Paul Luckhurst

Paul has experience acting for or against regulators such as the FSA, the OFT, Ofgem, the MHRA, and NICE in both applications for judicial review and in an advisory role.

Paul has worked on a number of public law matters where there is a considerable overlap with European Union law, including state aid issues, harmonised European intellectual property rights, and the regulation of the pharmaceutical sector.

Paul also takes a keen interest in claimant immigration work. He has appeared in the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum) and worked on a pro bono and legally aided basis with, for example, Asylum Aid, North Kensington Law Centre, Coventry Law Centre, and UNHCR.

• The Olympic Stadium Litigation
  Paul acted for Newham Council in the applications for judicial review brought by Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient in relation to the decision to make West Ham and Newham Council the preferred bidders for the occupation of the Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games. The challenges concerned alleged state aid and the scope of the Council’s statutory powers. (Led by John Howell QC and Tom De La Mare.)
• R (British Bankers Association) v FSA and others [2011] EWHC 999 (Admin)
  This case concerned the legality of a policy statement issued by the financial services regulator regarding assessment and redress in respect of payment protection insurance sales. Paul acted for Nemo Personal Insurance Ltd, an interested party (led by Mike Fordham QC and instructed by Andrew Lidbetter at Herbert Smith).
• Joined Cases C-495/09 Nokia v Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs and C-446/09 Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV v Lucheng Meijing Industrial Company Ltd
  Paul acted for HMRC in the Court of Justice of the European Union in this leading case on the meaning of "counterfeit goods" under the Trade Marks Directive (led by Tom De La Mare).

Paul is currently instructed in several cases concerning the scope of state immunity, diplomatic immunity, and consular immunity, particularly in relation to contracts of employment. These cases raise issues as to the construction of the international conventions governing state immunity and issues under Article 6 ECHR.

Paul has also worked on the domestic application of unincorporated treaties. He recently advised Asylum Aid and UNHCR on the compatibility of United Kingdom law and practice with the 1954 and 1961 Conventions on stateless persons and the role of those Conventions in domestic proceedings.

Paul has acted in several shareholder disputes in the Companies Court. In petitions under section 994 of the Companies Act 2006, Paul has acted for the petitioner, the respondents, and, in one case, for the company itself.

Paul has appeared before the Commercial Court in a professional negligence matter. He also has experience in commercial fraud, having worked on a large hedge fund fraud and on applications for disclosure and freezing orders.

Some of Paul’s commercial work is for music industry clients. He has worked for or against a number of artists including Doves, Paul Oakenfold, and the Sugababes.

Paul has appeared before the Employment Appeal Tribunal and regularly acts for claimants and employers in Employment Tribunal hearings.

• Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle v Delambre  [2011] EqLR 948, EAT
  Paul successfully resisted the Lycée’s appeal against wide ranging recommendations made by an Employment Tribunal following findings of direct discrimination and victimisation.

Paul has helped to advise and draft pleadings for a former premiership football club in an arbitration before the Premier League Managers' Arbitration Tribunal. He also has experience advising on both the regulation of football agents by the Football League and FA Premier League and on the terms of agency agreements.

Paul is a member of the British Association for Sport and Law (BASL).

Paul sits on the UNHCR Pro Bono Panel and Blackstone Chambers’ Social Responsibility Committee.

Paul’s MPhil dissertation, for which he received a Distinction, examined whether there are universal concepts of human rights or crimes against humanity that legitimise humanitarian intervention.

Prizes and Scholarships:

• Phoenicia Scholarship (Bar European Group, 2010)
• Buchanan Prize (Lincoln’s Inn, 2009)
• Lord Denning Scholar (Lincoln’s Inn, 2008)
• Hardwicke Entrance Award (Lincoln’s Inn, 2008)
• College Prize (Wadham College, Oxford University, 2006)
• Gibbs Book Prize for History (Oxford University, 2006)
• Gibbs Proxime Accessit Prize in Politics (Oxford University, 2006)

Other Information:

VAT registration number:  994974831