James Maurici

year of call: 1996

clerks@landmarkchambers.co.uk

areas of law

Practice Summary

James Maurici was called to the Bar of England & Wales in 1996 (and the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2009). He practices in planning; environmental law and public law. In February 2008 he was appointed to the Attorney-General’s London “A” Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown, having previously served on the "B" Panel from 2003 and the "C" Panel from 1999. In June 2008 he was appointed to the Freedom of Information list of Panel Counsel and in January 2009 he was appointed to the Welsh Assembly Government's Junior Counsel Panel.

He has extensive experience of appearing in the Higher Courts as well as at inquiries and in front of other tribunals. He has recently appeared in the Supreme Court twice as lead counsel in Welwyn v Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government (deception and planning enforcement) and Yemshaw v Hounslow London Borough Council (homelessness; meaning of “domestic violence”).For more detail of recent work in each of these categories see cases and inquiries. James has appeared in numerous cases before the European Court of Justice and the General Court (formerly the Court of First Instance) and has appeared before the Aarhus Compliance Committee in Switzerland. James works for a wide range of public sector clients, private clients and public interest groups. In 2010 James was awarded Junior of the Year in the Planning & Environment category of the Chambers & Partners Bar Awards.

Planning

James' planning practice encompasses all aspects of planning both at inquiries and in the Higher Courts. His practice also encompasses compulsory purchase and compensation, highways, rights of way and village greens.

His recent cases include acting for the Government on High Court Challenges to the revocation of Regional Strategies (R (Cala Homes) v Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government) no.1 and 2 ; Heathrow Runway 3 (R (Hillingdon) v Secretary of State for Transport); and the Doon Street tower (Ashton v Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government).

Environmental Law

James' environmental law practice is wide-ranging, covering matters such as habitats and species protection, air quality, waste, access to environmental information, statutory and common law nuisance and all aspects of environment impact assessment, strategic environmental assessment and environmental permitting. He has particular expertise in climate change and emissions trading including the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme. He has also been involved in a number of matters concerning marine environmental issues.

He regularly appears in The Court of Justice of the European Union, and the General Court of the European Union (formerly the European Court of First Instance) on environmental matters. Recent cases include Case T-369/07 Latvia v Commission,  Case C-495108 Commission v UK (Environmental Impact Assessment), Case T-183/07 Poland v Commission and Case T-263/07 Estonia v. Commission (EU Emissions, Trading), C-247/06 Commission v Germany (Environmental Impact Assessment and waste recovery); C-188/07 Commune de Mesquer v Total France SA (on the sinking of the Erika) and C-14/06 European Parliament v Commission and C-295/06 Denmark v Commission (on the use of DecaBDE in polymeric applications).

Recent high profile domestic environmental cases include: Save Britain's Heritage v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2011] 2 C.M.L.R. 48 (demolition and EIA); R. (Edwards) v Environment Agency [2011] 1 W.L.R. 79; Coedbach Action Team Ltd v Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change [2011] 1 Costs L.R. 70 (both Aarhus and costs) and R. (Hillingdon LBC) v Secretary of State for Transport [2010] J.P.L. 976 (Heathrow expansion).

Public Law

His public law practice includes housing, social security, education, regulatory, local government (including local government finance), EU law and all aspects of human rights law. He has appeared in a number of high profile public law cases including: R (Sharon Shoesmith) v Ofsted and Others; R (Bradley and others) v Secretary of State for Work & Pensions; Ken Livingstone v Adjudication Panel for England; R v. Bow Street Magistrate, ex p. Pinochet Ugarte (No. 2) and the Alconbury litigation.

James is co-editor of Judicial Review.

Professional Memberships

He is a member of the Administrative Law Bar Association, the United Kingdom Environmental Law Association, the Planning and Environment Bar Association, the Human Rights Lawyers Association, the United Kingdom Association for European Law, the Compulsory Purchase Association and the Bar European Group. In June 2008 James was elected to the Council of the United Kingdom Environmental Law Association.

Recommendations

In Chambers & Partners 2012:

• In Planning Law: James is listed as a “star individual” it being said “James Maurici continues to go from strength to strength and garner the highest praise from all who use him. The planning junior name on everybody's lips, he is a man whose courtroom presence has proven to be too much for many an opponent. His "damning replies" in court have undone many a rival and he is seen as being "intellectually head and shoulders above the rest of the junior Planning Bar."
• In Environmental law: James is again listed as a “star individual” it being said “Commentators are quick to heap praise on James Maurici, describing him as "a very calm and measured advocate" who "possesses excellent judgement." He regularly acts for public and private organisations, as well as public interest groups, and comes particularly recommended for his expertise in statutory nuisance, climate change and emissions trading work. He is currently representing a number of solar energy developers that are challenging by way of judicial review the Secretary of State for Climate Change’s review of the Feed-in Tariffs scheme. He also recently acted as junior counsel for the Secretary of State in the high-profile judicial review regarding the government’s policy support for a third runway and Terminal 6 at Heathrow”
• In administrative & public law: James is listed as a leading junior (Band 1) it being said “James Maurici is undoubtedly at the top end of the market when it comes to public law. "Effective, clever and perspicacious," he provides "punchy advocacy." A member of the Attorney General's A Panel, he is well known for his work representing Sharon Shoesmith in her judicial review proceedings against Ofsted”
• In Local Government Law: James is listed as a leading junior (Band 1) it being said “James Maurici has crafted a ... fine reputation in the local government sector. He recently won particular acclaim for his work for Sharon Shoesmith in her judicial review proceedings against Ofsted, Haringey Council and the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families. Sources "trust his judgement implicitly" and find him extremely helpful in all he does.”

In the latest Legal 500 James is rated as a leading junior in: Administrative and public law, including local government (where it is said “James Maurici is ‘destined for great things’”); Environmental law; and Planning law (where it is noted that “James Maurici was junior counsel to the Secretary of State in the judicial review regarding the decision to abolish the previous government’s regional strategies”).

He has regularly featured in the list of top-rated junior planning barristers in the annual Planning Magazine Law Survey.

QUALIFICATIONS

James read Jurisprudence at Hertford College, Oxford (BA First Class Honours in 1994 and BCL First Class in 1995). In his BA he was awarded the Martin Wronker proxime (http://www.ox.ac.uk/gazette/2008-9/supps/schols/item_93.htm).

He was also previously a part-time College Lecturer in European Law at Hertford College, Oxford.

 

CASES

INQUIRIES