Catherine Callaghan

Catherine has a wide-ranging public law practice, advising and acting for claimants and defendants including government departments and agencies, companies, individuals, public interest groups and regulators.  She has a particular expertise in judicial review, statutory appeals and regulatory law, in the context of transport, health, pharmaceutical services, advertising standards, human rights, and freedom of information. Catherine was promoted to the Attorney General’s A Panel in 2013.

• R (Hill) v Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales [2012] EWHC 1731
  Acted for the Institute in a judicial review challenge to the Institute’s decision to exclude the claimant accountant from membership. The case concerned the issue whether the temporary absence of a member of a disciplinary tribunal deprives the tribunal of jurisdiction to hear the complaint or amounts to a procedural irregularity capable of waiver.
• The Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry (2010 and continuing)
  Acting for the General Medical Council (led by Robert Englehart QC) in the public inquiry into the role of the commissioning, supervisory and regulatory bodies in the monitoring of Mid Staffordshire Foundation NHS Trust.
• Re Fish Legal (2012 and continuing)
  Acting for the UK Government (led by James Eadie QC) in a reference to the European Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling as to the proper interpretation of the term “public authority” as defined in Article 2(2) of the Directive 2003/4/EC on public access to environmental information.
• R (Assisted Reproduction and Gynaecology Centre) v Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (2011-12)
  Acting for the HFEA in various judicial review challenges arising out of the HFEA’s decision to add a new condition to the claimant fertility centre’s licence which relates to multiple births.
• R (Coys of Kensington) v Advertising Standards Authority [2012] EWHC 902 (Admin)
  Acted for the ASA in a judicial review challenge to the ASA’s adjudication that the claimant’s classic car advertisements were misleading and breached the British Code of Advertising.
• R (Child Poverty Action Group) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2011] EWHC 2616 (Admin)
  Acting for the Secretary of State (led by James Eadie QC) in a judicial review challenge to the legality of the Government’s housing benefit reforms. 
• Tariq v Home Office [2012] 1 AC 452
  Acted for the Home Office (led by James Eadie QC) in an appeal to the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court concerning the scope of a litigant’s right to a fair trial and the lawfulness of the use of closed material and special advocates in the context of a discrimination claim arising out of security vetting of civil servants. The Supreme Court upheld the Home Office's Appeal.
• Bank Mellat v HM Treasury [2012] QB 91 
  Acted for HM Treasury (led by James Eadie QC) in another appeal concerning the legality of closed material procedures in the context of an application by an Iranian bank to set aside an order made by HM Treasury under the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 which directed the UK financial sector not to have any business dealings with the bank.
• R (Coke-Wallis) v Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales [2011] 2 AC 146
  Acted for the Institute (led by Michael Beloff QC) in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, defending a judicial review challenge to a decision of a professional disciplinary tribunal refusing to dismiss a second disciplinary complaint against the claimant accountant.  An important case concerning the application of principles of res judicata, autrefois acquit and abuse of process to the professional disciplinary context.

Catherine has a particular interest in professional discipline and regulation in the fields of healthcare, education and sport. She regularly acts for the General Medical Council in judicial review proceedings and statutory appeals to the High Court from disciplinary decisions of Fitness to Practise Panels. She is currently representing the General Medical Council in the Public Inquiry into Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. She has acted for other healthcare regulators such as the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, General Osteopathic Council and the General Chiropractic Council.  Catherine represents head teachers in disciplinary proceedings before professional conduct committees of the General Teaching Council.

Catherine also has experience of appearing in other types of disciplinary hearings. She acts for the Rugby Football Union in sports disciplinary hearings. Catherine recently represented the complainant, an Oxford University student, in a disciplinary hearing before the Senior Disciplinary Committee of the Oxford Union.

• R (Hill) v Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales [2012] EWHC 1731
  Acted for the Institute in a judicial review challenge to the Institute’s decision to exclude the claimant accountant from membership. The case concerned the issue whether the temporary absence of a member of a disciplinary tribunal deprives the tribunal of jurisdiction to hear the complaint and/or amounts to a procedural irregularity capable of waiver. 
• Lawrence v General Medical Council [2012] EWHC 464 (Admin)
  Acted for the GMC in a 6-day statutory appeal against the GMC’s decision to erase a psychiatrist from the medical register on the basis of his inappropriate relationship with a female patient.
• R (X) v General Medical Council [2011] EWHC 3271 (Admin)
  Acted for the GMC in a judicial review challenge to the GMC’s decision to hear the claimant medical practitioner’s application for voluntary erasure partly in public, permitting reference to be made to the claimant’s health condition and prognosis. 
• General Medical Council v Zia [2012] 1 WLR 504 (CA)
  Acted for the Appellant (the GMC) in a successful appeal to the Court of Appeal concerning the power of the GMC’s Registrar to refer allegations about a doctor to the GMC’s Fitness to Practise Panel notwithstanding that the allegations had not been considered first by case examiners. This is an important case about the purpose and scope of the GMC (Fitness to Practise) Rules 2004.
• Saverymuttu v General Medical Council [2011] EWHC 1139 (Admin)
  Acted for the GMC in a statutory appeal from a decision to suspend a consultant gastroenterologist for dishonesty in connection with invoicing for private medical insurance claims.
• Bhatt v General Medical Council [2011] EWHC 783 (Admin)
  Acted for the GMC in a statutory appeal against a decision to erase a GP from the register. The case addressed the issue whether it is an abuse of process to bring disciplinary proceedings against a professional following acquittal at a criminal trial in respect of the same offences.
• R (Coke-Wallis) v Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales [2011] 2 AC 146 
  Acted for the Institute (led by Michael Beloff QC) in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, defending a judicial review challenge to a decision of a professional disciplinary tribunal refusing to dismiss a second disciplinary complaint against the claimant accountant.  An important case concerning the application of principles of res judicata, autrefois acquit and abuse of process to the professional disciplinary context. 
• Colman and Hickey v General Medical Council [2010] EWHC 1608 (QB)
  Acted for the GMC (led by Robert Englehart QC) in successfully defending judicial review challenges to 20-year old decisions of professional conduct committees of the GMC. The case raised the issue whether the involvement of the GMC’s Deputy Registrar in preparing draft determinations in advance of hearings and in retiring with the committees when they considered their determinations rendered those determinations unlawful by virtue of apparent bias.
• General Teaching Council v Maltbaek (2009/10)
  Acted for a head teacher, instructed by the National Association of Head Teachers, in successfully defending a high profile charge of unacceptable professional conduct (concerning bullying of staff) before a professional conduct committee of the General Teaching Council. The hearing took place over 14 days and involved over a dozen witnesses.
• R (Kashyap) v General Medical Council [2009] EWHC 2873 (Admin)
  Acted for the General Medical Council in a judicial review challenge to a decision of a fitness to practise panel that an orthopaedic surgeon’s fitness to practise is impaired.  This case is significant in establishing the scope of any right to challenge impairment decisions by way of judicial review.

Catherine regularly appears in the Employment Tribunals, the Employment Appeal Tribunal and High Court in cases involving whistle blowing, race, sex and disability discrimination, unfair and wrongful dismissal, breach of contract, redundancy, and employee competition.  She is instructed by City firms and specialist employment law firms such as Mishcon de Reya, Lewis Silkin, Farrer & Co, Memery Crystal, Osborne Clarke, CMS Cameron McKenna, and Clifford Chance. She acts for both Claimants (particularly senior managers and directors) and Respondents.

Catherine co-wrote the chapter on Practice and Procedure in the textbook "Employee Competition: Covenants, Confidentiality and Garden Leave", edited by Paul Goulding QC and first published by Oxford University Press in 2007 (2nd edition published in 2011).

Recent Claimant work

• IKOS v Ho and Gover (2012)
  Acted for the Claimant hedge fund (led by Paul Goulding QC) in a High Court claim against the hedge fund’s former portfolio managers for breach of contract and breach of confidence. 
• Pimlico Plumbers Ltd v Service Corps Ltd & Anr (2009 - 2010)
  Acted for the Claimant company in a High Court claim for inducement of breach of contract, breach of confidence, infringement of database rights, and injunctive relief.
• Hillier v Barclays Capital (2008)
  Acted for the Claimant Managing Director in a disability discrimination claim against an investment bank.
• Carter v Lazard & Co (2007)
  Acted for the Claimant Director in a claim brought against an investment bank for sex discrimination, victimisation, and wrongful and unfair dismissal.

Recent Respondent/Defendant work

• Hugh v Medical Defence Union (2012)
  Acting for the MDU in a disability discrimination claim arising out of the rejection of the claimant’s application for membership of the MDU. The MDU challenges the Employment Tribunal’s jurisdiction to determine the claim. 
• Singh v Patni Computer Systems (2011)
  Acted for the Respondent in successfully striking out a claim for unfair dismissal, race and disability discrimination, harassment and whistleblowing. 
• X&Y v Bank (2010)
  Acted for a German bank in defending whistle blowing and unfair dismissal claims brought by two former department heads who were made redundant by the bank. 
• Pickett v Citibank International (2009)
  Acted for Citibank (led by Paul Goulding QC) in defending a high profile whistle blowing claim brought by a former fund manager.

Previous professional experience:

Catherine first qualified as a barrister and solicitor in New Zealand and worked in the commercial litigation department of the New Zealand law firm Rudd Watts & Stone (now Minter Ellison Rudd Watts).  After gaining the highest first in the LLM at the University of Cambridge, she worked as a solicitor in the international law group of Clifford Chance (London office) from 1997 to 1999 where she advised and acted for various foreign governments (including the United States, Pakistan and Kuwait), international organisations, and multinational corporations on all aspects of private and public international law.

Catherine’s experience as a solicitor in two jurisdictions has given her an invaluable understanding and appreciation of working as part of an integrated team with solicitors and clients.

In 2007, Catherine took a sabbatical from the English bar to teach public law (at undergraduate level) and comparative human rights law (at masters level) at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. She also spent two months working as Crown Counsel for the Crown Law Office in Wellington, where she advised the New Zealand Government on a variety of public law matters.

Publications:

• “Practice and Procedure” (co-writer) in Employee Competition: Covenants, Confidentiality and Garden Leave (Oxford University Press, 2011, 2nd edition, ed. Paul Goulding QC)
• Chapters 5 and 6 (“Commencing a Claim” and “Acknowledgment of Service”) in Administrative Court: Practice and Procedure (Sweet & Maxwell, 2006, ed. Beverley Lang QC)
• Co-writer of “Conflicts of Law” in European Employment Law and the UK (Sweet & Maxwell, 2003)
• “What is a ‘Target Duty’?” [2000] Judicial Review 184.
• “They think it’s all over: The impact of the Tobacco Advertising Directive on sports sponsorship in the United Kingdom” [2000] Sport and the Law Journal 91.
• “‘Constitutionalisation’ of Treaties by the Courts – The Treaty of Waitangi and the Treaty of Rome Compared” [1999] New Zealand Universities Law Review 334.
• “Manifest disadvantage in undue influence: An analysis of its role and necessity” [1995] Victoria University of Wellington Law Review 289.

Other Information:

VAT registration number:  757125229