Benjamin Harrison

Experience  and Expertise

Court of PROTECTION

Ben is acknowledged as having a particular specialism and expertise in the Court of Protection, and is ranked as a ‘Leading Junior’ in this field by The Legal 500. He undertook pupillage under the supervision of Ian Brownhill and is experienced in both property and affairs, and complex health and welfare matters. Ben is instructed by the Official Solicitor, the Public Guardian, RPRs, local authorities, Integrated Care Boards, Welsh Health Boards, and family members in section 21A and section 16 proceedings under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

He is experienced in handling contentious fact-finding trials; applications concerning Serious Medical Treatment; advising on complex issues concerning mental capacity; considering linked safeguarding duties and obligations arising under the Care Act 2014; applications for recognition of foreign protective measures under Schedule 3 of the 2005 Act; making urgent applications for interim relief under section 48 of the 2005 Act and/or the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court (Family Division); committal proceedings; and is regularly instructed when proceedings between the family court and the Court of Protection meet – especially in the context of Forced Marriage Protection Orders.

He is frequently instructed by the Public Guardian where concerns over the operation/execution of Lasting Powers of Attorney have been raised, and has experience acting in proceedings concerning applications for statutory wills, and displacing Nearest Relatives under the Mental Health Act 1983.

Key cases include:

• Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust v HX, CX and SX [2024] EWCOP 52 (T3), Cusworth J
  Acted for the applicant NHS Trust in these proceedings concerning whether it was in HX’s best interests to continue to receive life sustaining treatment (CANH and mechanical ventilation). The Official Solicitor instructed leading counsel. The court granted the Trust’s application.
• An ICB v G and Ors [2024] EWCOP 13, Hayden J
  Acted for the Official Solicitor in fact-finding proceedings where P’s parents had been accused of tampering with her ventilation equipment and P’s carers had been accused of negligence in providing care for P. These proceedings have been reported widely in the national press. Ben was led by Sophia Roper KC.
• Aberdeenshire Council v SF, EF and Sunderland City Council [2024] EWCOP 10, Poole J
  Successfully acted for the Official Solicitor (led by Sophia Roper KC) in resisting an application under Schedule 3 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005 which sought the recognition of a foreign protective measure. The court declined to recognise a Scottish Guardianship Order on the basis that it was made in a manner which (i) did not give P an opportunity to be heard in circumstances which (ii) breached of the principles of natural justice, and (iii) breached P’s fundamental human rights under Articles 5, 6 and 8 ECHR.
• Re KA [2023] EWCOP 74 (T2), HHJ Davies
  Instructed on behalf of the Official Solicitor in complex health and welfare proceedings which concerned a young woman with a diagnosis of autism. KA’s parents opposed her care and support arrangements in the community and there was a high risk of placement breakdown at her home.
• Re JI [2023] EWCOP 66, Theis V-P
  Ben was instructed on behalf of the Official Solicitor (and led for a period by Sophia Roper KC) in proceedings which considered the lawfulness of JI accessing sexual exertainment services following Re C [2021] EWCA Civ 1527
• Re G (Court of Protection: Injunction) [2022] EWCA Civ 1312, [2022] 3 WLR 1339, [2023] 3 All ER 291, [2023] Fam 107, Baker, Phillips and Nugee LJJ
  Acted for the Official Solicitor on behalf of G in the Court of Appeal (led by Sophia Roper KC). This is the leading case on the proper test for the grant of injunctions in the Court of Protection, as well as the procedural approach to be adopted in respect of such applications.
• Staffordshire County Council v JP [2022] EWHC 3776 (Fam)
  Acted for the Official Solicitor in a successful costs application against a local authority for ‘lamentable’ litigation failings.
• South Gloucestershire County Council v DN and S Residential School [2022] EWCOP 35, Judd J
  Acted for the Official Solicitor in a sequence of urgent hearings in the Court of Protection and under the inherent jurisdiction where P’s residential school placement broke down and the local authority had been unable to identify an alternative placement to meet his needs, other than the ‘sub-optimal’ solution of a return to the family home.
• Re C [2020-2021], HHJ Edwards (unreported)
  Acted for a Local Authority in health and welfare proceedings in the Court of Protection where very serious safeguarding allegations were in issue between father and daughter. Ben was retained throughout and successfully represented the local authority at a five-day fact-finding hearing in January 2021, and a two-day final welfare hearing in June 2021 (which considered C’s best interests in respect of her residence, care and contact with others).
• Re DA [2020] EWCOP 74, HHJ Clayton
  Long running welfare application on behalf of a Local Authority in the Court of Protection which culminated in a five-day trial to determine P’s best interests. Issues included P’s care and support, residence and contact with others. Other issues included the appointment and powers of a professional health and welfare deputy (a solicitor) to make decisions on behalf of P. The Official Solicitor instructed Leading Counsel.
• Re GA (challenge to standard authorisation) [2020] EWFC B67, HHJ Pemberton
  Acted on behalf of the Official Solicitor in proceedings which involved issues including a risk of P being unlawfully moved out of the jurisdiction and being overmedicated in her previous placement. The CCG instructed Leading Counsel.

Public and administrative law

Ben acts and advises in judicial review proceedings, both for and against public bodies, especially in the context of community care, prison, and education law. Judicial review proceedings of note include R (Kay) v Secretary of State for Justice [2021] EWHC 2125 (Admin), Macur LJ and Foxton J. This was a claim for judicial review against the decision of the Secretary of State for Justice to refuse compensation for a miscarriage of justice pursuant to section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1998. Ben was led by Philip Rule KC.

Ben also has experience successfully challenging the decisions of the Disclosure Barring Service to add names to the “barred lists” in appeals before the Upper Tribunal (AAC). In Re T v DBS [2021] Ben represented a teacher before the Upper Tribunal whose name had been included on the Children’s Barred List. After considering the written representations Ben drafted – which raised arguments that the DBS had made mistakes in respect of both points of law and findings of facts on the basis of previous criminal proceedings – the DBS reviewed their decision, conceded the appeal, and removed his client’s name from the Children’s Barred List.

Ben has experience of bringing claims before the European Court of Human Rights, and is presently acting as junior to Philip Rule KC in two such claims.

ECCLESIASTICAL LAW

Ben has a niche expertise and interest in the law governing the Church of England and he is ranked as a Leading Junior in this area by Chambers and Partners, which notes that Ben is “beginning to make his mark as an ecclesiastical law specialist” and that he is “professional and knowledgeable”.

He is a co-author of the leading textbook in this area, now in its fourth edition (principally authored by Mark Hill KC). In 2020, he was appointed the Editor of the Ecclesiastical Law Journal—a leading academic journal published by the Ecclesiastical Law Society and Cambridge University Press three times a year.

Ben is available to provide expert advice and representation in the following areas:

• Faculty proceedings before Consistory Courts;
• Disciplinary matters arising under the Clergy Discipline Measure 2003;
• Safeguarding issues;
• Pastoral reorganisation;
• The law of burials and exhumation;
• Chancel repair liability;
• The obligations of Parochial Church Councils in respect of their powers and duties, including those arising under charity law and data protection law;
• Advice and representation in claims concerning breaches of Art. 9 ECHR (right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion).

Recent work includes advising the Representative Body of the Church in Wales on a discreet point of statutory interpretation and advising a Local Authority dealing with the fall out of a mistaken burial.

Ben is currently instructed by the Designated Officer (Church of England) to conduct the case of the complainant in sensitive disciplinary proceedings against a priest. A trial has been listed for October 2024.

Education

Ben is instructed by local authorities and parents in appeals concerning Education Health Care Plans. He has extensive experience before the FTT and challenging those decisions by way of appeals to the Upper Tribunal.

He appeared before the Upper Tribunal on behalf of the successful appellant in London Borough of Islington v A Parent [2024] UKUT 252 (AAC). This case has clarified the inquisitorial nature of the First-tier Tribunal’s jurisdiction in appeals concerning EHC Plans.

Before coming to the Bar, Ben volunteered for an educational charity and represented students who had been permanently excluded from their schools before Governing Body appeal panels and Independent Review Panels (IRPs). He has appeared on a number of occasions before IRPs and has successfully persuaded the panel to quash the decision to permanently exclude students from school. He continues to accept instructions in this area, from both parents and schools.

Data Protection and Information Rights

Ben has a growing reputation in the field of data protection and information rights and acts for arms-length government bodies, NHS Trusts, charities, prisoners, companies, and other individuals in bringing or defending claims brought under the Data Protection Act 2018, the Human Rights Act 1998, or the common law. He also has a busy advisory practice assisting the same range of clients to ensure that they comply with various data protection legislation, including the 1998 Act and the UK GDPR. This has included drafting suitable privacy notices, Art. 28 GDPR data processor agreements, and joint controller arrangements. He has also devised legal frameworks for transferring personal data to third countries outside of the EEA.

Ben has successfully coordinated the response to a number of serious personal data breaches where the ICO ultimately concluded that no further enforcement action was necessary against his client.

In H v A University Hospital Trust [2022] Ben advised an NHS Trust defending a significant multi-track civil claim arising out of an alleged breach of the Data Protection Act 2018, loss of control of personal data, and misuse of private information inter alia.

Inquests & Inquiries

Ben has considerable experience appearing in inquests where mental health treatment, mental capacity, and Art. 2 ECHR are in issue. He is sensitive to the strain that these proceedings can place on both the family of the deceased, clinicians, and other expert witnesses. Inquests of note include An inquest touching upon the death of Victoria Bates [2020], HM Senior Coroner for Worcestershire. Ben represented an NHS Trust in a four-day inquest. Issues included the risk assessments performed by clinicians before the deceased took her own life. The integrity of those assessments were affirmed by the Coroner in his findings of fact.

Prison law

Ben is familiar with advising on the merits of challenging parole board decisions by way of judicial review, having been supervised by Philip Rule during his pupillage. He accepts instructions to represent prisoners at hearings before Independent Adjudicators, and welcomes instructions from prisoners who consider that their rights are not being upheld in custody. In particular, Ben’s data privacy specialism complements his ability to advise prisoners regarding breaches of rule 39 of the Prison Rules, misuse of their private information, and breaches of Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018. Ben also advises prisoners and represents them in proceedings concerning alleged breaches of their Art. 8 ECHR right to respect of family and private life and Art. 9 EHCR right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.

Recommendations

Ben is ranked in both leading legal directories: Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners. Editorial in those directories over the years includes the following:

• rapidly developing into a reliable and sophisticated advocate;
• always helpful and very approachable;
• very dedicated to the clients and consistently goes above and beyond to assist;
• meticulous and down to earth;
• pulls no punches and can stand his ground amongst other parties’ legal representation;
• respectful and courteous;
• a passionate advocate;
• extremely skilled at cutting through complex issues without over-complication;
• he is compassionate and ensures the rights of vulnerable clients are protected;
• his knowledge in this area is exemplary, with a willingness to spend time researching where necessary;
• works in a very collaborative way with solicitors;
• he has very good drafting skills;
• excellent when dealing with emotional and difficult parties and clients;
• adept at taking the heat out of the situation and enabling productive inter-party discussions;
• very responsive and he is able to respond to queries and questions in short order; and
• pays attention to the detail, doesn’t miss anything and his drafting is excellent;

PUBLICATIONS

• The Ecclesiastical Law Journal (Cambridge University Press)
  Ben is the editor of this international journal for the comparative study of law and religion. Published three times a year in association with the Ecclesiastical Law Society, the journal publishes articles on all aspects of ecclesiastical law. Particular emphasis is given to the regulation of the Church of England and worldwide Anglican Communion, but the range of coverage includes comparative studies of the laws of other faiths and of the interface between law and religion in a global perspective. Through its regular comment section, the Ecclesiastical Law Journal provides a critical analysis of emergent trends written by distinguished scholars and practitioners in Europe, North America and Australia. The journal also includes book reviews and summaries of recent ecclesiastical cases determined by both secular and church courts, together with a parliamentary report, a brief summary of the proceedings of national Synods, and resumés of major international conferences.
• Ecclesiastical Law (Oxford University Press, 4th ed.) March 2018
  This textbook, by Mark Hill KC, has established itself as the leading authority on the laws of the Church of England. In this fourth edition, Ben co-authored two chapters: chapter 3 (“The Parish”) and chapter 6 (“Clergy Discipline”). Other co-authors for this volume include Professor Norman Doe and Matthew Chinery. See here.

APPOINTMENTS

Editor of the Ecclesiastical Law Journal.

AWARDS

• BPTC Scholarship: The William Shakespeare Memorial Award, Gray’s Inn
• BPTC Scholarship, BBP University
• Foundation Scholarship, Pembroke College, Cambridge
• College Prize, Pembroke College, Cambridge
• Winner of the Brick Court Team Moot, University of Cambridge (2015)
• Finalist in the Quadrant Chambers Fledglings Moot Competition, University of Cambridge (2015)

QUALIFICATIONS

Law: M.A. (Cantab.), First Class

MEMBERSHIPS

• The Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn
• Ecclesiastical Law Society

FURTHER INFORMATION

For further details of Ben’s practice please click on the links to the left or contact a member of the clerking or client service teams.

Bar Council Membership No: 67611
Registered Name: Benjamin Harrison
VAT Registration No: 314361140

Privacy

Ben adopts and adheres to the provisions of his privacy notice which can be accessed here.