practical,

focused

and

hard-

working"

Chambers UK

Andrew O'Connor

Andrew O'Connor

Profile

Andrew O'Connor has extensive experience of public law litigation, in particular in acting for government clients.  He has been a member of the Attorney-General's civil panels since 2000, and was appointed to the A Panel in March 2011.

Much of his government work in recent years has been in the field of national security.  He has appeared both at first instance and in the Court of Appeal, the House of Lords and the Supreme Court in cases relating to control orders, national security deportations, terrorist asset freezing and deprivation of citizenship.

He also has considerable experience in the field of coronial law.  He has been instructed by the Prison Service in a large number of death in custody inquests.  In 2010-2011 he acted as First Junior Counsel to the 7/7 inquests and also represented the IPCC in the Tomlinson inquest.  In 2012 he acted for SIS and GCHQ in the inquest into the death of Gareth Williams.  He is currently instructed as one of the Counsel to the Inquest in the Litvinenko inquest proceedings, and is also acting for the IPCC in the Hillsborough inquests.  He gives regular seminars on coronial law to solicitors firms and gave a lecture on the same topic to the 2011 PIBA Winter Conference.

He also acts for government and private clients in a variety of other areas, including misfeasance and malicious prosecution claims, personal injury actions, claims brought under the Human Rights Act and VAT and Duties appeals.  

Notable Cases

  • OB v Director of the Serious Fraud Office [2012] 1 WLR 3170, CA
  • Youssef v Foreign Secretary [2012] EWHC 2091 (Admin)
  • Secretary of State for the Home Department v CC & CF [2012] EWHC 2837 (Admin); [2012] WLR(D) 283
  • R (Secretary of State for the Home Department) v Assistant Deputy Coroner for Inner West London [2010] EWHC 3098 (Admin); (2010) 174 JP 593
  • Re Guardian News and Media Ltd & others [2010] UKSC 1;[2010] 2 WLR 325
  • HM Treasury v Ahmed & others [2010] UKSC 2; [2010] 2 WLR 378
  • Secretary of State for the Home Department v AF (No.3) [2009] UKHL 28; [2009] 3 WLR 74
  • RB (Algeria) v Home Secretary; Othman v Home Secretary [2009] UKHL 10; [2009] 2 WLR 512
  • AS&DD (Libya) v SSHD  [2008] EWCA Civ 289; The Times 16 April 2008
  • St George v.  Home Office [2008] EWCA Civ 1068; [2008] WLR (D) 309
  • Secretary of State for the Home Office v JJ [2008] 1 AC 385, HL
  • Secretary of State for the Home Office v MB and AF [2008] 1 AC 440, HL
  • Secretaryof State for the Home Office v E&S [2008] 1 AC 499, HL

Appointments

  • Appointed Junior Counsel to the Crown (A Panel) March 2011.  Previously appointed to C Panel 2000 - 2006 and B Panel 2006 - 2011.

  • Panel Member of Bar Disciplinary Tribunal

What the Directories say

  • Chambers UK 2013 Admininistrative and Public Law :  "....able to drill down to the detail of a case and master its complexities. He notably operates in the national security sphere, and also regularly serves on public inquiries".
  • Chambers UK 2012 Admininistrative and Public Law : "First Junior Counsel to the 7/7 inquest...a trusted national security specialist, and has tackled a good deal of control order litigation.  He is, to boot, a popular choice for the Home Office in deportation cases."
  • Chambers UK 2011 Admininistrative and Public Law : "Sources commend him for his impressive performances and his command of the material before him".
  • Chambers UK 2010 Administrative and Public Law : "Practical, focused and extremely hard-working".
  • Chambers UK 2009 Administrative and Public Law : "Outstandingly good".  Clients praise him for being "incisive and hard-working," whilst solicitors note that "he has a practical sense of how to run a case, a fact that endears him to judges."