Mark Symes

Practice

Mark Symes joined Garden Court Chambers in December 2004, having formerly worked at the Refugee Legal Centre where he held numerous posts including Head of Tribunal Team in which capacity he had responsibility at national level for legal strategy. Formerly a Solicitor, he was also Head of Advocacy at O'Keeffe Solicitors.

Mark specialises in advice and representation in all areas of immigration, asylum, and human rights law. He undertakes advocacy at all levels and deals with work ranging from business immigration and entry clearance representations and appeals, to refugee and criminal deportation cases.

Publications

• Co-author (with Peter Jorro, also of Garden Court) of 'Asylum Law and Practice' (Butterworths LexisNexis, October 2003). Described as 'pre-eminent' in the field by Lord Justice Simon Brown and as "indispensable in advocacy work for refugees and human rights", by Professor Guy Goodwin-Gill.
• Principal legal consultant to the Electronic Immigration Network.
• Sole editor of 'Statements of Principle of the Immigration Appeal Tribunal,' a 2,500 page guide to the jurisprudence of that tribunal published in September 1999 by the Refugee Legal Centre, with a Foreword by former President of the Tribunal His Honour Judge Pearl.
• Author of 'Caselaw on the Refugee Convention', a guide to the international judicial approach to the 1951 Convention, with a Foreword by Professor Goodwin-Gill, published in April 2001 by the Refugee Legal Centre, and recommended by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Immigration Lawyers' Practitioners Association (ILPA).
• Consultant Editor of the Immigration and Nationality Law Reports.
• Editor of Atkins Court Forms and Encyclopedia of Forms and Precedents (Butterworths, set for updated publication late 2006)
• Author of 'The Law Relating To Without Foundation Asylum Appeals', (published by the Refugee Legal Centre, May 1996).

Training

Mark is heavily involved with training in immigration law. He was appointed to write the new academic standards across for the Law Society's Immigration Accreditation Exams. He is a founder of HJT Training (with David Jones, also of Garden Court), which is the leading private company specializing in training in immigration law, providing training to UNHCR, Liberty, the Legal Services Commission, Office for the Immigration Services Commissioner, the staff of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal and judges of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal of Ireland, as well as most of the UK's leading immigration solicitors' firms.

Mark runs the immigration and asylum course at the Inns of Court School of Law. He was a lead trainer for the College of Law in their winter 2002 project for the Legal Services Commission to provide training on immigration appeals to new barrister practitioners in the field. He delivers professional training for the Joint Council for Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), and occasionally runs advanced courses in refugee, human rights and appeals law for the Immigration Lawyers Practitioners Association (ILPA). He is regularly invited to speak domestically and abroad on refugee and human rights law issues.

Mark has in the past been part of the Consultation Group responsible for briefing the Lord Chancellors Department on the content of the Immigration and Asylum Appeals (Procedure) Rules. He was at one time co-convenor of the Refugee Sub Committee at of the Immigration Lawyers Practitioners Association (ILPA) and has assisted ILPA with numerous projects and publications over the years. With the Refugee Legal Centre he advised the Opposition in Standing Committee on their legal stance during the passage of immigration legislation during the 1990s.

Notable Cases

Mark led the intervention of the Refugee Legal Centre in the House of Lords in Horvath (summer 2000). In the Immigration Appeal Tribunal, he represented the appellant in the reported case of Acero Garces, and in other cases which might properly be termed leading ones: Allie (on past persecution), Foum (on internal relocation), and Ertan (on the recognition of states). Foum was cited in Hilal v United Kingdomin the European Court of Human Rights.

Other activities

Mark is keen on socialising. He plays the classical guitar.

Year of Call

Education

Send Email

Telephone

Practice Areas