What councils come to us for
Our expertise enables us to assist councils with regulatory compliance, legal disputes, and administrative decisions. Dr Richard Sladden has represented various local councils in litigation over many years and remains their trusted legal advisor to this day.
That work includes acting for a council against significant commercial counterparties. The firm led legal action on behalf of the Birkirkara Local Council over hazardous telecom infrastructure in the locality, signing a judicial protest in the Civil Court demanding action where warnings had gone unheeded.
Areas of support
- Judicial protests and litigation on behalf of the council
- Public procurement and tendering by the council
- Administrative decisions and regulatory compliance
- Contracts with suppliers and contractors
- Planning objections affecting the locality
- Prosecution before Local Tribunals
Understanding how councils work
Advising a local council is not the same as advising a private client. A council acts through resolutions, is answerable to residents, and operates within a statutory framework that limits what it can lawfully decide and how. Advice that ignores that framework is of no use, however sound the underlying law.
The firm has advised councils over many years, and Dr Richard Sladden remains the trusted legal advisor to a number of them to this day. That continuity means we know how a particular council operates, rather than starting from scratch each time a matter arises.
Acting for residents through their council
Some of the most useful work a council does is holding larger bodies to account on behalf of a locality. Where infrastructure, works or utilities create a safety or amenity problem, a council has standing that individual residents often lack, and we advise on how to use it effectively.
Everyday legal support
Alongside litigation, councils need routine legal support: reviewing supplier contracts, advising on the limits of a council’s powers before a resolution is taken, handling employment questions, and responding to correspondence from residents, government departments and regulators.
We provide that support on a continuing basis rather than only when a dispute arises, which is generally the cheaper arrangement. Most problems that reach litigation were visible, and answerable, months earlier.
Common questions
- Do you advise councils on procurement?
- Yes. Councils are contracting authorities, and we advise on running a tender correctly as well as on defending an award that is challenged.
- Can a council take action against a utility or contractor?
- Yes. We have acted for councils against major commercial operators where infrastructure or works in the locality created a safety or amenity issue.
- Do you appear before Local Tribunals?
- Yes. Dr Richard Sladden has served as a Prosecutor in Local Tribunals, and the firm is familiar with that jurisdiction from both sides.