Flora Curtis

Flora has experience in a wide range of public and human rights law matters. She has acted in both the High Court and the County Court, including complex claims related to equality law, human rights, discrimination, and data protection. Flora has experience in education law, having represented the parents of permanently excluded children at local authority Independent Review Panel hearings.

Flora has a particular interest in the law relating to human rights and civil liberties and the intersection between human rights and climate change.

Cases of note:

• Cranston Inquiry – Flora is currently instructed by the Secretary of State for Transport to assist in a non-statutory public inquiry into an incident on 24 November 2021, in which at least 27 people died attempting to cross the Channel in a small boat. 
• Whitehouse v Secretary of State for Justice - Flora was instructed by the Secretary of State for Justice to respond to an application for permission to apply for judicial review brought by a prisoner who alleged that the Secretary of State’s decision to depart from Parole Board recommendations was unreasonable.
• R (Plan B Earth) v Prime Minister [2021] EWHC (Admin) - Flora acted as junior counsel to Richard Honey KC and Ned Westaway responding to a challenge brought against the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer by Plan B Earth and four individual claimants. The claim raised questions concerning whether the Government’s overall compliance with the Climate Change Act 2008, the Paris Agreement breached the Claimants’ rights under Articles 2, 8 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
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Flora has particular expertise in environmental law, advising regularly on domestic and international environmental law. She acts for both NGOs, local interest groups, and central Government. Many of her cases have involved novel and complex environmental issues. Flora has a particular interest in climate change, the protection of habitats and species, marine protection, and environmental assessment. 

Until recently Flora was on secondment to the Office for Environmental Protection. She gained experience across the range of the OEP’s work, including complaints and investigations into breaches of environmental law, the monitoring of environmental law, and interventions in judicial and statutory review proceedings.

Cases of note:

• R (Theberton and Eastbridge Action Group on Sizewell Limited) v Office for Nuclear Regulation – Flora is instructed by the Office for Nuclear Regulation as junior counsel to Rose Grogan in a challenge to a nuclear site licence granted by the ONR to Sizewell C Ltd. The licence permits Sizewell C Ltd. to install and operate a nuclear power station comprised of two nuclear reactors. The challenge was dismissed as totally without merit by the High Court at the permission stage.
• R (Friends of the Earth Ltd) v Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy [2022] EWHC 1841 - Flora acted as junior counsel to Richard Honey KC and Ned Westaway responding to three landmark challenges to the Net Zero Strategy, published by the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The case was the first to interpret ss.13-14 of the Climate Change Act.
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• R (Plan B Earth) v Prime Minister [2021] EWHC (Admin) - Flora acted as junior counsel to Richard Honey KC and Ned Westaway responding to a challenge brought against the Prime Minister, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer by Plan B Earth and four individual claimants. The claim raised questions concerning the Government’s overall compliance with the Climate Change Act 2008, the Paris Agreement, and Articles 2, 8 and 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
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Flora has a busy planning practice. She acts for a range of clients including local government, landowners, developers, and local authorities. 

Flora has experience bringing and resisting planning statutory and judicial review claims. She also has experience appearing at planning inquiries. She has acted as sole and junior counsel in planning inquiries and local plan examinations, representing local authorities, rule six parties, and developers. 

Flora has particular experience in planning cases raising environmental issues, including the need for renewable energy, EIA, carbon emissions, impacts on habitats, BNG, and flooding.  

Flora has advised on and appeared in enforcement proceedings. 

Cases of note:

• R (Clarke Holland) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 3140 (Admin) - Flora acted as junior counsel to Richard Honey KC at the permission stage, representing the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in an application for permission to challenge an EIA screening direction relating to the use of Wethersfield Airfield as temporary asylum seeker accommodation.
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• Solar farm inquiries - Flora has experience acting for both rule 6 parties and local authorities in planning inquiries, resisting the development of land for the provision of Solar Photovoltaic Farms.
• Resisting an appeal made against a s.215 notice - Flora successfully acted for a local authority resisting an appeal brought against a notice issued under section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.