John Halford
Partner
Public Law and Human Rights
John acts for individuals and groups to challenge discrimination, human rights violations and abuse of power. He has experience of bringing cases against a wide range of public bodies and organisations, and of advising national charities, NGOs and regulators. In 2007 he won the prestigious Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Award for social and welfare law.
Case history – recent highlights:
- R (Eisai) v National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence: The first judicial review of NICE’s guidance to the NHS. John acted for the Alzheimer’s Society, whose discrimination law arguments “won the day” according to the Judge.
- R (Bradley and others) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: The first challenge of a government department’s rejection of an Ombudsman report. The Minister’s decision was found unlawful and “irrational” by the High Court.
- Secretary of State for Defence v Elias: A successful challenge to a racially discriminatory MoD policy which had denied compensation to over 1,000 British people held in Japanese concentration camps during World War II.
- R (Laporte) v Chief Constable of Gloucestershire: A test case for a group of 120 protestors who were held on their coaches by the police and stopped from attending a lawful anti-war demonstration. The House of Lords ruled this violated their human rights to liberty and freedom of expression.
- R (Talawa Theatre Company) v Arts Council England: A successful challenge to the withdrawal of revenue funding from the UK’s leading Black theatre company.
Other cases have challenged: a racially discriminatory admissions policy; a council’s 'children with a disability team' for failing to provide adequate respite for a disabled child’s parents; a local education authority, for banning a teacher from working; the Benefits Agency, for delaying income support payments; MI6, for refusing access to secret files; and social services and housing departments for withholding services. John has also brought a number of cases about health service provision and regulation, including withholding the cancer drug Herceptin.
John is a board and management committee member of the Public Law Project. He has served on two Law Society committees (Mental Health and Disability and Immigration) and is currently a member of its Human Rights group. John regularly trains others on public law. He was recently selected by the Law Society to be its nominee to the Legal Services Commission's Public Interest Advisory Panel.
John is co-author of Health Services Law & Practice (Butterworths 2001), co-author of the Legal Action Group’s Health Law series of articles, and has written on public law issues for a range of publications, including Judicial Review and Overseas Student Advisor.
John graduated Essex University and has a Masters degree from Southampton University, where he was also awarded the Law Faculty’s Sally Kiff Prize for Outstanding Work on Human Rights Issues.
What the professional directories say:
John Halford is “considered by many to be ‘the best public law solicitor in the country’”. He commands respect for his “outstanding devotion to claimant work” and for being “a shrewd litigator far ahead of the field in his knowledge of the law and of tactics.” “[A] superb civil liberties practitioner”. "He is committed, conscientious, technically excellent and adored by clients." (Chambers 2011)
The Legal 500 (2010/11) notes John’s “great care and attention” in administrative and public law cases, adding that he has “an excellent policy sense and is a thorough lawyer” in the healthcare field. For civil liberties and human rights work, it describes him as “the best”.
Chambers 2011
Administrative & Public Law: Traditional Claimant ( Star Individuals )
Civil Liberties ( Star Individuals )
Police Law: Mainly Claimant (Band 3 )
Professional Discipline (Band 3 )
John's full profile and ranking status on Chambers 2011
Chambers 2010
Administrative & Public Law: Traditional Claimant (ranked as a Star performer)
Civil Liberties: Best of the UK (Ranked in Band 1)
Professional Discipline - Best of the UK (Ranked in Band 4)
John's full profile and ranking status on Chambers 2010
Legal 500 (2010)
Administrative & public law: ranked in 1st tier - Leading Individual
Civil liberties & human rights: ranked in 1st tier - Leading Individual
John's full profile in Legal 500 (2010)
Legal 500 (2009)
Administrative & public law: ranked in 1st tier - named as a leading individual
Civil liberties and human rights: ranked in 1st tier - named as a leading individual
Healthcare: ranked in 2nd tier
Professional Discipline: ranked in 3rd tier
John's full profile in Legal 500 (2009)