Graham Miles

Partner
Contact details

07767 413 683

029 2068 6112

"Graham Miles is a cornerstone of the team and brings his vast knowledge and experience to bear. Graham is one of those lawyers who takes time to understand the issue from every perspective, including the human angle, so that he can tailor his advice and deliver it sensitively and with consideration."

Legal 500, 2022

Graham specialises in regulatory law, predominantly in the area of fitness to practise. He also has considerable experience of advising regulatory bodies on issues of medical law, public law and human rights.

Main areas of practice

Graham is a Partner in the Professional Regulatory team based in the Cardiff Office.

He has experience of over 25 years acting for regulatory bodies in investigating and presenting fitness to cases involving nurses, midwives, pharmacists social care workers, solicitors and teachers.

In the field of social care, on behalf of Social Care Wales (SCW), he presents cases involving social workers and other categories of social care workers before Interim Orders Panels and Fitness to Practise Panels. Graham also drafted SCW’s rules, including those relating to the conduct of investigations, interim orders, fitness to practise hearings and registration appeals.

Graham also sits as Legal Adviser to Fitness to Practise Panels on behalf of the Teaching Regulation Agency in England and the Education Workforce Council (EWC) in Wales. He has advised both organisations in the drafting of procedural rules.  On behalf of the EWC, he also drafted rule rules relating to registration and Indicative Sanctions Guidance.

In the wider regulatory field, Graham has advised the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) since 1996. In that capacity he has continually provided advice on issues of medical and public law arising from the regulation of fertility treatment and research, including:

  • acting as Legal Adviser to Statutory Approvals Committees relating to applications for testing of embryos for genetic and other conditions;
  • defending judicial review challenges in a number of high profile cases, including successful defence in the Court of Appeal and House of Lords in R v Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, ex parte Josephine Quintavalle (on behalf of Comment of Reproductive Ethics) [2003]  UKHL 13;
    •       drafting general and special directions for import and export of gametes and embryos and advising in relation to individual applications to ensure compliance with rights arising in EU law and under the Human Rights Act.
    •       advising in relation to numerous cases involving consent to storage or treatment issues and drafting statutory consent forms.

Graham also advised the Human Tissue Authority in relation to a range of regulatory matters, including:

  • drafting the HTA’s first guide to licensing;
  • advising on the procedures for granting, varying and revoking licences;
  • advising in relation to regulatory investigations.

He also defends applications for Judicial Review on behalf of a professional regulatory bodies.

Clients

Graham has acted for Social Care Wales (the regulatory body for social care workers in Wales, and its predecessor body since its establishment under the Care Standards Act 2000).

He acts as Legal Adviser in fitness to practise cases on behalf of the Teaching Regulation Agency in England and on behalf of the Education Workforce Council in Wales.

In the wider regulatory field, Graham has acted as an external legal adviser to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority since 1996. He also continues to act as an external legal adviser to the Human Tissue Authority.

Expertise

Career

After qualifying as a Solicitor in 1983, Graham initially specialised in criminal law, including two years as a Crown Prosecutor and two years undertaking criminal defence work. He joined the firm in 1987 when he initially undertook a mixture of criminal and civil litigation. He was made a partner in 1990 and began specialising in regulatory work in 1996.

Contact details

07767 413 683

029 2068 6112

Accreditations
Memberships
  • Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers

Significant Experience

  • Graham regularly represents Social Care Wales before the Care Standards Tribunal in defending appeals and in making applications for extensions of interim orders.
  • On behalf of the HFEA, Graham assisted in the drafting of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (Statutory Storage Period for Embryos and Gametes) (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020. The Regulations were designed to extend the storage limit so that those unable to undertake fertility treatment during the lockdown would not be adversely affected by storage limits.
  • At the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic, he also assisted SCW in utilising powers under the Coronavirus Act 2020 to draft emergency rules for the registration of retired Social Workers to provide essential social work support during the pandemic.
  • Graham regularly devises and presents training to fitness to practise panellists of the Teaching Regulation Agency in England and the Education Workforce Council in Wales. This training included training relating to adherence to fair hearing principles and good practice in decision-making.

Additional Expertise

He acts of professional regulatory bodies in defending claims for Judicial Review. This includes acting for the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in successfully defending an application for judicial review brought by an individual removed from ICAEW’s register.

Graham also has expertise in conducting annual audits of the fitness to practise procedures of a professional regulatory body to assess compliance with statutory requirements, public interest principles and performance standards of the PSA.

Graham was asked to give evidence on behalf of the HFEA to a Select Committee of the House of Commons on the implications for human cloning following the birth of ‘Dolly the Sheep’.

Interests

For several years, Graham contributed as an external lecturer on Cardiff University’s Legal Aspects of Medical Practice (LLM). He lectured on the regulation of licensed fertility treatment and research.

Graham has experience of sitting as Legal Chair of Committee considering applications for the provision of pharmaceutical services, having been appointed to that role by the Welsh Government.

QUOTES


Graham Miles draws on a wealth of experience to handle a broad spectrum of professional discipline matters for regulators, including those in the healthcare and education sectors. Sources report: "His knowledge of the law and his ability to interpret and apply old legislation to a changing regulatory landscape is just incredible - he can always find a way to make it work in a modern scenario."

Chambers and Partners, 2020

Graham acts for a range of regulators in the health and education sectors on matters including fitness to practise cases involving sexual misconduct. Clients say he is "a very experienced regulatory lawyer with great expertise."

Chambers and Partners, 2019

He's very professional, well informed, thorough, well prepared and approachable.

Chambers and Partners, 2018
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