Public Law

2 Hare Court has a distinguished reputation in the field of Public Law, particularly in respect of challenges relating to the criminal justice system and matters of national security.

With its long-established presence in Treasury Counsel’s room and appointments to the Attorney General’s Panel of Counsel and as Special Advocates, Chambers offers unique expertise to both claimants and defendants involved in high-profile, sensitive Public Law challenges to the actions of prosecuting authorities and government departments.

Members of Chambers are adept at navigating clients through Public Law matters across the full range of practice areas: from challenging investigative decisions made by the police, within the prison system or by professional regulators, to challenging rulings made by Coroners or Chairs of Public Inquiries. Many of our barristers have a high-level of security clearance and vast experience of acting in cases in the High Court, the Court of Appeal, the Special Immigration Appeals Commission and the Investigatory Powers Tribunal.

Recent highlights include: Jonathan Kinnear KC acting for the Crown Prosecution Service in its national response to challenges to the admissibility of evidence obtained following the compromise of the EncroChat communications system, which involved hearings in the Divisional Court, the Court of Appeal and the Investigatory Powers Tribunal and Zubair Ahmad KC acting as Special Advocate for the BBC in the case which led the Security Service to apologise to the High Court for providing misleading information.

As a reflection of 2 Hare Court’s strong presence in this area, two members of Chambers have been nominated for Public Law Junior of the Year by the Legal 500: Alexandra Tampakopoulos in 2018; and Nikita McNeil in 2024.