Philip Dayle

Philip accepts instructions in condemnation hearings and matters involving issues of customs, excise and duties. He is particularly interested in cases where commercial law intersects with public law and regulatory concerns.

Cases of Note:

• Successfully acted for three claimants in a four day multitrack case in the high court where the court ruled that the defendant held a lease on trust for a company in which the claimants were directors/shareholders.
• Application to set aside judgment in default on behalf of a businessman who was sued for deceitfully engaging investors in a scheme to operate ATM machines that dispensed gold bars.
• Instructed as part of a legal team by Ingenious Media in a high value tax dispute concerning the scope of tax breaks in the British film industry.

Philip has a well-developed inquest practice. His work in this area complements a public law and judicial review practice, which cuts across criminal justice, mental health and adult social care. He represents families as well as institutions and other interested parties.

Cases of Note:

• Acted as junior counsel for the Federation of Minority Ethnic Healthcare Organisations (FEMHO) for modules 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7. Led by Mr Leslie Thomas KC, questioned witnesses on feet and assisted in framing lines of enquiry
• Acted as senior junior counsel for the Covid19 Airborne Transmission Alliance (CATA) in module 3 of the Inquiry. Led by Mr Stephen Simblet KC, questioned witnesses on feet and assisted in framing lines of enquiry.
• Acted as sole junior counsel in the Infected Blood Inquiry on behalf of four men who contracted HIV and HCV through contaminated blood products in the treatment of their haemophilia. Was led by Ms Karon Monaghan KC during the six years of this investigation,.
• Acted as junior counsel for the families of a group of BSR’s (Bereaved, Survivors and Residents) in phase 1 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, led by Mr Michael Mansfield KC,
• Acting as junior counsel, led by Ms Alison Munroe KC, in the restraint death at HMP Elmley of Azroy Dawes Clarke on behalf of the family - ongoing.
• Acted as counsel alone for the family of Mohamed Eumda, a prisoner at HMP Chelmsford, who took his own life. The jury found that the failure to properly observe Mr Eumda was possibly causative in his death.
• Acted as counsel alone for the family of Ronald Young,  who died after an aspiration event following the displacement of a nasogastric tube at an unknown time.
• Acted for the family of Glody Muyeki as counsel alone in a 3 day inquest concerning his death at HMP Aylesbury. The jury found that the failure to follow guidelines for a prisoner who was suspected to be under the influence of spice was possibly causative of death.
• Acted as counsel alone for the Royal College of Nursing in a 9 days Art 2 inquest touching the death of Amsheza Musaj. Ms Musaj died from ingesting toilet paper at a mental health hospital, where she had a tendency to ingest foreign objects as a means of self-harming.
• Acted as counsel alone for the family of James Faulkner in an article 2 inquest for 3 days. Mr Faulkner died of alcohol toxicity in a hotel room whilst detained there by the police.
• Acting as counsel alone for the family of Brandon Johnson in an Art 2 inquest in a 6 days inquest in the Inner West London. Mr Johnson died of cardio-respiratory failure whilst an inmate at HMP Wandsworth and a Prevention of Future Death’s report was sent to the prison expressing concerns about the robustness of procedures and processes in checking whether prisoners were alive.
• Acted as counsel alone for a teenage mother who was convicted for manslaughter for death of her baby daughter Asiah Kudi through neglect during a 5 days inquest. Inquest included issues of safeguarding from social services and mental health/psychological impact on teenage mom from grooming
• Acted as counsel alone for CQC in 3 inquests over a period of 5 days in joined hearings regarding deaths of patients in care home.
• Acted as counsel alone in a 7 days Inquest concerning a death in prison, representing Mental Health NHS Trust. Complex issues of mental health and safeguarding within prisons
• Acted as counsel alone in 6 days inquest for an energy company in relation to death of employee in an incinerator
• Acted as junior counsel, led by Mr Patrick Roche, in an inquest on behalf of the bereaved families of six young men who drowned at Camber Sands beach in the summer of 2016
• Acted as counsel alone for one of the ambulance technicians in the six weeks’ inquest into the restraint death of Kingsley Burrell in Birmingham Coroner’s Court.
• Acted as counsel alone in an inquest into the death of a foreign national who was detained at Yarls Wood before removal back to her country.

Philip’s administrative and public law practice cuts across criminal justice, mental health and adult social care. He represents families as well as institutions and other interested parties. It also includes an international element, in appeals at the Privy Council.

Cases of Note

• NAC v Disclosure and Barring Service [2025] UKUT 304 (AAC) – represented the appellant – care assistant in an appeal of a barring decision where the question was whether he had assaulted a dementia patient at a care home in an attempt to resist her biting him.
• Acted as counsel alone in R (on the application of Ford) v Coventry Magistrates’ Court - [2025] EWHC 843 (Admin) for the interested party-local authority – issue was whether it was unfair for Magistrates to have refused the Claimant an application for an adjournment in a closure order hearing
• Acted as junior counsel led by Mr Hugh Southey KC in Morrison v Crown, The - [2023] UKPC 14 – issue was whether a mandatory sentence of 15 years imprisonment at hard labour was constitutional
• Acted as counsel alone in Joseph v General Medical Council - [2022] EWHC 3345 (Admin) – whether there had been sufficient evidence foe the GMC disciplinary panel to find charges of rape by a doctor of his colleague proven
• Acted as junior counsel to Mr Hugh Southey KC in the successful appeal in Jamaicans for Justice v Police Service Commission and another (Jamaica) [2019] UKPC 12, in which the Board held that there was a breach of fundamental human rights where a senior police officer had been promoted whilst serious allegations against him had not been properly investigated.
• Acted as junior to Mr Hugh Southey KC in the case of R ( on the application of Sam Daniels) and the Rt Honourable Prime Minister, Theresa May [2018] EWHC 1090 (Admin), which was a challenge to the decision of former PM Theresa May to appoint Sir Martin Moore-Bick to sit alone when conducting the Grenfell Inquiry.
• Acted as junior counsel to Ms Karon Monaghan KC on behalf of Liberty for an intervention at the UK Supreme Court in the case of R (on the application of JB (Jamaica) (Respondent) v The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Appellant) [2015] UKSC 8. The UKSC considered whether to add Jamaica to the list of states designated under s94(4) of the Nationality and Asylum Act 2002 Act, where only a group forming a small part of the population (namely, LGBT persons) are at risk of persecution.

Philip has worked as an international human rights lawyer at the Inter American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in Washington DC, USA, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in Geneva, Switzerland, the Human Dignity Trust (HDT) in London, and as a legal consultant for inter-governmental organisations such as UNAIDS and various NGOs in the Caribbean and Africa. As such, he is well-versed in the litigation process of the UN, Inter-American and African human rights systems.

Having conducted strategic litigation on issues involving sexual orientation, HIV and AIDS, Philip is an expert in comparative public law analysis. He has written amicus briefs in cases such as William Roy Leung v Secretary of Justice, Hong Kong Court of Appeal, Major Margaret Witt v Donald Rumsfeld Secretary of Defence, US Court of Appeal for the 9th Circuit, USA and the Blue Diamond Society case in the Supreme Court of Nepal.

As Legal Officer at the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), he was the key manager in the creation, of the “Yogyakarta Principles on the Application of International Human Rights Law in relation to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity” in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, and principal author of the ICJ legal practitioners’ guide on “Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and International Human Rights Law” (2009).

Philip is formerly a Legal Officer and now trustee of the Human Dignity Trust (HDT) – an organisation that uses litigation to challenge laws that criminalise homosexuality around the world.

Philip is steadily building a public law practice, which includes criminal justice matters regarding prisons and the police. He routinely drafts grounds for judicial review and advises in private law claims against public authorities, , and acts as counsel in matters in the county and administrative law courts.

Cases of note:

• Acts for families in civil claims against public authorities arising after the coronial process
• Advising and acting in judicial review claims related to parole board decisions and conditions in prison.
• Advised on successful judicial review claim for the reversal of a decision of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) to compensate a victim of rape in the Social Entitlement Chamber.
• Drafted grounds for judicial review and obtained admission from the Secretary of State that the failure to provide a course that was considered necessary in the prisoner’s rehabilitation had been unlawful.
• Advised in successful claim for trespass and battery at the Central London County Court, concerning animal rights, protestors, who argued that police action pursuant on s14 of the Public Order Act was unlawful.
• Acted for a Claimant in a 4-day civil jury trial: action against the police for assault and false imprisonment.

Cases of note:

• Acted for a Trust in successfully resisting a habeas corpus application brought in the High Court.
• Acts for both claimants and local authorities in age assessment disputes.
• Drafted judicial review grounds and obtained urgent relief preventing the dispersal out of London of an asylum seeker who was wheelchair-bound and whose medical and mental health treatment and support were in London.
• Drafted judicial review grounds and obtained urgent relief for a “child in need” for accommodation and support from a Local Authority, pursuant under the Children Act.
• Drafted judicial review grounds and obtained interim relief for elderly couple in  accommodation and financial support under the Immigration and Asylum Act.

Philip has a growing practice in education law. He is interested in discrimination, admissions and exclusions, disciplinary procedures, and professional disciplinary matters within education. His work in education law runs alongside a general public law practice, particularly in judicial review. Philip appears in related tribunal and judicial review permission hearings.

Cases of note:

• Acting in the First Tier Tribunal ( Education and Disability) for local authorities, schools and parents in issues related to EHC plans.
• Advising in higher education disputes on issues such as matriculation, certification, examination integrity and hate speech.
• Advising and drafting striking out grounds leading to dismissal of discrimination claim against a regulator.
• Advising and acting for local authority in First Tier Tribunal in disability discrimination claim.
• Advising and acting for claimant in judicial review claim in a parental choice of school matter.
• Presentation and training to primary school teaching staff regarding the “Prevent duty” and counter-terrorism.
• Advising and acting for a regulator on an application to strike out grounds and dismiss a discrimination claim.

Philip has a robust regulatory practice, advising and representing parties in matters of professional discipline, licensing, health and safety, food safety and other areas. He draws on years of experience at the criminal bar, both prosecuting and defending. His work has spanned a variety of sectors, including health and social care, education, financial, entertainment, sports and others.

Examples of professional discipline work:

• Successfully defended a police officer facing allegations that he had failed to safeguard a victim of domestic abuse in a 3-day hearing.
• Successfully defended an osteopath facing allegations that he had made inappropriate comments during the treatment of a vulnerable woman in a 3-day hearing.
• Successfully acted in “Trojan Horse” misconduct hearing on behalf of teacher-Union members of the Association of School and College Leadership (ASCL), who sought to prevent disclosure of their interview statements from the Peter Clarke inquiry.
• Successfully acted for a nurse in a seven day hearing at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). One of the contested charges was struck out and the other was not proved. Of the admitted charges, reasonable conditions of practice were secured as sanction.
• Successfully acted for a nurse in a four day hearing at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) who was accused of cutting a patient’s IV line.
• Successfully acted for a nurse in an appeal who had been struck off after a conviction for a council tax related offence.
• Acted for a physiotherapist in a hearing regarding her competence and fitness to practise before the Health Care and Professionals Council (HCPC).
• Acted for a teacher in a two day hearing before the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) who was accused of exaggerating his previous teaching experience and lying about his GCSE results.
• Acting for a head teacher who was charged with maintaining a “toxic environment” and irregularities in the pursuit of improved Ofsted ratings
• Acted for the TRA in prosecuting a transsexual teacher accused of bullying and making inappropriate comments to his peers.
• Acted in a court martial hearing for a private in the army who was charged with a serious assault against a colleague.
• Advising a firm of solicitors on whether aspects of their practice fell within the definition of “regulated activity” - and as such, outside historical exemptions granted to the Solicitor Regulation Authority by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
• Advising London university whether its contract managers in a public-private R & D project were offering “legal services” in a manner that was contrary to the relevant statutory and regulatory provisions.

Example of licensing work:

• Advised on and drafted judicial review grounds for a local authority to contest a reversal of decision to revoke a taxi licence.
• Advised on and acted in committee hearings and appeals regarding the granting and variation of licence in the sale of alcohol, operation of restaurants and clubs.
• Advising local authority regarding procedure and natural justice in hearing resulting from Covid-19 restrictions.