Conor Quigley KC

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Conor Quigley KC specialises in European Union, state aid and UK Subsidy Control law.

He has appeared in many EU Law cases in the UK in the High Court, Court of Appeal, House of Lords and Supreme Court, and in the European Union General Court and Court of Justice. Clients have included UK and Irish Governments, the European Commission, public and private companies, private individuals and UK public authorities.

In recent years, his practice has increasingly specialised in two areas: (i) acting as an expert witness on EU State aid law in international arbitrations, particularly ICSID arbitrations; (ii) expert specialization on the interface of corporate taxation and State aid international investment arbitrations. In 2022, he was appointed a Visiting Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics.

Conor has been recommended in all the main directories as a leading silk in EU, competition and public procurement law. Described as “a leading figure” and “a guru” in his areas of expertise.

Conor has very broad expertise from advising in the following areas:

EC, UK & Irish Competition Law: Airlines, air transport, banking and insurance, diamond distribution, forestry, motor vehicle distribution, oil and gas, rail transport, shipping, wine and beer, newspapers, computer software, retailing, franchising, petrol stations, intellectual property rights, racecourses and bookmakers, pharmaceuticals, waste recycling, renewable energy, electricity, payment systems.
State Aid: Fiscal State aid, including CFCs, Gibraltar corporate tax, tax rulings; airports, airlines and railways; urban regeneration, disposal of State assets, environmental protection, banking restructuring, rescue aid, educational and research institutions, agriculture, renewable energy, tourism, racecourses, betting industry including internet betting, off-shore finance, environment, waste management, R&D&I, employment and training, regional development, public service broadcasting, export credits, funding applications, EC practice and procedure, remedies in national courts.
Public Procurement: Construction, goods and services, urban regeneration, police and security services, water industry, public infrastructure, telecoms, advertising rules, remedies, public/private joint ventures.
Taxation: Direct tax, tax harmonization, excise duty, VAT, special levies, international transactions, tax and State aid, WTO subsidies.
Employment Law: Equal treatment and equal pay, positive action, transfer of undertakings, health and safety, freedom of movement for persons, training.
Brussels Convention: Arbitration, revenue, consumer contracts, jurisdiction, interim measures, enforcement, class actions.
Commercial Agents: Good faith requirements, termination compensation, sub-agents’ rights, service providers.
Consumer Protection: Food safety, medicines, food additives, nutrients, consumer contracts, pricing, motor insurance, bank charges.
Agriculture: Export licensing, grants and subsidies, BSE, commodities, fisheries.
Immigration, Security & Justice: Schengen Agreement, free movement, citizenship, policing, extradition, European Arrest Warrant.

Areas of Expertise

Competition Law

Conor is widely regarded as the leading expert at the Bar on EU State aid law (now also including the EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation) and is the author of the highly acclaimed European State Aid Law and Policy (4th edition, 2022, Hart Publishing and Bloomsbury Professional). He also advises widely on the UK Subsidy Control Act.

Conor currently advises major international and multinational companies, as well as governmental and municipal authorities, on matters including subsidies to airlines and airports, bank restructuring following the credit crisis, and urban transport, internet communications and taxation. He has provided expert opinions in relation to several major international arbitrations, both at the arbitration and recognition / enforcement stages, on the application of state aid rules in commercial disputes between various EU member states and investors pursuant to international and/or commercial obligations.

Conor has appeared in proceedings before the European Courts, the House of Lords, Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court, as well as the European Commission. He is a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford’s Institute of European and Comparative Law and a Visiting Professor in Practice at the London School of Economics. He also edited and co-authored “Hong Kong Competition Law” (Hart / Bloomsbury, 2016).

Recent Cases

Mead Johnson Nutrition v European Commission EU:T:2022:217 – State aid – taxation of royalties in Gibraltar – rights of interested parties

EU Law

Conor has an eclectic range of cases across the spectrum of EU commercial law, covering matters as diverse as agriculture, commercial agency, employment law, environmental law, extradition, freedom of movement, motor insurance and taxation. He advises on all matters relating to EU law in general, including human rights law. He has appeared in proceedings in the European Court of Justice, the EU General Court, the House of Lords and Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and the English and Irish High Courts.

Recent Cases

Air Transport Association of America v Sec of State for Energy & Climate Change (Case C-366/10) [2011] ECR I-13755
Churchill Insurance Co Ltd v Wilkinson [2012] EWCA 1166 – Motor insurance – RTA s.151(8) indemnity – Compatibility with Second Motor Insurance Directive – Proportionality test.
Churchill Insurance Co Ltd v Wilkinson [2011] ECR 12639 – Motor insurance – General requirement to compensate victims.
Churchill Insurance Co Ltd v Wilkinson [2010] EWCA 556 – Motor insurance – RTA s.151(8) indemnity – Compatibility with Second Motor Insurance Directive – Reference to ECJ.
Louca v A German Judicial Authority [2009] UKSC 4 – Extradition – European Arrest Warrant – Repeated issuance of warrants – Fundamental rights.
United Kingdom v Council – ECJ – Judgment 18 December 2007 – Schengen Protocol – Written submissions for Polish Government.
Cooper v Pure Fishing – Court of Appeal 2004 – Commercial agents – Termination for fundamental breach.
Light v Ty Europe – Court of Appeal – judgment 25 July 2003 – Commercial agency – Sub-agents.
Lennox v ILCO – ECJ – [2003] ECR I-7091 – Exports – Agriculture – BSE.
RCO Support Services v UNISON [2002] ICR 751 – Court of Appeal – Employment law – Transfer of undertakings.
White v White & The Motor Insurers Bureau [2001] 2 All ER 43 – House of Lords – Motor insurance – Effect of directives.
R v Governor of Gibraltar, ex parte AS Marrache & Co – Gibraltar Court of Appeal, judgment 27 May 1999, not reported – Import restrictions – liability of Member State for breach of EC Law.
Mellett v European Court of Justice [1998] ECR-SC – CFI – Employment law – Legitimate expectation.
R v MAFF, ex parte National Farmers Union [1998] ECR I-2211 – ECJ – Agriculture – BSE – Export restrictions.
R v MAFF, ex parte Hedley Lomas (Ireland) Limited [1996] ECR I-2553 – ECJ – Liability of Member State for breach of EC Law – Export restrictions.
R v Lomas [1992] ECR I-1781 – ECJ – Agriculture.

Tax

Conor advises on a broad range of EU-related tax matters, including the interaction of State aid and taxation, excise duty directives, direct taxation and free movement, environmental levies, agricultural levies.

Recent Cases

Mead Johnson Nutrition v European Commission EU:T:2022:217 – State aid – Taxation of royalties in Gibraltar – Rights of interested parties.
CFC State aid challenges – Corporation UK tax – Group finance exemption – Judgments pending.
R v Taylor & Wood [2013] EWCA Crim 1151 – Excise duty – Smuggling – Proceeds of crime – Penalties.
White v The Crown, [2010] EWCA Crim 978 – Excise duty – Smuggling – Proceeds of crime – Value of personal benefit.
QRS 1 Aps v Frandsen – [1999] 1 WLR 2169 – Court of Appeal – Taxation – Fraud – Brussels Convention.
FMC v IBAP [1996] ECR I-389 – ECJ – Agriculture – Clawbacks – Restitution.
R v Cousins [1995] 3 CMLR – Court of Appeal – Excise duty – Criminal law.

Human Rights

Conor has experience in this field across a wide range of matters.

Private International Law

Conor has experience in this field across a wide range of matters.

Telecommunications & Information Technology

Conor has experience in this field across a wide range of matters.

Testimonials

“A leading state aid expert with vast experience and a deep understanding of the issues.”

Chambers & Partners 2018

“He is the leading barrister in the area of state aid.”

Chambers & Partners 2017

“He has in-depth state aid knowledge and the ability to explain complex areas of the law in a clear and concise manner, whivh assists the court tremendously.”

Chambers & Partners 2016

“A big name in state aid who has handled matters for a long time and written extensively on the subject.”

Chambers & Partners 2016

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Latest

Recent News

Conor Quigley KC to guest lecture at the Latvian Supreme Court on European Union state aid and foreign subsidy control law

Conor Quigley KC has been invited to deliver a guest lecture in Riga on recent developments in EU state aid and foreign subsidy control law.

: Email Conor
: +44 (0)20 7242 6105
: Contact Practice Managers
: vCard
: Download CV
: Shortlist

For general enquiries and instruction advice, please contact our Practice Management Team:

Call: +44 (0)20 7242 6105
or email: clerks@serlecourt.co.uk

Appointments

Arbitrator of the Shanghai International Arbitration Centers (SHIAC) New Panel (2021-2026)
Called to Northern Irish Bar (2009)
Called to Irish Bar (1993)

Recommendations

UK, Competition Law (Chambers Global 2019)
UK, Competition Law (Chambers Global 2018)
Competition Law (Chambers & Partners 2018)
Competition Law (Chambers & Partners 2017)

Publications

Books

European State Aid Law and Policy (and UK Subsidy Control) (Hart Publishing, Oxford, 4th edition 2022
Hong Kong Competition Law (Hart Publishing/Bloomsbury), Oxford, 2016 (with Suzanne Rab and contributing authors)
European Community Contract Law – the effect of EC legislation on contractual rights, obligations and remedies (Kluwer Law International, London, 1997); published in French as Droit Communautaire Des Contrats (Kluwer, 1998) 1992: Completing the Internal Market (Graham & Trotman, London, 1989 & 1991)

Contributions to Books

Brexit Implications for State Aid Legislation in ‘Tax Implications of Brexit’, ed. Saccardo (Bloomsbury Professional, 2021)
United Kingdom chapter in ‘State Aid in the Banking Sector’, ed. Laprevote, Gray & de Cecco (Elgar, 2017)
World Duty Free Group case analysis in ‘Milestones in State Aid Law’– EstAL’s First 15 Years in Perspective eds. Buts & Buendia (editors) (Lexxion 2017)
State Aid and abuse of law in ‘Abuse of Law – A New General Principle of EU Law’, (Hart Publishing, 2010)
‘Oxford Encyclopedia on European Law’, Volume III, Competition Law, State aid section, ed. Toth (OUP, 2008) State aid for research and development, in ‘The EC State Aid Regime’, ed. Sanchez Rydelski, (Cameron May, 2006)
General Taxation and State Aid, in ‘The Law of State Aid in the European Union’, ed Biondi, Eeckhout & Flynn (Oxford 2004)
Criminal law and EC law, in ‘European Community Law in the National Courts’ ed. Andenas & Jacobs (Oxford, 1998) Indirect taxation in ‘The Principle of Equal Treatment in EC Law’, ed. Dashwood & O’Leary (Sweet & Maxwell, 1997)

Education & Qualifications

MA, University of Oxford (1991)
Dip. Eur. Int., University of Amsterdam (1980)
LLB, King’s College London (1979)

Additional Information

Senior Fellow, International Tax Center, University of Leiden (2014-2016)
Research Fellow, Centre for European Law, King’s College London (2012-)
Visiting Research Fellow, Institute of European and Comparative Law, University of Oxford (2008-)
Chairman, EU Law Section, Union International des Avocats (2006-2010)
Honorary Research Fellow, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford (1996–)
Member, International Practice Committee, Bar Council (1995-2000)
Chairman, Bar European Group (1992-1994)
Fellow in EC Law, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford (1991-1996)

BSB Registration

Conor Quigley KC

VAT Number

447198811

Areas of Expertise

Competition Law

Recent Cases

EU Law

Recent Cases

Tax

Recent Cases

Human Rights

Private International Law

Telecommunications & Information Technology

Testimonials

Latest

Recent News

Conor Quigley KC to guest lecture at the Latvian Supreme Court on European Union state aid and foreign subsidy control law

Sovereign & States Disputes and Enforcement Summit 2025

GCR Live: Foreign Investment Control 2024

Who’s Who Legal UK Report

Appointments

Recommendations

Publications

Education & Qualifications

Additional Information

BSB Registration

VAT Number