David Anderson QC's Full CV

Practice Profile

David Anderson is a QC of 12 years' standing, with particular expertise in the fields of EU law, public law and human rights.

More than 130 appearances in the European Court of Justice, many of them in cases of major importance, place him among the most experienced of all practitioners in that forum. He has also acted in well over 30 cases before the European Court of Human Rights.

In England, David appears before the full range of courts and tribunals, with a particular emphasis on judicial review and appeals.  Many of his cases have a connection with human rights, EU law or public international law.  He is also active in commercial judicial review (with extensive experience in aviation and pharmaceuticals) and has appeared recently in major tax, intellectual property and criminal appeals.

David Anderson is Visiting Professor of Law at King's College London, a Recorder of the Crown Court  and the author of References to the European Court (2nd edn. with Marie Demetriou, 2002).  From 2011, he will take up a part-time role as the Government's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation.

Legal Career

  • 2011                Independent reviewer of terrorism legislation
  • 2007                Bencher, Middle Temple
  • 2004                Recorder, South-Eastern Circuit
  • 1999                QC; Visiting Professor, King's College London
  • 1995-99           Junior Counsel to the Crown, Common Law
  • 1988 -99          Junior barrister, Brick Court Chambers
  • 1988-99           Visitng Lecturer then Fellow, King's College London
  • 1987-88           European Commission, Brussels
  • 1985-86           Covington & Burling, Washington DC
  • 1982-84           BA in Law, Downing College Cambridge
  • 1979-82           MA in Ancient and Modern History

Practice areas

European Union Law

David's first major brief was in Factortame, a case which over the next 12 years made legal history in the course of three trips to the House of Lords and three to the ECJ.  David has continued to appear regularly in cases of political and constitutional importance, including Köbler on liability for judicial acts, Spain v UK on elections and Kadi, now the leading case on the relationship between EU and international law.

David's ECJ practice extends into areas as diverse as agriculture (BSE), aviation (Open Skies), citizenship (Morgan), competition (ICI), consumer protection (easyCar), crime (Ship Source Pollution), conflict of Laws (Apostolides), free movement (Sunday Trading), immigration (Yiadom), intellectual property (Levi v Tesco), pensions (Robins), pharmaceuticals (Generics), state aid (Gibraltar), taxation (Cadbury Schweppes) and telecommunications (Roaming).

David also argues EU cases in the whole range of domestic courts and tribunals.  He pioneered the use of domestic judicial review to bring challenges to the validity of unimplemented EU measures (Imperial Tobacco), and was the first to secure the interim suspension in England and Wales of a measure implementing an EU directive in force (ABNA). 

David has been star-rated by Chambers Directory for a number of years as the outstanding English QC in the field of EU law.

Public Law

David has long experience of judicial review in and on appeal from the Administrative and Divisional Courts, including a spell as Treasury Counsel.

He is best known for complex and commercial cases, many of them with a European or international dimension.   He has also appeared before the CAT and CC in judicial review type cases, including the first case under the merger provisions of the Enterprise Act (IBA), the first case under the Energy Act (E.ON) and the long-running challenge to mobile termination rates (MCT).

An equally valued part of his practice are domestic cases that raise interesting policy issues, ranging from night flights at Heathrow (Richmond) to the lawfulness of the morning-after pill (Smeaton) and the threatened slaughter of Shambo, the temple bullock (Swami Suryananda).

David is listed by Chambers Directory in the top tier of Public and Administrative Law QCs, and by the Legal 500 for Administrative and Public Law.

Human Rights

As a junior, David argued over 30 cases for the Government before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.  Successes included Stubbings (discrimination), Building Societies (retrospective legislation), Z (negligence), McGonnell (separation of powers) and Al-Adsani (State immunity).

Since taking Silk, his Strasbourg practice has mostly been for applicants.  He argued the leading environmental case Hatton, obtained judgment in cases against Finland (Mattila) and the Czech Republic (Glaser), represented Cyprus property-owners in Demopoulos and is instructed by the Chagos Islanders in the aftermath of Bancoult.

In the English courts, David's practice has ranged from the free speech case R (ProLife Alliance) v BBC, which he took from Administrative Court to House of Lords, to the case of Mary and Jodie the conjoined twins, several cases on the right to property under Article 1 of the First Protocol and the recent judicial review of Ofcom by "shock jock" Jon Gaunt.

At the request of the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe, David travelled to Russia, Ukraine, Georgia and Turkey on a number of occasions between 2000 and 2004 to report on the freedom of the media in those countries.  He has given evidence on European human rights law in US proceedings and lectured widely to judges, lawyers and prosecutors in eastern and central Europe. 

David is recommended by the Legal 500 for Civil Liberties and Human Rights.

Some recent cases

EU Law

Kadi v Council Case C-402/05P [2008] ECR I-6351; Case T-85/09, judgment of 1 October 2010 (sanctions - international law)

Commission v UK Case C-390/07, judgment of 16.12.09 (urban waste water)

Vodafone (2) v HMRC [2010] 2 WLR 288 (controlled foreign companies)

L'Oreal v Bellure Case C-487/07 - 18.06.09 (trade marks)

Apostolides v Orams Case C-420/07 - 28.04.09 (Brussels Regulation)

R (Derwin) v Attorney-General [2008] 1 AC 719 (hunting ban)  

Robins v S/S Work and Pensions Case C-278/05 [2007] ECR (pension rights)

Public Law

R (Kibris THY) v SS Transport [2010] EWCA Civ (northern Cyprus)

R (Global Knafaim Leasing) v CAA [2010 EWHC 1348 (fleet lien)

H3G v Ofcom [2009] EWCA Civ 683 (significant market power)

R (Federation of Tour Operators) v HM Treasury [2007] EWHC 2062, [2008] EWCA Civ (air passenger duty)

Jersey Fishermens' Assn v States of Guernsey [2007] UKPC 30 (legislative powers)

Eurotunnel v UK and France, Partial Award of 30.1.2007 (PCIA, The Hague: clandestine immigration through the Channel Tunnel)

Human Rights

Chagos Islanders v UK (exile - pending)

R (Gaunt) v Ofcom [2010] EWHC 1756 (free speech)

Demopoulos v Turkey, Grand Chamber 2010 (Cyprus property)

Glaser v Czech Republic 14.02.08 (recovery of art treasures)

R (Swami Suryananda) v Welsh Ministers, 16.7.2007 (religion).

R (Pro-Life Alliance) v BBC [2004] 1 AC 185 (censorship of election broadcast)

Publications

Author of References to the European Court (Sweet & Maxwell Litigation Library, 1995; 2nd edn. with Marie Demetriou, 2002)

General Editor, Oxford EU Law Library (OUP)

Editorial Board, European Human Rights Law Review

Contributor to various books including:

  • EU Law after the Treaty of Lisbon, OUP forthcoming, Biondi and Eeckhout eds. ("The Charter of Fundamental Rights")
  • Competition Litigation: UK Practice and Procedure, OUP 2010
  • The Judicial House of Lords (OUP, Blom Cooper ed., 2009) ("European Influences", with Sir Francis Jacobs CMG QC)
  • Civil Appeals (EMIS Professional Publishing, Sir Michael Burton ed., 2002)
  • Les principes communs d'une justice des etats de l'Union Europeenne (French Cour de Cassation, 2001)

Articles include:

  • "The Law Lords and the European Courts" in Building the UK's new Supreme Court (Le Sueur ed, Oxford, 2004)
  • "Shifting the Grundnorm (and other tales)" in Judicial Review in the European Union (Liber Amicorum for Lord Slynn, vol 1, Kluwer, 2000)
  • "Human Rights and the Environment: Peaceful Enjoyment of Possessions"  (UKELA 2000)
  • "Compensation for Interference with Property" (European Human Rights Law Review, 1999)

Further Information

  • British Institute for International and Comparative Law, Trustee 2005-2010
  • Conservative Party Bill of Rights Commission (Independent Member) 2007-2010
  • School of Slavonic and East European Studies, Advisory Board 2007-2010
  • Administrative Law Bar Association, Committee 2006-2009
  • British Association for Central and Eastern Europe, Governing Body 2004-2009
  • King's College London Centre of European Law, Council 1990-
  • Slynn Foundation, Advisory Council, 2004-
  • LCIA Arbitrator
  • Founder Editor, European Law Reports.
  • EU/Competition Silk of the Year, Chambers Bar Awards 2009
  • Lawyer of the Week, The Times, 24 July 2007
  • Blundell Lecturer, 2001