After just over 20 years at the junior bar, Joe Harper took silk in 1992. Throughout his career, Joe has ensured that he specialises in the whole field of property law, including land law (e.g. restrictive covenants and conveyancing), landlord and tenant, compulsory acquisition and planning. In addition, he follows this through where appeals are pursued to the courts, e.g. from planning decisions or the Lands Tribunal. Thus he has a specialist knowledge of the proceedings of the Administrative Court. He is particularly specialised in the cross examination of professional witnesses.
The breadth of expertise can be seen from a small selection of his reported cases over the years: as long ago e.g. as 1977 in Argy v Lapid [1977] 1 WLR 44, he successfully opposed the expansion of the law of estoppel and negligent misstatement in the law of landlord and tenant; likewise and much more recently in the field of compulsory purchase – see ARC v Hillingdon LBC (No. 2) [2000] 3 EGLR 97. The latter case was round two of a battle between the same parties, in Hillingdon LBC v ARC[1999] Ch 139 he made history in the field of compulsory purchase in a decision by the Court of Appeal which imposed a limitation period on the reference by the claimants to the Lands Tribunal of claims for compensation for compulsory acquisition. Another compulsory acquisition case (House of Lords) was Wildtree Hotels v Harrow LBC [2001] 2 AC 1. He acted for the successful party in one of the most cited cases in the whole of planning law, Wheatcroft v Secretary of State [1982] 43 P & CR 223.
He is a Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, a Member of the Bar of Antigua and a Bencher of Gray’s Inn. He is a Member of the Planning and Environment Bar Association (former committee member) and the Chancery Bar Association and a Member (former Council Member) of JUSTICE.
Joe was the Consultant Editor to the previous two reissues of Halsbury on Compulsory Acquisition (volume 8) and is contracted to be Consultant Editor to the forthcoming volume in the new 5th edition. Joe was also Consultant Editor to the (2005) reissue on Town and Country Planning (volume 46) and is the editor of the Encyclopedia of Planning.
Joe Harper has a BA, LLB and LLM from the London School of Economics.
01 Jan 2006
01 Jan 2001
01 Jan 1999
01 Jan 1982
24 May 1973
There are no inquiries available.
01 Jan 2009
