call
1993
Education
LLB
Email Address
p.bowen@doughtystreet.co.uk
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Specialist Teams
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