Administrative Law or Judicial Review
Commercial Law
Human Rights
Planning
Charles Banner KC was called to the Bar of England & Wales in 2004 and to the Bar of Northern Ireland in 2010. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2019 at the age of 38. He sits judicially on a part-time basis as a Justice of the Astana International Finance Centre Court in Nur -Sultan, Kazakhstan.
He has a heavyweight domestic and international practice, principally focused on (i) planning & environmental regulation, (ii) public procurement, competition & state aid and (iii) commercial dispute resolution in the context of development, infrastructure and construction (particularly in the energy, transport, residential and tourism sectors). He also has considerable experience of public & constitutional law, human rights, EU law and commercial dispute resolution more generally.
He is recommended as a leading silk in a total of 8 practice areas by Chambers & Partners and Legal 500. He is also ranked as one of Great Britain’s Top 6 planning silks in the 2023 edition of Planning Magazine’s annual Planning Legal Survey.
His advocacy experience includes well over 150 reported cases, including 18 appeals in the UK Supreme Court (making him one of the top 10 currently practising barristers by number of appearances in the Supreme Court since its opening in 2009). He has appeared in 13 cases before the EU Courts (Court of Justice and General Court), 9 cases before the UNECE Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee, 4 cases before the European Court of Human Rights as well as UK Parliamentary Select Committee hearings. He has also appeared in well over 100 planning and environmental inquiries/examinations, as well as in many of the leading planning judicial review cases in Northern Ireland in the last decade.
BA(Hons) & MA(Oxon), University of Oxford
Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators
Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
Riverridge v. Arc 21 - ongoing public procurement litigation concerning the award of a contract for the management of Belfast’s municipal waste.
Arc 21 Energy From Waste Project in Co. Antrim – a £240m strategic Energy From Waste facility. Successful judicial review in 2023 of the refusal of planning permission by the Minister for Infrastructure.
Mooreland and Owenvarragh Residents’ Association’s application for Judicial Review [2022] NIQB 40 – acted for the Department for Communities, successfully defending a judicial review challenge to the grant of a new GAA stadium at Casement Park, Belfast, which was brought on constitutional, EIA, habitats and planning law grounds.
Minister for Infrastructure v. Safe Electricity A&T Ltd [2022] NICA 61 – judicial review challenge to the Northern Ireland Minister for Infrastructure’s grant of planning permission for the North-South Interconnector – Northern Ireland Electricity’s proposed 400kv strategic interconnector between Tyrone in Northern Ireland and Cavan in the Republic of Ireland. A test case concerning the power-sharing arrangements under the Northern Ireland Act 1998 as amended, and specifically whether and if so in what circumstances the Minister for Infrastructure is required to refer major planning decisions to the Executive Committee. Previously acted for the Department for Infrastructure concerning the project for several years since 2013, including at a high profile public inquiry and in various High Court proceedings.
Buttercrane Centre Limited’s Application for Judicial Review [2017] NIQB: challenge to planning permission for the extension of The Quays retail centre in Newry, concerning the compatibility with Article 6 ECHR of the ‘promptness’ requirement for JR.
Newry Chamber of Commerce’s Application for Judicial Review [2015] NIQB 65: challenge to planning permission for a large scale retail-led redevelopment, raising issues under the Habitats Directive, EIA Directive and the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
Doyle’s Application for Judicial Review [2014] NIQB 82: challenge to the Planning Appeal Commission’s grant of permission for a key element of the University of Ulster’s £300m regeneration scheme in North Belfast, concerning standing for JR in the planning context.
Department of Environment’s Application for Judicial Review [2014] NIQB 4: challenge to Planning Appeal Commission’s grant of permission for a large-scale airport car-park in the countryside, concerning the relationship between the different applicable Planning Policy Statements.
The Aarhus Convention - A Guide for UK Lawyers (Hart Publishing, 2015)