Gavin Dingley FCIArb

Gavin has experience in both sports and international commercial arbitrations. He has advised on cases under the LCIA, SIAC, ICC and UNCITRAL rules. Due to Gavin’s multiple Bar admissions, he is uniquely placed to act in matters concerning the United Kingdom and Belgium. He is currently working towards further admission in Scotland and Ireland.

Much of Gavin’s arbitration practice involves arbitration-related applications to the Commercial Court under the 1996 Act. This includes applications for interim relief in support of arbitrations (e.g. anti-suit injunctions); seeking or resisting enforcement of domestic or foreign awards under the New York Convention; and challenging or defending awards under sections 67, 68 and 69 of the 1996 Act. Recent examples of this type of work include:

Recent work includes:

• Advised on jurisdiction in a UNCITRAL arbitration concerning breach of a guarantor agreement for sums loaned to state-owned entities in the Middle East.
• Advised on a substantial section 67 Arbitration Act 1996 appeal regarding whether or not the tribunal had jurisdiction to hear the case.

In addition, Gavin advises clients on all facets of the arbitral process (including pre- and post-arbitral steps), such as drafting arbitration agreements, securing pre-arbitration injunctions, and acting as counsel during the arbitration proceedings.

Gavin represents athletes, sports governing bodies, agents and clubs before a range of domestic and international tribunals and courts, including the Court of Arbitration for Sport and Sports Resolutions. He advises on all sports-related matters, including contract disputes, anti-doping rule violations, match-fixing charges, selection disputes, disciplinary matters, governance and corruption. He also takes instructions in non-contentious matters, such as drafting and advising on regulations and governance issues. Specifically, Gavin’s recent experience includes

• Representing a Team GB athlete in a selection appeal for continuation on the WCPP
• Representing a Team GB athlete in a selection appeal for international competition
• Advising on safeguarding policy breaches and possible sanctions for an international coach
• Representing a coach before internal disciplinary proceedings and on appeal in respect of sexual misconduct and safeguarding policy breaches.
• Representing a skiing coach before Sports Resolutions in a safeguarding matter.
• Representing a member of the Senior PGA Championship in disciplinary proceedings.
• Advising a Super League Player over deducted/unpaid wages from his club following an anti-doping violation.
• Representing a member of a well-known Championship Golf Course in internal disciplinary proceedings.
• Drafting representations to the UKAD (UK Anti-Doping) concerning a Rugby Union player’s anti-doping violation.

In addition, Gavin sits as an arbitrator in sports disputes and holds panel memberships where he is regularly appointed as the chair of the following NGBs:

• City of Hull District Rugby League, Youth Disciplinary Panel
• Scottish Gymnastics, Conduct in Sport Panel
• Rugby Football League Community Game, Disciplinary Panel
• England Hockey, Disrepute Panel
• British Canoeing, Selection Appeal Panel
• British Canoeing, Disciplinary Panel
• England Badminton, Disciplinary Panel
• Scottish Athletics, Disciplinary Panel

Gavin acts as an advocate and advises in all aspects of immigration, asylum, nationality and EU law. He has particular expertise in cases where the Home Office imposes a civil penalty for illegal working and securing interim relief in complex sponsor licence applications, drafting representations to the Home Office to avoid litigation and dealing with substantive proceedings in the High Court involving the revocation or suspension of a sponsor licence. He brings a unique perspective to his immigration practice as he is regularly instructed by the Government Legal Department and Home Office to act on their behalf. He also provides ad-hoc and training to other immigration lawyers through specialised Business Immigration Seminars with MLB.

Recent highlights include: 

Reported cases

• Operation Holdings Ltd v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2019] EWHC 3884 (Admin) – concerning the use of deception or fraud in attributing a CoS and the ‘Genuine Vacancy Test’.

Advisory work

• Advising a MedTech Start-up on Sponsor Licence compliance.
• Successfully represented an Appellant in the Manchester County Court who faced a £120,000 civil penalty for allegedly employing illegal workers.
• Drafted representations for an Appellant facing an illegal working penalty notice lowering the Appellant’s liability from £40,000 to £10,000 for allegedly employing illegal workers on a market stall.
• Drafted representations which assisted in securing a Tier 2 Sponsor Licence for a Technology Start-up in Newcastle upon Tyne.
• Advising a recruitment company of the recruitments for an Intra – Company transfer visa under Tier 2.

Personal Immigration

Gavin has expertise in immigration appeals, pre-action correspondence and judicial review challenges involving the deprivation of nationality, revocation of indefinite leave to remain, the right of abode, deportation orders and applications under the Turkish Ankara Agreement. He also regularly advises and acts in urgent applications and injunctions and civil claims for damages for unlawful detention.

Gavin also has extensive experience in Adult Dependent Relative, Spouse Entry Clearance, TOEIC appeals and those involving paragraph 322(5) where individuals are alleged to have cheated on an English Language test or falsified their tax returns to secure an extension on their Tier 1 Entrepreneur visa and therefore fail on suitability grounds.

Recent highlights include:

• Kamal Hasan v SSHD [2020]; High Court Judicial Review challenging the Home Office’s report of an ‘expert document examiner’ and what constitutes as ‘expert evidence’.
• Kashif Saleem v SSHD [2020]; High Court Judicial Review which SSHD settled by way of consent order following claimant’s grounds challenging finding of deception in a ‘Life in the UK Test’.
• Alina Lavrukhina v SSHD [2020]; Permission for Judicial Review granted following oral permission hearing by UTJ Keith. Case concerned whether Article 8 ECHR had been considered in an application for Entry Clearance.
• Mert Koyuncu v SSHD [2020]; SSHD settled by way of consent order following applicant’s grounds challenging SSHD’s failure to consider s.55 duties and discretion in ECAA guidance.
• Saiful Islam v SSHD [2019]; Represented Mr Islam in a case that received national attention concerning historic injustice an unlawful exercise of discretion.  See: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-51034041

Gavin has a growing health & safety, criminal regulatory and environmental law practice. He has represented individuals and corporate Defendants in the Magistrates’ and Crown Courts in prosecutions brought by the Health and Safety Executive as well as the Environment Agency. On account of his experience and expertise he is also a member of the Specialist Regulatory Advocates in Health and Safety and Environmental Law (C-List), where he prosecutes for the regulator.

Gavin has experience of a wide range of cases in this area both in his own right and as a result of completing a 12-month pupillage at a criminal set before joining Chambers. Those cases have covered a range of settings including construction sites, work at height, residential care, waste management, manufacturing, agricultural, supported housing and road traffic accidents.

Gavin’s experience includes:

• Advice on merits for an appeal following an improvement notice
• Representing a defendant in Magistrates’ proceedings arising from waste management related prosecution;
• Representing an individual defendant in Magistrates’ proceedings arising out of a prosecution for death by careless driving;
• Representing a corporate defendant both in the Magistrates’ court and subsequent Crown Court proceedings arising an injury arising from a manufacturing incident.
• Assisting with an advice on a case involving the death of a resident of a care home
• Researching and drafting an advice on the financial information that ought to be disclosed when a partnership is being prosecuted, including the applicability of s. 162 Criminal Justice Act 2003 to individual partners’

Gavin is a CEDR accredited mediator and focusses on civil and commercial disputes. In acting as mediator Gavin draws on his experiences from private practice, which has provided him with a particularly good understanding of the commercial realities in which parties operate and which is often crucial to facilitating settlement.

Gavin became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators at the age of 28 and to date is one of the youngest to ever achieve this distinction. He is keen to utilise his experience from acting as counsel to the role of arbitrator and accepts appointments as sole or co-arbitrator. At present, he is listed as panel arbitrator at the following institutions:

• • The Court of Arbitration for Art (CAfA), Panel of Arbitrators
  • The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, BAS Panel of Arbitrators
  • Philippine ArbitrationCentre in the Visayas, Panel of Arbitrators
  • Mauritius Arbitration Centre, Panel of Arbitrators

• Sports Resolutions Pro Bono Panel
• ANZSLA Advocates Panel (Australian and New Zealand Sports Tribunal)
• Panel Member of the Specialist Regulatory Advocates in Health and Safety and Environmental Law (C-List)
• Attorney General ‘Junior Junior’ Civil Panel Scheme
• Treasury Solicitors’ Immigration List
• Home Office Appeal Review Panel
• Junior Counsel, Under Cover Police Inquiry (2018 – 2019)
• Serious Fraud Office Disclosure Counsel Panel
• SC Security Clearance

• CEDR – Accredited Mediator
• Certificate in Sports Arbitration, Asian International Arbitration Centre
• FCIArb – Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration
• LLM (International Law) – SOAS, University of London
• ISISC Diploma – International Institute of Higher Studies Criminal Science, Italy
• Graduate Entry LLB (Hons) – City, University of London
• BA (Hons), Politics – University of Exeter
• Durham School

• Honourable Society of Inner Temple Rachel Lawrence Pupillage Scholarship
• Sir Joseph Priestly Scholarship
• ICLR Pupillage Scholarship – Shortlisted
• International Marcianum MootCourt Competition – Winner, representing Inner Temple
• The International Bar Association Scholarship (International Criminal Law)
• Sir Geoffrey Nice Bursary
• The Times/One Essex Court Law Awards – Winner (2^ndPlace)
• SOAS Academic Postgraduate Scholarship Award for LLM
• The International Bar Association Scholarship, Vienna Annual Conference
• The International Bar Association Magna Carta Essay Competition -Winner
• Human Rights Lawyers’ Association Bursary
• Clifford Chance Intelligent Aid Essay Competition – Finalist
• Holman Fenwick & Willan LLP – Global Lawyer Essay Competition – Finalist
• Dean’s Award Scholarship
• Honourable Society of Inner Temple BPTC Major Exhibition Scholarship
• Honourable Society of Inner Temple CPE Major Exhibition Scholarship

Prior to joining Chambers Gavin worked as a Legal Assistant in Australia for one of the country’s leading Silks, Julian Burnside OA Q.C. During his time in Australia Gavin helped draft submissions in several applications before the Federal Court and assisted with legal research in a High Court challenge of Australia’s immigration rules. Moreover, Gavin was also involved in helping drafting representations to the International Criminal Court concerning Australia’s treatment of Refugees.

Gavin also worked with the Zambian Law Development Commission where he conducted research and held focus groups for a review of the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code. In addition, he helped investigate alleged human rights abuses of the Zambian Prison Service and assisted with drafting memorandum.