Dr Mirza Ahmad

St Philips Chambers

Mirza is nationally recognised as a strategic leader, with highly persuasive communication and influencing skills and abilities. As an accomplished presenter, he has inspired many individuals at national and international conferences on issues relating to, for example, Good Governance (which includes ethical & corporate governance), Human Rights, Procurement, Compulsory Competitive Tendering, Best Value, Freedom of Information and Business Excellence.

Called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn, in 1984, Mirza commenced his local government career in 1985 and became Chairman of the Bar Association for Local Government & the Public Service, in April 1998 (www.balgps.org.uk). He has also been a Member of the General Council of the Bar for England & Wales since 1995 (save for 1998). Mirza was President of the Association of Council Secretaries & Solicitors (ACSeS) in 2009/2010 and his theme was ‘Leadership Excellence’.

Within 15 years of joining local government, Mirza got to the top of local government legal services by joining Birmingham City Council, as Chief Legal Officer. Following further internal promotions – including becoming the statutory Monitoring Officer in 2001 – he ultimately had responsibility over £40 million annual budgets and provided strategic and corporate leadership over 2 Directors, about 25 Heads of Service and over 800 staff.

His Department provided a wide range of multi-disciplinary, professional and administrative work relating to, for example, Legal, Democratic, Elections, Public Health, Environmental Protection, Licensing & Hackney Carriages, Trading Standards, Illegal Money Lending, Mortuary, HM Coroners, Registrar of Births, Deaths & Marriages, Data Protection & Information Management.

Mirza commenced private practice from St Philips Chambers, Birmingham, in November 2011, and deals with all aspects of high level local authority work (for and against), save for operational Family (Child Care/Social Services) matters. This broad statement includes the following areas of law & practice (in order of strategic focus and importance to local government):-

Ethical & Corporate Governance, Monitoring Officer & constitutional matters;
Decommissioning of services & strategic development of shared services with other public bodies;
Employment (including unfair dismissal, disciplinary matters, Single Status & Equal Pay claims);
Procurement (UK & EU aspects);
Contracts (including drafting and disputes resolution);
Planning & Compulsory Purchase Orders;
Land & Property transactions (including Private Finance Initiate, joint ventures and landlord & tenant);
Consumer Protection (including Trading Standards, Public & Environmental Health);
Housing & Community Safety matters; and
Education and Leisure Services.

Practice Area

Public Law

Panels

Case Analysis Panel
Contributing Author

Qualified Year

1984

Membership

Member of the General Council of the Bar for England and Wales, President of the Association of Council Secretaries & Solicitors (ACSeS) 2009/2010, Ch

Qualification

Barrister, MBA, LLM, LLD (Hon)

2 Contributions by Mirza Ahmad

PRACTICE NOTES

Judicial Review in England and Wales: Administrative Court and Upper Tribunal scope, standing, alternative remedies, time limits, permission, grounds and relief

What is judicial review? Judicial review is the means by which the courts exercise a supervisory jurisdiction over the performance of public functions by public bodies. This supervisory jurisdiction should not be mistaken for, or treated as, a right of appeal. CPR 54.1 states that a 'claim for judicial review' means a claim to assess the lawfulness of: an enactment a decision, action, or failure to act in relation to the exercise of a public function. Proceedings usually take place in the Administrative Court, which forms part of the King's Bench Division of the High Court. Judicial review proceedings are governed by a number of Civil Procedure Rules, Practice Directions and a pre-action protocol. Further detailed and practical guidance is provided in the Administrative Court Judicial Review Guide. The guide is intended to assist parties pursuing judicial review claims in the Administrative Court, bringing together the relevant statutory provisions, procedural rules, practice directions, case law and guidance. The guide aims to ensure efficient use of court resources and to help achieve the overriding objective of dealing with cases justly and at proportionate cost...

Public Law

PRACTICE NOTES

Judicial review in England and Wales: CPR Part 54 practice and procedure from pre-action to hearing, including urgent relief, venue, interested parties, evidence, Planning Court and Upper Tribunal

This Practice Note It outlines the particular procedural phases in a judicial review application and then explains in detail the specific obligations for each phase, as set out by the CPR, CPR PD, and Administrative Court guidance...