Tom Hickman

Tom’s practice encompasses all areas of administrative law and human rights law. Tom has also been involved in advisory work on constitutional and devolution issues both in the UK and in other Commonwealth countries. Before coming to the Bar, Tom built up considerable academic experience in constitutional law and human rights.

AF v Secretary of State for the Home Department
Tom is currently representing AF who is subject to a control order under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005 in domestic and Strasbourg proceedings. Tom has acted as junior counsel in [2008] EWHC 689 (Admin) (currently on appeal to the Court of Appeal); [2008] EWHC 453 (Admin); and [2008] EWCA Civ 117 (CA).

Extraordinary rendition

Tom is currently acting in a number of matters concerning extraordinary rendition, including:

• Advising the All Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition.
• Intervening as amicus on behalf of JUSTICE/ CLA  in Binyam Mohamed & Ors v Jeppesen Dataplan Inc. in the US Court of Appeals.

AS (Libya) v SSHD [2008] EWCA Civ 289 (CA)
Intervened as junior counsel for Liberty in this case concerning the legality of memorandums of understandings with Libya in which the Libyan regime undertakes not to torture or ill-treat returnees.

Campaign Against the Arms Trade v Ministry of Defence (March 2008)
Represented CAAT in Information Tribunal proceedings in a five day trial in which CAAT seeks disclosure of memorandums of understanding between the UK and Saudi Arabia relating to the Al Yamamah arms deal (judgment awaited). Documents from the proceedings are available on CAAT’s website.

Bradley & Ors v Secretary of State for Pensions [2007] EWHC 242 (Admin), [2008] EWCA 36 (CA)
Represented members of the Pensions Action Group (as junior counsel to Dinah Rose QC) in a successful challenge to the Government’s rejection of the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s report into 125,000 people losing their occupational pensions. The case raised constitutional issues about the relationship between the Government and the Ombudsman.

R (O’Callaghan) v Charity Commission and Alexandra Palace Trustees [2007] EWHC 2491 (Admin), [2008] WTLR 117
Acted for the Trustees of Alexandra Palace (resisting a challenge to the lease of Alexandra Palace to a commercial developer. The challenge concerned a consultation process undertaken by the Charity Commission prior to it consenting to the lease.

Hicks v Home Secretary (SIAC)
Represented David Hicks, a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay, in an appeal before SIAC from a decision to deprive Mr Hicks of his British citizenship. The case raised issues about the use of evidence obtained by torture and in inhuman conditions at Guantanamo Bay (Tom was junior counsel to Michael Fordham QC and appeared as sole counsel in several preliminary hearings). Tom also represented David Hicks in a previous urgent application in the Administrative Court to enforce the decision in R (Hicks) v SSHD [2006] EWCA Civ 400 and compel Mr Hicks’ registration as a British citizen.

The Control Order Cases (CA and HL)
Intervened on behalf of JUSTICE (acting pro bono as junior counsel to Michael Fordham QC) in both the Court of Appeal and House of Lords in JJ & Ors v SSHD [2007] QB 446 (CA), [2007] 3 WLR 642 (HL) and MB v SSHD [2007] QB 415 (CA), [2007] 3 WLR 681, in which the House of Lords quashed a number of control orders imposed under Prevention of Terrorism Act 1995 for breaching individual rights to liberty and a fair hearing.

National Heart Forum v OFCOM (Admin)
Acted for OFCOM (as junior counsel to Dinah Rose QC) in successfully defending a challenge to its consultation on food and drink advertising to children. 

Memberships and Associations 

Tom is a member of the Administrative and Constitutional Law Bar Association (ALBA) and the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA). Tom is also a member of LIBERTY, JUSTICE and Amnesty International.

Tom has broad experience of commercial litigation, embracing areas such as entertainment (especially royalty and copyright disputes and passing off), civil fraud, sport, financial services, telecommunications and advertising.

euNetworks Fiber UK Ltd v Abovenet Communications UK Ltd [2007] EWHC 3099 (Ch)
Successfully represented euNetworks Fiber UK Ltd in a twelve day trial in the Chancery Division in December 2007 (as junior counsel to Stephen Rubin QC). The case concerned a fiberoptic network in London and raised issues of general importance on the construction of commercial contracts and rectification.

Fermata do Brazil & ors v Essex Music Ltd. (Ch)
Represented a major Latin American music publisher in this case concerning the construction of music sub-publishing agreements and the relationship between sub-publishers and collection societies (as junior counsel to Robert Englehart QC). The case was heard over five days in the Chancery Division.

Wainman v Arista Records.
Acted for the producer of the Bay City Rollers (as junior counsel to Barbara Dohmann QC) in this royalties claim against a major US record company.

Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends™ (Campbell v Hit Plc)
Represented the composers of the title music in this major royalties claim (as junior to Barbara Dohmann QC and Andrew Hunter).

Reed v Saatchi and Ors
Acted for a US photographic artist in proceedings for breach of copyright and paternity rights (junior counsel to Robert Anderson QC).

Barry Silkman v Football Association (FA Tribunal)
Currently representing Mr Barry Silkman a well-known football agent in breach of contract proceedings against the FA.

Liverpool Football Club v Reebok UK (Com Ct)
Represented Liverpool Football Club in this major sponsorship dispute as second junior counsel to Barbara Dohmann QC and Robert Anderson QC.

RFU v Bristol Rugby (decision published on the RFU website) (RFU Tribunal)
Prosecuted Bristol Rugby in the first tapping-up case to be decided under the RFU rules. The case raised novel issues as to the penalties that can be imposed in sport disciplinary hearings. 

RFU v Brian Smith (decision published on the RFU website) (RFU Tribunal)
Prosecuted a disciplinary action on behalf of the RFU. 

Memberships and Associations  

Tom is a member of the Commercial Bar Association (COMBAR) and the British Association for Sport and the Law.

Tom’s practice encompasses a full range of EU and competition law issues, including environmental law and procurement.

Revenue and Customs Commissioners v Epsom Telford Ltd [2007] EWHC 1045 (Ch)
Tom represented Epsom Telford Ltd in an appeal before the Chancery Division from a tariff classification Epsom printer cartridges (acting as sole counsel). The case turned on the relationship between a number of judgments of the ECJ, in particular Turbon International GmbH v Oberfinanzdirektion Koblenz (C250/05) [2006] E.C.R. IA-10531 (ECJ).

OFT v Independent Schools
Tom was seconded to the OFT for two months in December/January 2005/6 to work on the OFT’s price fixing action against certain independent schools.

Tom has also advised as sole and junior counsel on a wide range of EU and competition law issues, including the legality of certain EU and domestic takeover legislation (as junior counsel to David Anderson QC).

Memberships and Associations 

Tom is a member of the Bar European Group.

Tom’s practice includes all areas of employment law and discrimination law. Tom regularly represents both employers and employees in the employment tribunal.

Memberships and Associations  

Tom is a member of the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA).

Research and Lecturing:

From 1999 to 2003 Tom was a college tutor at Cambridge University, where he taught administrative law and tort law. From 2002 to 2004 Tom was a Research Fellow of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.

Tom’s academic interests include all areas of human rights law, constitutional law and theory. Tom often gives lectures and seminars at conferences and on university courses. Recently, Tom has given a seminar on constitutional dialogue on the Oxford University constitutional theory course (2007), a lecture on proportionality at the Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference (2007), talks on anti-terrorism law to the UCL student human rights group and UK Constitutional Law Group (2008) and spoke in a debate on parliamentary sovereignty at Oxford University (2008).

Prizes and scholarships:

Tom has been awarded a number of scholarships, including Cholmeley and Lord Denning Scholarships (Lincoln’s Inn); a Fulbright Scholarship and a Faculty Fellowship at the University of Toronto. Tom’s academic prizes include:

Clifford Chance CJ Hamson Prize for Contract Law (Cambridge University)

3 Verulam Building Prize for Equity (Cambridge University)

George Long Prize for Jurisprudence (Cambridge University)

WCG Howland Prize for Outstanding Performance (University of Toronto)

Publications:             

Books

Tom is a co-author of Beatson, Grosz, Hickman, Singh Human Rights: Judicial Protection in the United Kingdom (London: Street & Maxwell, forthcoming August 2008)

Articles and case reviews

'The Substance and Structure of Proportionality' [2008] PL forthcoming 

‘Judges and Politicians after the Human Rights Act 1998: A Comment’ [2008] PL 84-100

‘Proportionality: Comparative Law Lessons” [2007] JR 31-55

‘In Defence of the Legal Constitution’ (2005) 55 University of Toronto Law Journal 981-1022

‘Between Human Rights and the Rule of Law: Indefinite Detention and the Derogation Model of Constitutionalism’ (2005) 68 Modern Law Review 655-668.

‘Constitutional Dialogue, Constitutional Theories and the Human Rights Act 1998’ [2005] Public Law 306-345.

‘The “Uncertain Shadow”: Throwing Light on the Right to a Court under Article 6(1) ECHR’ [2004] Public Law 122-145.

‘The Reasonableness Principle: Reassessing its place in the Public Sphere’ (2004) 63 Cambridge Law Journal 166-198.

‘Hammern v. Norway et al (review of the law on the Presumption of Innocence and Acquittals)’ [2003] European Human Rights Law Review 539-546 (with Faisal Saifee).

‘Tort Law, Public Authorities and the Human Rights Act 1998’ in Fairgrieve, Andenas and Bell (eds.), The Liability of Public Authorities in Comparative Perspective (BIICL: London, 2002), Ch.2, pp.17-53.

 ‘Taking the Tortious Liability of Public Bodies into the Human Rights Era: A Theoretical and Conceptual Analysis’ PhD dissertation, University of Cambridge Library, August 2002.

‘Watching Britain burn: can we demand protection from fire?’ [2002] New Law Journal 1863-1865. 

‘Negligence and Article 6: The Great Escape?’ (2002) 61 Cambridge Law Journal 13-17.

‘Clark: The Demise of O’Reilly Completed?’ [2000] Judicial Review 178-183.

‘And That’s Magic!: Making Public Bodies Liable for Failure to Confer Benefits’ (2000) 59 Cambridge Law Journal 432-435.

Book reviews

[2007] Public Law 178 (B. Ackerman, Before the Next Attack)

[2006] Public Law 418 (C. Harlow, State Liability – Tort Law and Beyond)  

[2005] Public Law 210 (C. Gearty, Human Rights Adjudication)

(2004) 63 Cambridge Law Journal 510 (D. Fairgrieve, State Liability in Tort)

(2002) 13 King’s College Law Journal 253 (J. Wright, Tort Law and Human Rights)