Femi Omere

Background

Called to the Bar 1999; recognised leader at the bar since 2005 (Chambers and Partners UK) described as having "managed to quietly clock up amazing results"; involved in some of the leading UK cases shaping policy and jurisprudence in the fields of Asylum and International Human Rights Law; actively developing an international legal practice with an emphasis on emerging markets and developing countries having gained recent legal practice experience working in Tanzania from 2007 to 2009.

Practice

Practice areas have included Immigration, Nationality and Refugee Law, International Human Rights Law, Administrative Law, Prison Law, Mental Health, Commercial Law, International Arbitral Law, and Advisory work regarding regulatory and legal reform in developing countries.

Represented hundreds of clients in numerous legal matters; appeared before all levels of the UK national court system, including un-led appearances before the lower courts/tribunals through to the Court of Appeal and appearances before the House of Lords led by Queens Counsel.

Acted in a number of high profile and legally complex litigation matters, some of which have been reported, and have worked with some of the leading firms of solicitors and Queens Counsel on such matters.

Work in Tanzania December 2007 to September 2009 included:

• Cross-border commercial transactional work; various arbitral matters acting for the Government of Tanzania (GOT) in disputes regarding public private partnerships, and also work for private clients involved in public procurement issues and disputes with the GOT.
• Facilitation/lecturing on behalf of UNICEF and African Child Policy Forum - December 2008 in series of seminars to GOT ministries and other stakeholders in Tanzania, on the harmonization of domestic children's legislation with international and regional Human Rights instruments.
• Provision of consultancy and legal services to a number of law firms and companies in Tanzania including for Mkono & Co Advocates, Hits Tanzania Ltd (Telecommunications Company), Dahabu Resources and Mining Co.

Femi's practice has been built on the premise of securing the highest levels of justice for his clients and he remains committed to this ethic and to the areas of law that he has been involved in over the last decade. Given recent work in Tanzania, Femi better appreciates the potential for increasing positive outcomes for the various stakeholders within developing countries, on a political-socio-economic level, when the levels of high quality legal service provision is increased, taken up and properly executed. Having recently provided advisory and technical legal assistance to the GOT, private companies, NGOs and multi-lateral organisations in the Southern African Development Community (SADAC) region, on issues spanning good governance, regulatory and legal reform, and commercial efficacy, Femi will actively pursue expansion of practice areas to cater for these sectors.

Notable Cases

• Irving v UK [2010] (European Court of Human Rights) Obtained a rule 39 interim measure, preventing the removal of the Applicant to Jamaica pending family court proceedings determining his contact right with his child
• Hoxha [2005] 1 WLR 1063 (House of Lords) on treaty interpretation and on sexual violence as a weapon of war
• Ondonko [2006] EWCA Civ 796 (Court of Appeal) on the rights accruing to a child trafficked to the UK
• ZT [2006] INLR 256 (Court of Appeal) on the rights accruing to a Zimbabwean national, suffering with HIV/AIDS, and whether for the purposes of determining the legal question, it could be said that the Zimbabwean state were directly responsible for the deprived health care system in country
• Gedow and Ors [2006] EWCA Civ 1342 (Court of Appeal) on the residual risks to persons, including lone female returnees, facing removal to Mogadishu and on whether clan militia protection amounted to state protection in law
• J v SSHD [2006] EWCA Civ 1238 (Court of Appeal) regarding the proper application of the Refugee Convention to cases involving homosexuality, and the risk of persecution on the basis of expression of one's sexual identity
• Miftari v IAT [2005] EWCA Civ 481 (Court of Appeal) regarding the jurisdictional limits of the Immigration Appeal Tribunal to interfere with first-instance decisions

Societies

• ILPA
• ALBA
• IBA
• Goodenough College

Profile updated April 2010

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