Pannick was
called to the Bar at
Gray's Inn in 1979, and was one of the panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown (Common Law) from 1988 to 1992, when he was appointed
Queen's Counsel, as the title was known during the reign of
Elizabeth II. He was also appointed a
recorder on the
South Eastern Circuit in 1995, and a deputy
High Court judge in 1998. He stopped sitting as a judge in 2005. He became an honorary fellow of
Hertford College, Oxford, in September 2004. He has written on legal matters for
The Times, and was co-author with
Anthony Lester of
Human Rights Law and Practice.
Peerage On 29 September 2008, the
House of Lords Appointments Commission announced that Pannick had been nominated for a
life peerage as a
crossbencher. His title is recorded in
The London Gazette as
Baron Pannick, of
Radlett in the county of
Hertfordshire, dated 3 November 2008. On 31 July 2025, he was a signatory of a letter from 38 House of Lords members opposing the UK's plan to recognise a State of Palestine: the peers said Palestine "does not meet the international law criteria for recognition of a state, namely, defined territory, a permanent population, an effective government and the capacity to enter into relations with other states."
Notable cases In the 1980s Pannick appeared for
The Sunday Times in the
Spycatcher case. He acted for the gay servicemen who established in the European Court of Human Rights in 1999 a finding of unlawful dismissal because of their sexual orientation; represented
Camelot PLC in the High Court in 2000 and established that the
National Lottery Commission had treated it unfairly in rejecting its application to renew its licence to run the National Lottery; acted for the
League Against Cruel Sports in defending a challenge to the validity of the
Hunting Act 2004; represented a woman who established that she was entitled to be prescribed with the breast cancer drug
Herceptin; and was briefed by the
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in its claim to
state immunity against allegations of
torture. In 2007, Pannick appeared for
BBC director-general
Mark Thompson when an attempt was made to prosecute the BBC for blasphemy for broadcasting
Jerry Springer: The Opera. In July 2008, he represented the
British Olympic Committee in successfully resisting in the High Court the claim by athlete
Dwain Chambers about the refusal to select him for the Beijing Olympics because of the earlier finding of doping. Later that year he represented
Debbie Purdy in the Appellate Committee of the Lords (the last judgement given in the
House of Lords) to establish the duty of the
Director of Public Prosecutions to publish guidelines on prosecuting for assisting a suicide. Later, Pannick acted for AF, a man subject to a control order, establishing that the
Home Secretary had a duty to inform him of the essence of the case against him. He represented
The Crown in the Supreme Court in establishing in 2010 that MPs accused of
dishonestly claiming expenses were not entitled to the benefit of
parliamentary privilege. In January 2011, he represented
Max Mosley before the European Court of Human Rights in his claim that the right to privacy obliged the United Kingdom to impose duties on newspapers to give prior notice of a publication invading privacy so the subject could seek an
injunction. He appeared for the
Jewish Free School (JFS) in the first hearing before the new Supreme Court on 2 October 2009,
about the school's admissions policy. In 2011 and 2012, Pannick also represented the
Government of Hong Kong in
Vallejos v Commissioner of Registration, a case in which a
foreign domestic helper sought judicial review to determine whether it was constitutional for the government to deny her the
right of abode in the territory. In October 2016, he co-wrote a legal opinion commissioned by businessman
Philip Green to challenge the conclusions of a parliamentary inquiry which criticised Green's conduct over the collapse of retailer
British Home Stores. Also in 2016, Pannick successfully represented
Gina Miller in
R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, an action against the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union on whether approval by Parliament was required before the Prime Minister could initiate proceedings under Article 50 of the
Treaty of the European Union to take the UK out of the
European Union. Pannick successfully led the team working on behalf of
Gina Miller in
R (on the application of Miller) (Appellant) v The Prime Minister (Respondent), arguing against the legality of the Government's
prorogation of Parliament in September 2019. In the ruling on the morning of 24 September 2019, the UK supreme court unanimously judged that the Prime Minister
Boris Johnson had given unlawful advice to the Queen. In November 2020, Pannick appeared on behalf of
Shamima Begum in the Supreme Court in
Begum v Home Secretary, judicial review proceedings brought against the then
Home Secretary Sajid Javid's decision not to allow her to return to Britain for legal proceedings regarding the removal of her
British citizenship. In March 2023, Pannick advised former Prime Minister
Boris Johnson in his assessment by the House of Commons Privileges Committee of whether he knowingly misled the House in relation to his statements around the
Partygate scandal. Pannick has a notable association with
Manchester City F.C representing them as counsel as far back as 2005 as part of a compensation dispute with former manager
Joe Royle, as well as further cases against
UEFA and the
Premier League.
Small house policy Pannick represented the
Heung Yee Kuk village organisation in
Hong Kong, in a court case to defend the
small house policy. The controversial policy allows male villagers, but not female villagers, the right to build their own house on government land in the
New Territories. Pannick challenged
Martin Lee, the "Father of Democracy", who represented the plaintiffs.
Publications Pannick's publications include: •
Judicial Review of the Death Penalty •
Sex Discrimination Law •
Judges •
Advocates •
Human Rights Law and Practice ==Personal life==