PracticeHelen joined Chambers in October 2009 on successful completion of her pupillage under the supervision of Maya Sikand, Sonali Naik and Kathryn Cronin. She practices in public and civil law with a particular focus on asylum, immigration and human rights. Immigration and Asylum Helen advises and represents appellants in the First-tier and Upper Tribunal and the High Court in appeals involving asylum, deportation, EU free movement law, the points based system, family reunion, domestic violence, unaccompanied children and victims of trafficking. She is especially committed to cases involving violence against women and sexual minorities and often represents vulnerable or traumatised clients. Helen's judicial review practice encompasses challenges to a wide range of immigration decisions. She is a member of the emergency judicial review team and is happy to act at short notice for individuals seeking emergency injunctions to prevent removal or deportation. Helen frequently acts pro bono for Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID) and is experienced with complex bail applications. She has a particular interest in civil claims for unlawful detention in the High Court. Nationality Helen has an expanding practice in nationality law. Recent work includes a High Court challenge of a refusal to grant British citizenship on character grounds and a case concerning the immigration status of Malaysian British Overseas Citizens. Extradition Helen has acted in contested extradition hearings in the Magistrates' Court where human rights have been in issue. She has recently advised and represented clients subject to parallel asylum and extradition proceedings and has a particular interest in this cross-over area. Prison law During pupillage Helen advised on public law challenges to decisions on prisoner categorisation, licence conditions and the IEP scheme. She represents prisoners in adjudications and parole board hearings, and advises on claims for damages against prison authorities. Mental Health Helen is keen to develop her practice in mental health, having built up significant experience during pupillage in representing vulnerable defendants in the criminal courts where issues of mental capacity have arisen. She recently represented a defendant with severe autism and who was unfit to plead in a contested 'act or omission' hearing in the Magistrates' Court under section 37(3) of the Mental Health Act 1983. Notable casesEN(Serbia) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2009] EWCA Civ 630. Assisted Kathryn Cronin during pupillage in this case concerning the meaning of 'particularly serious crime' in section 72 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 and the requirements of Article 33(2) of the Refugee Convention. The Court of Appeal held that the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (Specification of Particularly Serious Crimes) Order 2004 was ultra vires. R (Khimich) v Secretary of State for the Home Department CO/3099/2010. Judicial review of a refusal to grant indefinite leave to remain under the long-residence rule, with a related Article 8 challenge. Case successfully settled and client granted indefinite leave to remain. JY v Secretary of State for the Home Department IA/12738/2010. Complex deport appeal on behalf of a gay Syrian refugee. Case involved adverse credibility findings in previous determinations and evidence of serious psychiatric illness. Appeal allowed. R (SK) v Secretary of State for the Home Department CO/13095/2009. Judicial review of a refusal to grant British citizenship for reasons of good character where the Secretary of State was unwilling to disclose reasons for the refusal on public interest grounds. Case pending. BackgroundPrior to coming to the Bar, Helen worked for eight years as a television producer and broadcast journalist, producing documentaries and current affairs programmes. During her legal training, Helen worked pro bono for the UK Lesbian and Gay Immigration Group (UKLGIG), preparing cases on behalf of gay asylum seekers. She volunteered at Solace Women's Aid in Camden and was an evening adviser at Hackney Law Centre. In 2008 she worked for JUSTICE on proposed reforms to the law on homicide. Helen recently worked with Liberty on an intervention strategy concerning the control orders regime, and drafted Liberty's response to a parliamentary inquiry into unimplemented Strasbourg judgments. Helen is a trustee of a mental health charity for young people in Hackney. Awards and Prizes- College Exhibition (University College Oxford, 1997)
- Gibbs Prize in Philosophy (proxime accessit, University of Oxford, 1998)
- CPE Prize (London Metropolitan University, 2007)
- Bedingfield Scholarship (Gray's Inn, 2007)
- Arden Scholarship (Gray's Inn, 2008)
SocietiesImmigration Law Practitioners' Association, Administrative Law Bar Association, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, Liberty, JUSTICE, Amnesty International. Profile updated August 2011
|
