PracticeImmigration and Asylum LawRaza provides representation and advice in all areas across the range of immigration law to include asylum, deportation, National Security bail applications, entry clearance, applications for leave to remain, appeals under the Points Based System, fresh claims and emergency injunctions to prevent removal. Raza regularly undertakes Judicial Review work as well as advising on appeals to the Court of Appeal. In particular, Raza specialises in claims for unlawful detention, providing advice and representation therein. Raza's experience in the criminal jurisdiction appearing in the Crown and Magistrates' Courts, positions him adroitly to advise and represent appellants and claimants in the immigration and asylum jurisdiction with criminal convictions and ongoing criminal matters, whether in the context of criminal deportation appeals, claims for unlawful detention or bail applications. In particular, Raza has a keen interest in and advises upon appeals against conviction to the Court of Appeal where foreign nationals have been wrongly convicted of possessing false identity documents/failing to possess an immigration document, having entered guilty pleas on the basis of erroneous legal advice. BackgroundRaza came to the Bar from a background in international development, working in post-conflict reconstruction to establish basic infra-structures in communities blighted by civil war (Sierra Leone) or devastated by natural disasters (Kashmir earthquake (2005), Sri Lanka tsunami (2004)). This included developing an emergency first response, primarily firefighting and rescue capability.
Raza's MSc in Violence, Conflict and Development took as its focus the doctrine of humanitarian interventionism and its instrumentalisation of the discourses of human rights and democracy.
Before joining Garden Court, Raza also worked as a volunteer for Bail for Immigration Detainees (BiD), assisting detainees held in immigration removal centres to both apply for bail and challenge the lawfulness of their detention. Whilst working at BiD Raza also assisted in running workshops on bail at Yarls Wood IRC, assisting litigants in person to present their own applications for bail. Raza continues to represent detainees for BiD on a pro bono basis, advising on the merits of potential unlawful detention claims. Notable CasesRaza recently represented and secured the release of a IA in IA v SSHD [2011] in a National Security bail application. IA was one of five defendants convicted after a lengthy trial of offences arising out of the attempted bombings in London on 21st July 2005. Raza assisted Stephanie Harrison in the preparation of submissions to SIAC in R (XC) v SIAC [2009] EWHC 3052 (Admin) [2010] 2 WLR 1012 (Divisional Court), concerning SIAC's amenability to judicial review, the use of secret evidence and the core irreducible minimum of information that an applicant is entitled to in any application for bail to SIAC. Raza also assisted Stephen Knafler QC and Sadat Sayeed in the case of YD (Togo) [2010] EWCA Civ 214, where he submitted written submissions direct to the Court of Appeal addressing the ECHR jurisprudence on the application of the 'insurmountable obstacles' test by Member States where expulsion is resisted on Article 8 grounds (and where the ECtHR applied the broader approach in Üner v Netherlands App.no.46410/99, 18 October 2006). Further, Raza assisted Maggie Jones in the preparation of written submissions to the Supreme Court in W (Children) [2010] UKSC 12 on the approach taken in other common law jurisdictions to the (live) evidence of children in court proceedings. Publications and AppearancesRaza has participated in various BBC radio current affairs and cultural programming over the years. Raza is also a contributor to Television and Radio Slovenia, the Slovenian public broadcaster, most recently appearing in documentaries addressing the immigration and asylum policies of successive British governments, and as a participant in a panel-discussion following Tony Blair's evidence at the Chilcot Inquiry. Profile updated October 2011
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