Kathryn Cronin

Joint Head of Chambers

"Particularly known for her work with vulnerable women and on cases where there are difficult family elements, including adoption and surrogacy. "She has an incredible ability to cross-fertilise immigration and family law, and is very useful on adoption cases".
Chambers and Partners 2013

Practice

Immigration, asylum, nationality, children's and family law. Kathryn has an extensive and varied immigration, asylum and family law practice. She is known for her representation of vulnerable clients, in particular asylum and human rights cases involving women and children. She has considerable experience in cross-over areas where family or childcare cases involve associated issues on immigration status, or concerning immigration cases where there are family and childcare law and practice considerations. She regularly provides advice to parties, local authorities or guardians ad litem concerning the steps to be taken to resolve immigration problems whether for parents or for minors. She frequently advises in family proceedings concerning immigration and nationality issues as well as international adoptions, international surrogacy arrangements and transnational care and child placement arrangements. She has represented many persons trafficked for sexual or domestic labour purposes.

Background

Kathryn was an active member of Chambers from 1980 to 1989, and following varied legal experience in Australia, where she is admitted to practice, she returned to Chambers in June 2001.

In her first period at chambers from 1980 to 1989, Kathryn had an extensive practice in immigration, asylum and family matters. She was particularly involved in cases involving unaccompanied child refugees. She was the author of the handbook published by the Children's Legal Centre entitled: Children: Immigration and Nationality and advised them generally on immigration and nationality issues concerning children.

From 1989 to 1996 Kathryn was associate professor in law at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, where she lectured and published on immigration, refugee and human rights law, and on children's law issues. From 1989 to 1996 she was also general counsel to the Australian parliamentary committee on immigration and advised the committee and parliament on legislative and policy matters associated with immigration and refugee law, including on the legislative arrangements for the domestic violence and gay partner concessions in the immigration rules.

From 1996 to 2001, Kathryn was commissioner and then deputy president of the Australian Law Reform Commission and principal author of their reports on children in the legal process and on the working practices of the Australian federal and family courts and merits review tribunals, including the immigration and refugee review tribunals.

Publications and teaching

Kathryn was for many years the senior author of Butterworth's Australian Immigration Law Service and the author of the entry on immigration, citizenship and refugee law in Halsbury's Laws of Australia. She is a joint author of Macdonald's Immigration Law and Practice 6th, 7th and 8th editions. She has published extensively on immigration, refugee, human rights and children's rights issues.
Kathryn has lectured widely on immigration, children's law, refugee law and issues such as trafficking. She has undertaken training for lawyers, NGO's and social workers on these issues. She is a founder member and adviser to the Anti-Trafficking Legal Project (ATLeP)

From 2001 - in addition to her practice at the Bar, Kathryn has continued her academic writing and training - including as a guest lecturer for the 2009 LSE masters programme Understanding Women's Human Rights - for which she wrote the course paper -'Women Victims - Criminal, Anti-Trafficking, Asylum and Immigration Law Arrangements'. In addition Kathryn has undertaken training for organizations as diverse as the Law Society, law firms, local authorities, NGOs, ILPA, Atlep, the Family Justice Council and the All Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees. She is the author of numerous conference and training papers.

Notable Cases

T (R on the app of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2010)
[2010] EWHC 435 (Admin)

R (BT and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2010)
[2010] EWHC 3572 (Admin)

EN (Serbia) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2009)
[2009] EWCA Civ 630. Reported at Times, July 30 2009

X & Y (Foreign Surrogacy), Re(2008)
[2008] EWHC 3030 (Fam)

US (Nepal) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2008)
[2008] EWCA Civ 1057

CM (Cameroon) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2008)
[2008] EWCA Civ 125

Livingstone, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2008)
[2008] EWHC 2211

FB (Lone women, PSG, internal relocation, AA (Uganda) considered) Sierra Leone (2008)
[2008] UKAIT 00090

AM (Serbia) & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2007)
[2007] EWCA Civ 16. Reported at [2007] INLR 211

FM (FGM) Sudan CG (2007)
[2007] UKAIT 00060 (27 June 2007)

Secretary of State for the Home Department v. Fornah (2006)
[2006] UKHL 46. Reported at (2007) 1 AC 412.

N v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2006)
[2006] EWCA Civ 1166

Ahmadi & Anor, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2005)
[2005] EWCA Civ 1721

M v Secretary of State for the Home Department (2003)
[2003] EWCA Civ 146

B (Risk, Class, Midgan) Somalia (2002)
[2002] UKIAT 06753

MN (Risk, MDC) Zimbabwe (2002)
[2002] UKIAT 02246

Last Updated March 2011

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