Chris Hamlet

Christopher Hamlet is recognised in the legal directories as a leading practitioner in the field of professional regulation.

He has wide experience across the sector, representing regulators and the regulated in primarily medical, legal, police and sports tribunals.

Recent examples of his work include:

Defending a professional cycling team principal in proceedings brought by the British Cycling Authority on wide-ranging charges of sexual harassment and breach of trust.

Representing a senior Army nurse as an “interested person” at a Military Inquest

Defending a metropolitan police officer at the police disciplinary tribunal on charges of threats to kill and homophobic abuse

Defending a young footballer at the FA Disciplinary Commission on charges of racially aggravated conduct – and taking the matter to the FA Appeal Court

Defending an RAF pilot at courts martial on charges of exceeding the operational alcohol limit – involved successfully challenging the breath results on technical grounds and representing him in subsequent employment/administrative proceedings resulting in him retaining his job

Defending a solicitor at the SDT on charges of dishonesty arising from alterations made to legal documents

Prosecuting a social worker at the HCPTS on charges of accessing child pornography websites and related chatrooms –involving careful analysis of phone downloads

Prosecuting a doctor at the MPTS on charges of sexually motivated and predatory conduct involving junior colleagues

Prosecuting a doctor at the MPTS on charges relating to a misdiagnosis and subsequent dishonest attempts to conceal the failure – involving careful analysis and marshalling of competing, complex expert evidence

Christopher’s practice benefits from a broad professional background as a solicitor, an army officer and an in-house lawyer for the General Medical Council before he came to the Independent Bar.

Christopher sits as a Legal Assessor on the Regulatory Panel of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the Intellectual Property Regulation Board and is a Chair of the Disciplinary Commission of the Football Association. He is a member of the Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers and the Association of Military Court Advocates.

Legal Directory entries:

“pragmatic and persuasive. He cuts through to the key issues in a case”

Legal 500 2023

“He has good technical knowledge and advises and assists professional decision makers competently and confidently”.

Chambers and Partners 2022

“Charming, sensible and reasonable – and completely trustworthy and straight-up. An admirable barrister.”

Legal 500 2021

“…recognised as a leading practitioner in the field of professional regulation”

Chambers and Partners 2018

“His attention to detail is first class and his engagement with clients is excellent”

Legal 500 2017

Lecture/training topics:

“Police misconduct tribunals – a bias against formal action?” (23ES article, Apr 2022)

“Loose talk and recusal in the age of virtual hearings” (23ES article, Oct 2021)

Dealing with vulnerable registrants (to RICS tribunal members – Nov 2019)

Dishonesty and Integrity post-Ivey (to Regulatory and Disciplinary Conference Sep 2019)

Full day training CILEX Tribunal Members in caselaw update, dishonesty and determination of sanctions (July 2017)

The duty of Candour (to the GMC June 2016)

Direct Access:

Chris is authorised by the Bar Council to accept instructions on a direct access basis.