Gareth Rhys

Gareth accepts instructions across all of 1 Crown Office Row’s areas of specialism and has a broad practice in courts and tribunals up to, and including, the UK Supreme Court. He has experience acting for individuals, corporate entities and government departments working on matters principally relating to public, administrative and revenue law, although he has experience of customs, environmental law, medical law, personal injury, and immigration, as well as public inquiries and inquests (including Article 2 inquests).

Gareth is a member of the Attorney General’s London C Panel of counsel and undertakes a wide range of work for government departments across Whitehall. Gareth’s background is in public and revenue law. For two years, he was a government barrister at HMRC. He also spent a period as Senior Crown Counsel in St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, advising the Attorney General and acting for the Governments of the territories in a wide range of civil and constitutional proceedings, including judicial reviews.

Before coming to 1 Crown Office Row, Gareth spent a year as Judicial Assistant to Lady Justice Andrews DBE and Lord Justice Stuart-Smith in the Court of Appeal. This gave him valuable experience of a breadth of areas of law and informs his practice. He also helped Andrews LJ update Sweet & Maxwell’s “Law of Guarantees” (8th edition).

Gareth holds a first-class honours degree in Law from Queen Mary University of London, during which he received several awards including the Queen Mary Jurisprudence and Legal Theory Prize for outstanding academic achievement. Gareth also has a Masters degree in Taxation with Distinction from Christ Church, University of Oxford.

Gareth maintains a keen interest in art and architecture and holds an MA in History of Art from Magdalene College, University of Cambridge. Gareth worked on a number of art law matters while at HMRC and welcomes instructions in this area.

Outside his professional role, Gareth has been a supervisor on the Pink Law project at the Queen Mary Legal Advice Centre in Mile End, East London since 2020. This is a pro bono initiative that provides practical legal advice to members of the LGBTQIA+ community on a range of legal issues, such as obtaining asylum, medical treatment, housing and benefits.

For recreation, Gareth enjoys hillwalking with his husband, mainly in Scotland and the Alps. He is also an enthusiastic skier and used to race with the Ski Club Oz-Allemont. Gareth likes studying languages and speaks several European languages to a proficient level.