Frances Lawson is a specialist environmental, planning and public law barrister with a particular focus on strategic environmental litigation at domestic, European and international levels.
Frances joins Garden Court as a door tenant after a period as an in-house lawyer for environmental charity, and prior to this, as a managing associate in international arbitration. Frances previously enjoyed a varied common law practice for six years.
Frances is a member of the UK Environmental Law Association (UKELA) and previously co-convened their Working Party on Planning and Sustainable Development. In 2015, she was awarded a Pegasus Scholarship by Inner Temple to work on legal preparations for COP21 in Paris.
Before coming to the Bar, Frances worked for various NGOs, including Friends of the Earth, Sheffield Wildlife Trust, Shelter and the European Students’ Union. Frances has worked at the European Parliament and is fully bilingual (English/French).
Frances now lives in France, from where she also provides legal consultancy to environmental NGOs. She regularly travels to the UK and is available to attend court hearings as required. She welcomes instructions in any of the three practice areas below.
Environmental Law and Climate Justice
Overview
Frances has particular expertise in, and a long track record of working on, environmental protection and climate justice. Her knowledge spans English, EU and international environmental law. Frances’ environmental expertise is complimented by her extensive criminal and regulatory law background from her time at Six Pump Court. She is also experienced in drafting information requests to support environmental claims.
Her recent work includes:
- Coordinating a challenge before the European Court of Justice on behalf of various European environmental NGOs to the EU Taxonomy Regulation in relation to bioenergy and forest management.
- Leading a long-running, and ultimately successful, OECD Complaint to the UK National Contact Point in relation to misleading environmental statements made by Drax PLC. This involved extensive drafting and written advocacy, as well as associated information requests.
- Drafting information requests and a successful complaint to the Information Commissioner under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, in relation to peat extraction in Somerset.
- Coordinating legal action on logging in protected Natura 2000 sites in Estonia and Romania.
- Conducting a major research project into forest certification on behalf of ClientEarth.
Frances’ previous environmental and climate justice experience includes:
- Acting in a private prosecution of a mining company for breaches of the Habitats Regulations (instructed by Richard Buxton Solicitors);
- Supporting the enforcement and prosecution teams at the Environment Agency on two separate secondments as a senior in-house lawyer;
- Acting over several years as a pro bono legal advisor on international climate change law for Legal Response International (LRI), an NGO supporting developing country parties to the UNFCCC;
- Working on the legal preparations for COP21 in Paris as part of a Pegasus Scholarship from Inner Temple, including drafting a declaration on Climate Change and Human Rights;
- Pro bono work on the campaign for ecocide to be recognised as the fifth crime against humanity, and for the Coalition for an International Court for the Environment.
Before coming to the Bar, Frances began her career at Friends of the Earth, where she managed the North East regional office, its campaigns and its policy work, from 2003-2005.
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Administrative and Public Law
Overview
Frances has a particular interest in public law, and has been involved in several judicial review challenges to date.
One of her main achievements to date was successfully defending a judicial review of a Council planning enforcement notice in the High Court, during a complex three-day hearing. In that case ([2019] EWHC 160 (Admin)), Frances acted as sole counsel against a KC and Junior team.
More recently, Frances coordinated a judicial review challenge to the Government’s 2023 Biomass Strategy before Mrs Justice Lieven KC.
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Planning Law
Overview
Frances acts both for and against local planning authorities in planning matters. She has appeared at inquiry on numerous occasions, most recently for Hart District Council in a planning enforcement inquiry.
Her work to date has covered issues relating to green belt land, material change of use, listed buildings and tree protection orders. She has spoken several times at planning seminars on the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and provided case law updates.
Frances has detailed knowledge of the nationally significant infrastructure regime, and recently provided in-depth support to an environmental NGO with its written representations to the Planning Inspectorate on an energy infrastructure Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), which threatens designated nature sites in Kent.
