Gerard Boyle KC – Serjeants' Inn Chambers

Gerry is clerked primarily by Lee Johnson, Clare Sabido, Jennifer Pooler and Emma Bell.

Ranked by The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners in Professional Discipline and Regulatory Law, Inquests & Inquiries, Clinical Negligence and Police Law (Defendant).

“At trial his advocacy has been first class. I don’t think there’s anyone like him.”
Chambers & Partners

Experience & expertise

Gerry excels in a number of Chambers’ specialist areas. He has appeared in the Supreme Court in judicial review proceedings in the medical field; the Court of Appeal in judicial review proceedings in the police field; the most high-profile police misconduct proceedings concerning officers of all ranks up to and including Chief Constable, Inquests and Inquiries.

He is currently retained on behalf of the National Police Chiefs’ Council in the Undercover Policing Inquiry, the Royal College of Nursing in the COVID Inquiry, the Urology Inquiry in Northern Ireland, has acted on behalf of the Independent Office of Police Conduct in the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse [IICSA], and West Mercia Police in the Telford Child Exploitation Inquiry. He has appeared in numerous high profile Inquests such as the Inquests into the Terror Attack at Fishmongers’ Hall on London Bridge, and a host of Police Misconduct proceedings.

He is renowned for his outstanding outcomes at trial and hearings.

cases & work of note

Gerry has appeared in defining cases at all levels of court, including Delezuch in the Court of Appeal (successfully resisted attempts by the claimants to force changes to the Police Post Incident Management procedures following a death involving police contact), and JR 55 in the Supreme Court (historic case considering the extent of an ombudsman’s powers to award compensation and ‘name and shame’ a doctor before the assembly in Northern Ireland)

R (di Maria) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis (2025):
Gerry represented the First Interested Party, the Government Legal Department, in this high-profile judicial review of the defendant’s decision to withdraw the claimant’s vetting clearances and then refer him for gross incompetence under Regulation 32 Police (Performance) Regulations 2020. The Court granted the claimant’s application, a decision that is likely to have far-reaching implications for how police forces remove police officers who have behaved improperly.
The COVID Inquiry (2025)
Gerry is currently acting on behalf of the Royal College of Nursing in Module 5 (Procurement) and Module 6 (Care Sector) of the Covid Inquiry. The Royal College is the world’s largest nursing union and professional body, with over half a million members whose voice is key to the lessons to be learned from the pandemic.
Undercover Policing Inquiry ([Ongoing)
Gerry has been instructed to act on behalf of the National Police Chief’s Council in relation to the inquiry in to the activities of undercover police officers. The Inquiry is examining the contribution undercover policing made to tackling crime, how it was and is supervised and regulated, and its effect on the individuals involved.
The Urology Services Inquiry (Ongoing)
Gerry is currently retained to act on behalf of a Core Participant at the ongoing Statutory Inquiry into Urology Services. Hearings take place in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Telford (2022)
Gerry acted on behalf of the Chief Constable of West Mercia Police given concerns arising out of the multi-agency handling, investigations, and prosecutions touching upon elements of the child sexual exploitation scandal dating back to the mid-1990s.
Counsel to the Inquest: Kellie Sutton (2023)
Gerry was Counsel to the Inquest in this ground breaking case where the Jury returned a conclusion of Unlawful Killing where the Deceased took her own life as a result of controlling and coercive behaviour in a domestic abuse context. It was the first conclusion of its kind in Coronial law.
Counsel to the Inquest: Doctor A (2023-25)
Gerry is currently retained by HM Coroner as Counsel to a number of Inquests which are to be heard together concerning a number of deaths which occurred following the prescription of medications in a hospital setting.
Fishmongers’ Hall Inquest [2020-2021]
Gerry was instructed on behalf of the police service in the Inquest touching upon the deaths of those killed in the terrorist attack at an event at Fishmongers’ Hall, London Bridge in November 2019.
Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse [IICSA] [2018 – 2022]
Gerry acted for the IOPC in both the Lambeth and Lord Janner KC strands of this public inquiry, having previously been involved in the Anglican Church strand of the Inquiry in 2018. The final statutory report was published on 20th October 2022.
Various Investigations conducted by the IOPC
Gerry is currently retained by the Independent Office for Police Conduct in a number of ongoing investigations concerned with deaths following the use of force by a number of Police forces, including use of firearms, restraint, PAVA spray, and vehicular pursuit.
Various Inquests on behalf of the Ambulance Service
Gerry has acted, and continues to act, on behalf of the North East Ambulance Service in relation to a number of inquests with national implications for ambulance response times and the powers available to the ambulance personnel regarding forcible entry to premises.

recommendations

Gerry was awarded the Chambers & Partners Professional Discipline Junior of the Year Award for 2012 and shortlisted for Barrister of the Year in The Lawyer Awards for 2015. He is rated a Tier 1 King’s Counsel by The Legal 500 in Clinical Negligence, Inquests & Inquiries, Police Law (Defendant) and Professional Discipline & Regulatory. He was rated Band 1 Chambers & Partners Bar UK 2016 in Clinical Negligence, Professional Discipline and Police Work, and was previously recognised as a Leading Junior in The Legal 500 in Inquests & Inquiries, Professional Discipline and Clinical Negligence.

His recent directory editorial includes the following:

clients absolutely love him;
empathetic but clear in his advice;
navigates the complexities of a case with such ease;
explains the issues with clarity and compassion;
approachable and provides clear advice;
thorough and insightful;
always well-prepared;
he has real depth and strength of knowledge;
he has a really good eye for detail and a vigour in court;
a calming influence in cases;
an exceptional advocate with an excellent approach to client care;
offers advice in a supportive but pragmatic manner;
he has a real gravitas;
standout;
a fantastic barrister with some of the best client care skills at the Bar;
absolutely top-quality counsel;
his written work is absolutely fabulous;
his advocacy is superb and he is precise in his cross-examination;
Gerard is a very sophisticated advocate;
Gerry is brilliant with client care;
he is extremely pleasant and gains the confidence of the clients;
Gerard is very approachable, down-to-earth and an absolute pleasure to work with;
he is strong across the board;
a strong tactician and has excellent client care skills;
clients absolutely love working with him;
he is charismatic and not one of those that can’t see the wood for the trees – he’s quite a dangerous opponent;
formidable counsel who gets to the nub of issues very quickly and succinctly;
a first rate lawyer;
will always do an excellent job;
a real presence in court, with a lovely manner about him;
he is committed to his clients has a unique ability to support them through difficult processes;
he is a reliable and sensible barrister whom I have no hesitation in recommending to clients;
he is just brilliant;
he is absolutely fantastic. Always very well prepared and excellent with clients;
fights for his clients but is also a very calm presence;
a really good, tough barrister, but one who is very approachable;
he is a natural advocate, and his submissions before the tribunal are impressive;
a robust barrister who commands the attention of the tribunal, secures great results and can skilfully deal with challenging clients;
he provides very detailed submissions; his attention to detail is excellent;
very good to work with;
he is extremely patient and can assert his position with strength in front of the panel;
his way with clients is very good and he’s extremely patient;
he reads witnesses very clearly and is able to elicit information very quickly;
he is a very effective cross-examiner and is sensible, trustworthy and fair. All the things a good barrister should be;
superb in cross-examination;
he is a delight to work with;
his attention to detail is second to none;
absolutely brilliant. He produces beautiful submissions and goes the extra mile for his professional clients;
incredibly personable. He really wants to get the best results for his clients and he is very responsive;
an excellent advocate;
fantastic. He really cares about clients and fights for a positive outcome;
he will explore every avenue and is somebody who I really trust;
very responsive;
he is very good indeed and cross-examines with immense skill;
excellent advocate with first-class drafting and client care skills. He has a keen eye for detail and is extremely knowledgeable in this area;
he has a very good presentation style;
a very personable advocate;
he’s got excellent knowledge of police disciplinary procedures;
his instructions are crystal clear and he is to be highly recommended as an outstanding advocate;
his way with clients is very good;
he is very polished, articulate and charismatic, particularly within court;
his ability to retain and recall information is incredible;
he is very strong at round-table meetings and in negotiations;
an excellent advocate who robustly fights cases while putting clients at ease;
highly effective;
he is also measured, sensible and good at cutting through extraneous information;
his advocacy skills are excellent;
he has an exceptional eye for detail;
an excellent cross-examiner;
is outstanding at handling the most complex of cases;
he is a good opponent as he takes a lot of the sting out of misconduct cases and brings objectivity to the proceedings;
tough but elegant at the same time;
impressive drafting skills and highly experienced in professional disciplinary matters;
a meticulous strategist and a delight to work with;
first class;
he has the utmost attention to detail and a formidable work ethic;
a very polished advocate and a sound tactician;
he’s excellent. He’s good on paper and clients like him;
he’s a very safe pair of hands, capable and bright;
very good and very astute;
a first-class advocate when dealing with issues of police misconduct;
a great tactician;
he shows an impressive attention to detail;
his ability to retain and recall information is incredible;
an exceptional advocate;
is eloquent and self-possessed;
he inspires complete confidence;
very easy to use, good with clients and a good presence in court;
brings a forensic approach to cases and has an engaging style;
an excellent silk who is thorough and technically very strong
has excellent client care skills, pays great attention to detail and is very knowledgeable;
a good tactician with excellent forensic analysis;
puts clients and experts at ease with his grasp of issues and pleasant manner;
his expertise spans acting for medical, police and other professionals; and
a smooth operator and persuasive advocate.

Reflections

“Between my finger and my thumb, the squat pen rests, I’ll dig with it” is the final verse of my favourite poem, “Digging” by Seamus Heaney. It tells the story of a young lad growing up on a farm in Northern Ireland, who knew he wasn’t going to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a farmer; he was going to move away and be a writer instead.

And so it was for me. Well, not quite. I didn’t grow up on a farm, but I did leave my home in Belfast in the late 1980’s to come across to England to study Law and get called to the Bar. I have been in Chambers in London ever since. I have, however, continued to hanker after my roots and since being called to the Bar in Northern Ireland in 2006 I now return home often to appear in Court and Inquests.

“My background, upbringing and training with some of the finest lawyers of their generation allow me to serve all of my clients with dedication, equality, warmth, understanding and good humour, even in the most difficult of circumstances.”

Growing up in Belfast at that time was not all plain sailing. At school I was told that if I got the same set of results as the guy from the other side of town, he would get the job and I wouldn’t. So, I had to do better. The discrimination and unfairness of that sentiment instilled in me a powerful work ethic. I work hard for my clients, very hard. Put simply, they deserve that I do better than the guy from the other side of town.

Many of my clients are vulnerable or demanding and I like to think that my background, upbringing and training with some of the finest lawyers of their generation allow me to serve all of my clients with dedication, equality, warmth, understanding and good humour, even in the most difficult of circumstances.

I am an advocate and I remain committed to providing excellence in every aspect of that role.

Privacy

Gerard adopts and adheres to the provisions of his privacy notice which can be accessed here.

further information

For further details of Gerard’s practice please click on the links to the left or contact a member of the clerking or client service team.

Bar Council Membership No: 29358
Registered Name: Gerard James Boyle
VAT Registration No: 629043151