Jamie is a senior solicitor in the Human Rights department who specialises in judicial review and public law.
He is recognised as a leader in the fields of administrative and public law and civil liberties by
Chambers & Partners (interviewees agree that Jamie Beagent "really shines in his devotion." He has particular experience in central government and immigration challenges; he is equally well-versed in planning, environmental and unlawful detention cases) and is also recommended by the
Legal 500 (claimant firm Leigh Day has expertise spanning immigration, planning, unlawful detention and healthcare. ‘At the top of his profession’, Richard Stein leads the ‘impressive team’, which also features Jamie Beagent and Frances Swaine).
Jamie works for a range of clients including individuals, groups, NGOs and charities. He undertakes judicial challenges to the decisions and failings of public authorities from quangos to central Government departments.
With particular expertise in the fields of planning an environmental law and unlawful detention, Jamie has developed a wide-ranging judicial review practice. He has worked closely with NGOs such as
Bail for Immigration Detainees,
Detention Action and
Medical Justice to identify systemic unlawfulness by the Home Office and UKBA and bring strategic litigation to assist the large and growing marginalised group of immigration detainees.
Jamie has a strong interest in corporate accountability and worked the
Corner House and
Campaign Against Arms Trade in their challenge to the decision of the Serious Fraud Office to drop their investigation into
BAE and Saudi Arms deals. Recently, he also helped a group of complainants (including Corner House and the
Kurdish Human Rights Project) bring the first successful complaint to the UK’s OECD National Contact Point. The NCP upheld the complaint finding that a consortium led by BP had breached the OECD Guidelines by failing to consult properly with the local population in Turkey when developing the
Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline.
Jamie has also been involved in some of the leading cases relating to the ‘war on terror’. He worked on the case of
Binyam Mohamed in the judicial review that helped secure his release from Guantanamo Bay and has worked with
Reprieve on the cases of other victims of ill-treatment and unlawful detention, including the application for habeas corpus brought by Bagram detainee
Yunus Rahmatullah.
An area of particular interest for Jamie is access to justice. He was involved in the leading case on
Protective Costs Orders (Corner House-v-the Secretary of State for Trade & Industry[L]), intervened on behalf of the
Public Law Project in the leading case on claimant’s costs (
Bahta & Ors-v-SSHD) and has brought challenges to the Legal Services Commission where they have cut legal funding
without proper consultation.
Jamie undertakes legal aid work and will also represent clients on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis where appropriate. He has considerable experience of advising on costs and funding issues for both individuals and groups. He can also advise organisations on litigation strategy in the context of policy objectives and on related media strategy.
After qualifying as a solicitor in 2003, Jamie joined Leigh Day. Jamie has published articles relating to a number of his cases and wider legal issues in the
Judicial Review, the
New Law Journal, the
Journal of Environmental Law, and
Socialist Lawyer magazine. He is a member of the
Administrative Law Bar Association, the Administrative Court Users Group and the Refugee Legal Group.