Practice Summary

Sasha was called to the Bar in 2005. She has appeared before the High Court, county courts and tribunals. She accepts instructions in all areas of Chambers practice.  She has a particular interest in public law and in environmental-related matters in public and planning law.

Sasha is a founder member and Associate Director of the Landmark Chambers Centre for Environmental Law (2008). Sasha is also a Trustee and Director of the United Kingdom Environmental Law Association as a member of the Governing Council (2009). In March 2010 she was appointed to the Attorney-General's "C" Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown.

Sasha understands the practical demands of her clients. Prior to commencing practice, she worked as a researcher at Baker & McKenzie in their clean energy and emissions trading practice group and at the New Economics Foundation on international debt issues. She has also worked with the UK government on environmental taxation issues, for DG Environment on the Sixth Environmental Action Programme and on sustainability issues for major energy and transport infrastructure companies.

AREAS OF PRACTICE

Public & Human Rights Law

In the public law arena, Sasha has appeared before the High Court in judicial review and statutory planning appeal matters, both in her own right and when being led by senior counsel. Her clients include government, individuals, property developers, local authorities and NGOs. As well as her long-standing interest in environmental and planning law in this area, she also has a keen interest in education, immigration and social security law. She has experience of all types of school appeals and has been involved in immigration appeals to the courts, and appeals to the Social Security Commissioners. She also advised on matters relating to the Child Support Agency.  She also undertakes rating work.

Recent or on-going work includes:

  • R (Griffin) v Newham Council and London City Airport (ongoing).  Acting for local residents, led by Nathalie Lieven QC and instructed by Friends of the Earth Rights & Justice Centre, in a challenge to the doubling of capacity at London City Airport on consultation and climate change grounds (judgment forthcoming)
  • North Somerset Council v Honda, Chevrolet and Graham (judgment forthcoming). Major rating case in the High Court looking at the scope of the duty on billing authorities to act as soon as practicable. Led by Richard Drabble QC and Christopher Lewsley. Sasha has been instructed in her own right in a variety of ratings cases for private clients.
  • Bateman v South Cambridgeshire District Council.  Important EIA case which was refused permission by the High Court but has been granted permission to appeal by LJ Sullivan who has retained the substantive appeal for determination by the Court of Appeal in January 2011.
  • Milebush Properties v Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council & the London Borough of Hillingdon [2010] EWHC 1022 (Ch).  Acted for the local planning authority in an important case as to the scope of declaratory relief in s.106 agreements. Permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal was granted on the construction point. The local planning authority were awarded indemnity costs.
  • Currently advising on sensitive FOI cases (ongoing).
  • A large variety of immigration matters before the High Court, the First Tier and Upper Tribunal and the High Court (ongoing). Sasha is frequently instructed for the Secretary of State in the High Court and also accepts instructions in claimant work and appears regularly in the First Tier Immigration Tribunal representing claimants.
  • Six-month secondment to the Treasury Solicitors (2008-2009), working in-house on a variety of cases brought in the Administrative Court, including costs JR challenges, and s.288 and s.289 challenges , including advising on the application of the Habitats Directive and the EIA Regulations. Statutory appeals under s.288 and s.289 of the TCPA 1990 (see below).
  • Education work, including admissions, exclusions and other appeals (2009).
  • Statutory appeals under s.288 and s.289 of the TCPA 1990 (see also below)

Sasha also has an interest in all aspects of equality and diversity law and specifically women's rights. Sasha is on the Bar Councils Implementation and Monitoring Committee which is carrying forward the implementation of the recommendations of the Neuberger Entry to the Bar Working Party. She is a member of the Human Rights Lawyers Association, Young Legal Aid Lawyers, and the Administrative Law Bar Association.

Sasha spent her first year of tenancy as a Judicial Assistant to the Law Lords (Lord Scott of Foscote, Baroness Hale of Richmond and Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury), working on cases before both the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords and the Privy Council. She gained substantial experience of appellate advocacy and judicial practice during that year. Unsurprisingly Sasha worked on an extremely large range of public law cases in her year as Judicial Assistant. These included Al-Skeini and others v Secretary of State for Defence [2007] UKHL 26, YL (by her litigation friend the Official Solicitor) v. Birmingham City Council [2007] UKHL 27, Secretary of State for the Home Dept. v JJ and Others [2007] UKHL 45, R (on the application of Laporte) v. Chief Constable of Gloucestershire [2006] UKHL 55 and Huang and Kashmiri v Secretary of State, [2007] UKHL 11.

Environment & Planning Law


Sasha has a successful and expanding environmental practice, appearing frequently before criminal courts across England and Wales in environmental or planning enforcement matters for both the defence and prosecution, as well as regularly instructed by the Secretary of State and private parties in s.288 and s.289 appeals. Sasha is instructed by both major developers and by leading NGOs;  her current clients include major housebuilders and leading NGOs.

In planning matters, Sasha undertakes a wide range of advisory and inquiry work.  Her experience includes advertising, housing development, planning appeals including on conservation and wildlife, EIA/SEA, listed building and design grounds, as well as on village greens, compulsory purchase and gypsy appeals. Her clients include local authorities, major companies, individuals and NGOs. She has appeared both in her own right on a large number of cases and inquiries and has also been lead in major applications and appeals.

Sasha is particularly interested in reform of the environmental law court and appeal system in the UK.  In October 2010 she was awarded a prestigious Pegasus Scholarship to observe the Environment Court in New South Wales, a superior court of record and the innovative legal work taking place in New South Wales, where she was hosted by the Chief Judge, Brian J Preston.  She was also hosted by the Land and Environment Court in South Australia and the Environment Court in New Zealand.  

Selected recent or on-going work includes:

  • Prosecuting for breaches of environmental legislation for the Environment Agency and for various local councils in relation to enforcement notices and stop notices (2009, 2010).  Defending private clients for breach of enforcement notices (ongoing).
  • Sasha has a particular interest in waste and energy as an important area of both planning and environmental law.  Sasha has been instructed in relation to windfarm development by statutory objectors, and has appeared at waste inquiries for local councils and also for objectors, including instructions from leading NGOs such as Biofuelwatch and Friends of the Earth.
  • Sasha has appeared for and against developers seeking planning permission for housing developments at both public inquiries and in the High Court.  She has appeared at and advised on housing developments impacting on protected habitats areas and sensitive woodland sites. She was led by Christopher Lockhart-Mummery QC in CPRE (Wiltshire Branch) v Swindon Borough Council (2009) (acting for the developer) (permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal refused in 2010).
  • Sasha has an expertise in playing fields.  She has successfully advised parties on issues relating to the potential loss of a playing field in the south of England (2010) and successfully defended the refusal of permission by Hillingdon Council for some 60 - 100 homes on a former mini-playing field (2009).
  • Sasha advises on highways law.  She has been instructed on a number of highways cases, including for the Highways Agency on a major road scheme (led by John Litton QC) and also independently.  She has also appeared for local Councils (both in relation to impact on the local road networks from house building and in relation to certification under s.17 of the Land Compensation Act) and advises regularly on matters relating to the road network including impacts, adoption of roads as public roads, and permitted development rights on highways.
  • Advising and appearing on householder appeals in relation to Listed Buildings and replacement dwellings in the countryside (ongoing).  Numerous public inquiries in 2009 - 2010 defending the refusal of permission and/or issues of Enforcement Notices, particularly in relation to impact on AONBs, Green Belts, householder extensions, agricultural uses.
  • Advising on and appearing at appeals for agricultural workers’ dwellings in various industries (including alpaca cases and poultry farming) for local authorities and for appellants in 2009-2010.
  • Is instructed by the Treasury Solicitor for various s.288 and s.289 challenges in the High Court (ongoing).  Previously six-month secondment to the Treasury Solicitors (2009), working in-house on a variety of cases involving  Town and Country Planning Act 1990 challenges.
  • Defending private clients for breach of enforcement notices and other local authority matters in London and the South-East; in the past two years, she has appeared in courts in Brent, Didcot, Hackney, Horsham, Uxbridge, Wandsworth, and Waltham Forest.
  • Advising and acting in claims for injunctive relief and associated committal proceedings in environmental (planning enforcement) and gypsy matters (2009-2010), including obtaining a suspended prison sentence order which finally enabled a Council to enforce clearance of a site of tens of thousands of tonnes of waste where enforcement action had been ongoing for over a decade (2010).
  • Advising on the Birds Directive (2009)

Cases she worked on in the House of Lords as a judicial assistant included R (on the application of National Grid Gas plc (formerly Transco plc)) v. Environment [2007] UKHL 30, R v. London Borough of Bromley, ex parte Barker, [2006] UKHL 52 and Belfast City Council v Miss Behavin Limited [2007] UKHL 19.

She is also a member of the Planning & Environmental Bar Association, and the Environmental Law Foundation and the United Kingdom Environmental Law Association (Director and Council Member). She also accepts work from the Environmental Law Foundation and volunteers on the Friends of the Earth Environmental Law Advice Line.

QUALIFICATIONS

Attorney-General's "C" Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown (2010)

Implementation Committee, “Entry to the Bar”, Bar Council. Member (2008)

Judicial Assistant to the Law Lords (2007)

Pegasus Scholarship , Land and Environment Court of New South Wales, Australia (2010)

Other Legal Scholarships: European Environmental Agency scholarship (2007), Lord Mansfield (2005), Lord Bowden (2004)

INQUIRIES

There are no inquiries available.

PUBLICATIONS