Introduction
Imogen is a public law specialist. She is regularly instructed in the most high-profile judicial reviews and in cases of national significance.
Imogen’s public law practice includes the following areas:
- Commercial judicial review
- Human rights and civil liberties
- Education law
- Community care
- Local government
Imogen’s public law practice encompasses a number of Monckton’s specialist areas including procurement, EU law/EU relations law, telecommunications and commercial and utilities regulation.
Imogen was appointed to the Attorney General’s C Panel when 3 years into tenancy. She entered the legal directories in her fourth year of tenancy. Imogen is ranked as a Rising Star for Administrative and Public law by Legal 500 and as ‘Up and Coming’ in Administrative and Public law by Chambers and Partners.
Now 6 years’ call, Imogen has 13 reported cases, 4 of which are categorised by Westlaw UK as ‘significant’ judgments. She has appeared in the Court of Appeal four times and in October 2022 will appear in the Supreme Court in R (VIP) v SSHD.
Imogen was shortlisted for an award in the Women in Law Awards 2020 in the category “Rising star – barrister/advocate of the year”.
Imogen is Public Access Qualified. She regularly acts for individuals in receipt of legal aid. She is also a member of the panel of counsel of Advocate, a charity which sources free legal help for those otherwise facing legal problems alone.
Imogen was awarded double first class honours in Philosophy at Cambridge, ranking third across the university in both part I and part II of Tripos. She had a first career as a state school classroom teacher in Hackney; a challenging environment in which success demanded clear and persuasive communication, and grit. This also gave Imogen first-hand experience of working in the public sector which she puts to use in her public law practice. Imogen then went to City Law School, where she was awarded a Distinction in the GDL and Outstanding in the BPTC. Imogen is a Wadoryu karate black belt.
- News
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Administrative & public
Imogen is ranked by Legal 500 for Administrative and Public Law as a ‘rising star’ and by Chambers and Partners as ‘Up and Coming’ in Administrative and Public Law.
She has been on the Attorney General’s C Panel of Counsel since 2019.
Imogen’s administrative and public law practice involves a mixture of led work, including highly complex judicial reviews, and work as sole counsel. Her clients include children in care, asylum seekers, charities and NGOs, schools and universities, companies, public bodies, regulators and Secretaries of State.
A number of Imogen’s public law clients choose to instruct her on a direct access basis. Many of her clients are in receipt of legal aid.
Imogen is on the committee of the Administrative Law Bar Association (ALBA) and the Young Public Lawyers Group (YPLG).
Imogen has acted for the claimant in judicial review challenges to:
- London boroughs’ social housing allocation policies
- Clinical Commissioning Groups’ funding decisions
- DEFRA’s decision to permit the emergency use of a banned pesticide
- Home Office failures to provide asylum support
- Local authority decisions around ‘former relevant child’ status for children in care
- Decisions taken under the Care Act and the Children Act
Imogen is regularly instructed by claimants in JRs of local authority decisions that an unaccompanied child asylum seeker is an adult.
Imogen has acted for the defendant in judicial reviews concerning:
- Reforms to public service pensions, including police pensions
- Covid-19 PPE procurement
- State surveillance powers
- The means test for civil legal aid
- Government policy on electricity and gas meters
- Parole Board decisions
- Ofsted reports
- University admissions
Public law cases of Imogen’s to reach the Court of Appeal include:
- a rationalitiy and proportionality challenge to Defra’s banning of electronic dog collars
- a JR of the Home Secretary’s decision to require a licence for certain telecommunications equipment which poses a threat to national security
- Evangelou v McNicol, acting for Labour Party members excluded from voting in a Labour leadership election; and
- the National Crime Agency’s successful appeal against the granting of interim relief in circumstances where it would in effect disapply the anti-money laundering regime under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Imogen is one of LexisNexis’ contributing authors for its LexisPSL service. She has co-authored practice notes on the ‘Prevent Duty’ on public bodies in relation to terrorism (see article here); the status of Strasbourg case law; human rights and statutory construction; judicial deference and the margin of appreciation; civil contingencies and emergency powers; dealing with human rights challenges; and terrorism law.
Cases
- 03 May 2022Court of Appeal refuses the Good Law Project permission to appeal in ‘Pestfix’ PPE procurement challenges
- 14 Jan 2022Daniel Beard QC, Michael Armitage and Imogen Proud to appear in Supreme Court as permission to appeal granted for R (VIP) v SSHD
- 12 Jan 2022Judgment: Good Law Project’s PPE contracts challenges
- 11 Jan 2022Age Dispute JR: Imogen Proud succeeds for unaccompanied child asylum seeker
- 16 Dec 2021Administrative Court dismisses JR challenge to police pensions reform
- 11 Aug 2021Imogen Proud is sole counsel in JR challenge to eviction from emergency housing during the “Everyone In” Scheme
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Education
Within her public law practice, Imogen is an Education Law specialist.
This is an area of particular interest for Imogen due to her previous career as a teacher. Coming from a family of teachers, Imogen returned to Cambridge University after graduating for postgraduate teacher training (PGCE) and then taught for four years in state schools in North London. During that time, Imogen worked with many children who had what are now called Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). This previous career gives Imogen rare, first-hand experience of the issues at stake in judicial review challenges and statutory appeals in the education law field.
Imogen advises and represents:
- Pupils / students and their families
- Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
- Schools
- Universities
- Admissions panels
- Local authorities
- Ofsted and regulators
- The Secretary of State for Education
Imogen accepts instructions across the full range of education law issues, for example:
- Judicial reviews of Ofsted decisions
- Judicial reviews of admissions decisions
- Fee-paying schools ceasing to educate students due to non-payment of fees
- School policies
- Special educational needs provision
- Statutory appeals relating to EHCPs
Imogen brings to her education practice her wider expertise across Monckton’s practice areas, including advising schools on procurement issues.
Imogen was a founding member of Monckton’s Education Law practice group and established the Monckton Education Law Blog.
Cases
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Civil liberties & human rights
Imogen acts in cases defending the human rights of individuals, as well as acting for corporations seeking to protect their commercial interests through human rights proceedings.
Imogen’s recent cases include:
- a JR challenging a social housing allocation policy on grounds of sex and race discrimination;
- actions against the police, including a failure properly to investigate serious sexual abuse in breach of Article 3;
- a landmark ruling which denied the National Crime Agency access to encrypted data on computers belonging to a “hacktivist” (further details here)
- a company challenging a ban of sales of one of its products (electronic dog collars) on A1P1 grounds;
In her first four years of practice, Imogen was a member of the Executive Committee of the Human Rights Lawyers Association (HRLA). She now sits on the committee of the Administrative Law Bar Association (ALBA) and the Young Public Lawyers Group (YPLG).
Imogen previously ran the year 12 programme of a project called ‘Your Law’, organising and delivering workshops on the Human Rights Act 1998 in state secondary schools in London.
Cases
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Community care
Within her public law practice, Imogen is regularly instructed in JRs relating to community care. She acts for both children and adults. Many of her community care clients are in receipt of legal aid.
She has acted for:
- adults denied or challenging Needs Assessments under the Care Act 2014
- children in relation to the provision of services under the Children Act 1989
- children in relation to ‘former relevant child’ status
- unaccompanied asylum seekers disputing the age which local authorities have found them to be
- asylum seekers in relation to the provision of asylum support
Cases
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Local government
Imogen accepts instructions, both as sole counsel and as junior counsel in larger teams, in challenges to local government decision-making. This includes advice and representation in relation to social housing and community care issues. Imogen regularly acts for children, as well as in adult social care challenges.
She has been involved in a number of judicial review challenges to the housing allocation policies of London borough councils.
Imogen regularly acts for unaccompanied child asylum seekers in their judicial review challenges to local authorities’ “age assessments” which have found them to be over 18 years old.
Through her work with Advocate (a charity which links barristers with those needing free legal help), Imogen has provided pro bono assistance to a charity which works with children in care.
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Procurement
Imogen acts on both claimant and defendant sides in major procurement litigation. Recent cases included acting for the Department for Transport in Eurotunnel’s procurement challenge to the award of Brexit ferry contracts.
Imogen is instructed by the Department for Health and Social Care in a number of high-profile judicial review challenges brought by the Good Law Project concerning procurement of PPE during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Imogen also provides non-contentious advice in this field. Her recent clients have included schools seeking advice in relation to redevelopment projects.
Cases
- 03 May 2022Court of Appeal refuses the Good Law Project permission to appeal in ‘Pestfix’ PPE procurement challenges
- 12 Jan 2022Judgment: Good Law Project’s PPE contracts challenges
- 01 Jul 2021Ewan West, acting for the Government, sees Judge set aside face mask procurement challenge on basis of procedural irregularity
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Commercial & utilities regulation
Within her public law practice, Imogen is regularly instructed to advise and represent in cases concerning commercial and utilities regulation. She acts in the most high-profile and complex judicial reviews of the day.
Imogen has acted in JRs concerning:
- smart meter roll-out
- wholesale fibre access in relation to broadband
- telecommunications licensing
- the electricity capacity market
- the LINK payment scheme
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Imogen’s series of articles “Admin Court: Practical Pointers”
June 22, 2022This article suggests a checklist which could be used by claimants and defendants when settling a JR to ensure that nothing is left out of the all-important final consent order.May 9, 2022The third article in the ‘Admin Court: Practical Pointers’ series asks: Does the ‘no substantial difference’ test in s.31(2A), (3C) and (3D) SCA 1981 need to be pleaded to have effect?April 6, 2022The second article in the 'Admin Court: Practical Pointers' series asks: given recent judgments castigating misuse of the urgent procedure, just how nervous should we now be about using Form N463?February 28, 2022The first article in the 'Admin Court: Practical Pointers' series asks: When challenging a decision taken on 1 January, are you in time if you file on 1 April? Or must you file by 31 March?
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Further information
Imogen has been awarded a range of scholarships including:
- Phoenicia Scholarship (Bar European Group, 2016);
- BPTC Advocacy Scholarship (City Law School, 2014);
- Exhibition Award (Inner Temple, 2013 and 2014 );
- Boutwood Scholarship for gaining a First (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 2006 and 2007)
- College Exhibition (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 2005); and
- College Prize for examination results (Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, 2005, 2006 and 2007).
Imogen has received a number of awards including:
- City Law School Outstanding Achievement in Volunteering, for successful pro bono representation of Law Centre clients in the First Tier Tribunal (2014);
- shortlisted for City Law School Public Law Essay Prize (2014); and
- Winner of the City Law School Bar Society Mock Trial (2014).
From 2016 to 2018 Imogen was a trustee of ‘Pro Bono Community’, a charity which seeks to improve access to justice by providing specialist training to volunteers in Law Centers and advice agencies.
Imogen represented Inner Temple in debate.
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What the directories say
Up and Coming in Administrative & Public Law: “I’ve seen her led and unled and she is a fantastic junior barrister.” “Her advice is clear and practical. She’s also very good with lay clients.” – Chambers UK, 2022
Rising Star in Administrative and Public: “Imogen is a brilliant barrister. She has a first-class mind, is very hard-working, is greatly responsive, and is user friendly. She is also particularly good at dealing with clients.” – Legal 500, 2022
Rising Star in Administrative and Public: “She has a first-class mind, is very hard-working, is greatly responsive and is user friendly. She is also particularly good at dealing with clients.” – Legal 500, 2021
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Effective Altruism Pledge
As part of the effective altruism movement, Imogen has taken the ‘Giving What We Can’ pledge to donate a proportion of her income to the organisations which can use it the most effectively to improve the lives of others via GiveWell’s Maximum Impact Fund.
- Publications
- Freedom of Information Journal – Recent decisions of the Commissioner and Tribunal – January 2018 to March 2018
- Freedom of Information Journal – Recent decisions of the Commissioner and Tribunal – June 2018 to September 2018