Stuart Gale KC specialises in public and administrative law with particular emphasis on town and country planning law and land use. He is regularly instructed in relation to judicial review proceedings, local authority, regulatory and environmental law.
Biography
Stuart Gale is an experienced Senior Counsel whose particular specialism lies in town and country planning law and land use. He has a particular interest in land form and geology. He has acted for the Parliamentary promoters of major transportation infrastructure projects such as the Glasgow Airport Rail Link Bill and the Port of Cairnryan Harbour Empowerment Order. He acted for the objectors to the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route Inquiry.
He also practises on the Isle of Man where he specialises in registered (listed) buildings work and objections to planning applications which have implications for the Isle of Man Biosphere status.
He is an expert on the legal and technical implications of offshore incidents, in particular in relation to gas escapes and explosions, and has acted in inquiries and prosecutions for several of the major oil companies operating in the North Sea, including the Ocean Odyssey blow out in 1988 and the Brent Bravo incident in 2005. He acted for the designer of the MFV Trident in the reopened inquiry into her sinking and the loss of her crew in 1974.
He has acted in a number of major judicial review applications, principally in relation to planning and related land use issues, but also in relation to allocation of public resources, particularly medical and drug treatment.
Since the commencement of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry in 2017, he has acted for FBGA, the organisation representing those who were abused in Quarriers Homes. In particular he has represented that organisation in four case studies conducted by the Inquiry and will continue to represent the organisation in future case studies. He has lectured both in Scotland and the Isle of Man on the form and practice of public inquiries with particular reference to the Inquiries Act 2005. His webinar talk in April 2021 on the role of counsel in public inquiries is available on the Terra Firma YouTube channel.
Appointments
- Standing Junior Counsel, Foreign & Commonwealth Office 1987-1993
- Temporary Sheriff 1988-1998
- Part time Advocate Depute 1995 - 1998
- Chairman Police Appeals Tribunal Scotland 2003- to date
- Vice-Chairman, Terra Firma Chambers, 2014 - 2017
Publications
- "The impact of Information Technology upon Civil Practice and
Procedure" in Law and the Internet - Edwards & Waelde (1997) - The Human Factor in Planning law 2004 SLT
- Unreasonableness and Proportionality: Recent Developments in Judicial Review 2005 SLT
Recent Cases
- Mactaggart & Mickel Homes Ltd & Ors v Inverclyde Council and Scottish Ministers [2020] CSIH 44
- Community Windpower Ltd v East Ayrshire Council [2017] CSOH 142 and [2017] CSIH 67
- William Tracey Ltd v Scottish Ministers and the Advocate General for Scotland [2016] CSOH 131
- Landvest PCC Ltd v the Most Reverend Leo William Cushley & Others [2016] CSOH 109
- Jacqueline MacLeod v Highland Health Board [2016] CSIH 25
- Anderson v Shetland Islands Council [2014] CSIH 73
- Shetland Islands Council v Anderson [2014] CSOH 23
- JM (as legal representative of RM) v Highland Health Board [2014] CSOH 9
- EA v GN [2013] CSOH 161
- Dawn Developments Ltd v Scottish Ministers [2013] CSOH 154
- Davies & Anr v The Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care [2013] UKSC 12 (Supreme Court)
- Tesco Stores Ltd v Aberdeen City Council [2012] CSIH 81
- Anderson v Shetland Islands Council [2012] UKSC 7
- William Walton v Scottish Ministers [2012] CSIH 19
- Dawn Developments Ltdv South Lanarkshire Council [2011] CSOH 170
- Multi-Link Leisure Developments Ltd v North Lanarkshire Council [2010] UKSC 43 (Supreme Court)
- Anderson v Shetland Islands Council [2010] CSIH 15 (Supreme Court)
