Clare is Co-Director of the firm and heads up the Public Law Department. Clare represents individuals and non-governmental organisations in judicial review challenges against various state actors. Clare has a particular interest and expertise in bringing strategic challenges that assist not only her individual clients, but also benefits the wider community. Clare specialises in cases raising migrant rights and criminal justice issues.

Clare’s cases

Clare has been instructed in numerous high-profile and cutting-edge cases. Case highlights include:

• Successful judicial review challenge to the Secretary of State’s blanket and secret policy of seizing mobile phones from asylum seekers arriving by small boat.
• Representing 2 of the 6 lead Claimants in the successful challenge to the Secretary of State’s use of Napier barracks to house asylum seekers, which established that the barracks were inadequate, that there were not proper procedures for identifying asylum seekers who should not be accommodated at the barracks due to their vulnerability and a breach of Article 5 rights and false imprisonment.
• Challenges to the lawfulness of the government’s guidance on visits out of care homes for young disabled adults during the covid-19 pandemic.
• In conjunction with Olivia Halse and Rachel Etheridge, various challenges to the exclusion of disadvantaged children from families with No Recourse to Public Funds from various schemes. Successful cases have led to changes to eligibility criteria so that migrant children can now access Free School Meals; the Healthy Start scheme, free 2-year-old nursery places and an extension of the Pupil Premium scheme.
• Challenging the government’s failure to make adequate education provision for disadvantaged children during the covid-19 pandemic.
• Numerous challenges to local authorities in relation to the provision of accommodation and financial support to destitute children and adults with care needs.
• Various judicial reviews against the police and CPS in relation to protest rights; the lawfulness of arrest and detention; charging decisions; the taking of DNA and finger-prints; DBS disclosure decisions and failures to properly investigate allegations of rape and domestic abuse and Victim’s Right to Review.
• Challenges in relation to NHS service provision and charging decision.

Awards

Clare and the team she leads are winners of numerous awards:

• 2022 – Clare was a finalist in the Social Welfare category of the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year awards.
• 2021 – the Public Law team that Clare leads won the Legal Aid Team of the Year award at the Legal Aid Lawyers of the Year awards.
• 2021 – runner up in the Access to Justice award at the Law Society’s Excellence Awards
• 2021 – runner up in the Small Firm of the Year award at the Law Society’s Excellence Awards
• 2016 – Winner of the Children’s Rights award at the Legal Aid Lawyers of the Year awards

Recommendations

Clare has been a ranked lawyer in both the Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners for many years.

Legal 500 – 2022

Clare is ranked as a ‘Next Generation Partner’ for Administrative and Public Law.

The Legal 500 describe “the ‘simply phenomenal’ team at Gold Jennings is headed up by the ‘dynamite solicitor’ Clare Jennings, whose ‘technical brilliance, strategic oversight and exceptional creativity’ is singled out by clients.  The group is particularly well known for its work on migrant rights, cases against the police, and inquests”.

Chambers and Partners – 2022

Clare is ranked in Band 2 in the Administrative & Public Law: Traditional Claimant category and recognised for her work in claims against local authorities and central government departments on matters concerning migrants’ rights, healthcare and data retention “She’s very creative and always thinking of new ways challenges can be brought. She is keen to press the law and push the frontiers”… “She is very committed to dealing with vulnerable clients”.

Charity

Clare is currently a Trustee and founding member of Project 17, a charity that works to end destitution among migrant children by providing advice and assistance on accessing support from social services.

Clare also regularly advises various charities supporting asylum seekers and migrants on issues affecting their clients.

Clare joined Gold Jennings in July 2013 from the Public Law Project (“PLP”), a leading legal charity and the Guardian Charity Award winner 2012. At PLP, she spent just under 2 years acting for disadvantaged individuals and groups in judicial review and human rights test cases.

Prior to this Clare spent three years in the Public Law and Human Rights team at Bindmans LLP where she qualified as a solicitor and assisted Partners on numerous high profile public law challenges.

Clare also spent just under 3 years at the NSPCC as their Data Protection Officer, advising on all aspects of information law compliance.

Clare completed a MSc. in Political Science (International Relations) with distinction in 2005 and before that studied Law with American Studies as the University of Sussex and UC Berkeley.

Clare is currently a Trustee and founding member of Project 17, a charity that works to end destitution among migrant children by providing advice and assistance on accessing support from social services.

Clare has significant experience of conducting judicial review and human rights litigation against a wide variety of state-actors. She has particular expertise in the following areas:

Migrant Rights issues

Clare has particular expertise in acting for Claimants in judicial review challenges concerning migrant rights issues. Cases include:

• The Queen (on the application of OK and others) v LB Barking and Dagenham [2017] EWHC (Admin) 2092 – a successful challenge to LB Barking and Dagenham’s decision that the children were not “in need”, and the consequential refusal to provide accommodation leaving the family homeless. The local authority’s assessments were held to be unlawful and irrational and the Claimants were subsequently provided with accommodation and financial assistance.
• The Queen (on the application of Project Seventeen) v LB Lewisham [2015] – a challenge to the Mayor of Lewisham’s decision to extend its pilot scheme which had introduced an eligibility criteria for s.17 assessments of the families with No Recourse to Public Funds. Following notice of the claim LB Lewisham introduced new guidance which substantially altered the criteria applied in the assessments and addressed Project 17’s concerns. The claim was settled pre-trial.
• Challenges to the suitability of accommodation provided by local authorities resulting in the provision of alternative accommodation.
• Successful challenges to refusals to assess on the basis that another local authority was responsible.
• Acting for families challenging the lawfulness of local authority policies in relation to the level of subsistence provided to families with NRPF, resulting in a review of policy and an increase in subsistence.
• Successful challenges to local authority findings that children were not in need for the purposes of s.17 of the Children Act 1989.
• Successful challenges to decisions to charge migrants for NHS services, resulting in charges being cancelled.
• Challenging regulations excluding Zambrano carers from claiming welfare benefits and housing assistance.
• Successful challenges to findings that migrant adults did not have eligible needs under the Care Act, resulting in the provision of accommodation and support.
• Challenge to dispersal of asylum seeker

Information and privacy law

Clare’s background as a Data Protect Officer, combined with her public law expertise means that she has acquired experience in privacy and information law cases including;

• Advising and representing clients in relation to DBS disclosure decisions
• Representing clients in relation to security vetting and barring decisions
• Clare currently represents Project 17 in an Information Tribunal case in relation to LB Lewisham’s refusal to disclose complete copies of its internal guidance on s.17 assessments of families with NRPF
• Challenging the obtaining and retention of personal data by state actors, including the police.

Criminal justice challenges

Clare also specialises in challenges arising out of criminal justice issues including:

• Judicial review challenges to the administration of police cautions
• Challenges in respect of police and IPCC complaints findings and processes
• Advising on the lawfulness of the administration of community resolution disposals and police information notices

Clare has also experience of advising clients on civil claims against the police for damages

General public law experience

Clare’s other recent cases include

• A proposed claim for judicial review of the Prime Minister’s failure to appoint additional panel members to the Grenfell Inquiry. In response to pre-action correspondence the Prime Minister confirmed that she would be considering appointing additional panel members and that when she did so she would ensure that due regard was had to her Public Sector Equality Duty
• A challenge to DWP’s interpretation of “fraud” in a debt context and the decision to recover over-payments following the Claimant obtaining a Debt Relief Order. The case concluded with the DWP agreeing to waive the debt.
• A challenge to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman in relation to failings by Ofqual;
• Challenging failures by local authority to provide adequate community care services to meet disability needs