Jeffrey Jowell QC

Called to Bar:

1965

Appointed to silk:

1993 (Honorary)

Practice areas:

Jeffrey Jowell combines an active practice of unusual variety with a distinguished academic career (he is Professor of Law at University College London). The scope of his advice includes judicial review, human rights and planning, yet he also advises on the drafting of national constitutions, the relationship between the UK and dependent territories, and the design and application of internal regulatory and Ombudsmen schemes.

His advice is enhanced by the practical experience he has gained through his time as the UK's member of the Council of Europe’s Commission for Democracy through Law (“The Venice Commission”). He is a member of the Royal Commission for Environmental Pollution, Chair of British Waterways’ Ombudsman Committee and recent Non-Executive Director of the Office of Rail Regulation (‘ORR’).

His authority as an academic commentator is reflected in many citations to his work in the judgments of courts in this country and abroad. He is author, with Lord Woolf and A. Le Sueur) of the standard text: de Smith’s Judicial Review (new edition, 2007).

He was recently listed in The Times newspaper’s inaugural ‘Law 100: the UK's most powerful lawyers’ list, where he was described as “a leading authority on public, constitutional and administrative law”.

Breadth of Client Base:

Jeffrey’s recent clients have included the Attorney Generals of Malawi, Jersey and Bermuda, and the Chief Minister of the Cayman Islands, as well as private solicitors in the UK and abroad. When advising national governments he sometimes acts in his capacity as a member of the Venice Commission, or as an emissary of bodies such as the Commonwealth Secretariat. At other times he is instructed through the office of the Attorney General or the Chief Minister or their solicitors.

Current and recent work

Jeffrey has recently advised and been involved in the new constitution of the Cayman Islands, as well as the new constitutions for Serbia, the Maldives and the British Virgin Islands. He has appeared in two cases before the High Court of Malawi and before the Court of Appeal of Bermuda. He recently successfully appeared before the new international tribunal of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in a case against the Government of Zimbabwe. The case applied international standards and the rule of law as appropriate for the Southern African region.

He has also advised governments and private solicitors in the UK and the Commonwealth on constitutional, environmental and regulatory matters, including issues of administrative law and human rights.