Practice
Sadat Sayeed joined Garden Court Chambers in April 2002 as a second six pupil, having completed his first six at Matrix Chambers as the pupil of Raza Husain. He became a tenant at Garden Court in October 2002.
Sadat is a practitioner specialising in advice and representation in all areas of immigration, asylum, asylum support, nationality and human rights law. He undertakes advocacy at Adjudicator, IAT, High Court and Court of Appeal level. He deals with the full range of asylum work, as well as entry clearance and certificate of entitlement to the right of abode cases. Sadat has expertise in the application and use of human rights law in immigration and asylum cases, and is well versed in challenging immigration detention in the High Court. Sadat regularly provides training in immigration and asylum on behalf of the Legal Services Commission, and also for Refugee Action.
Sadat practices in the law relating to terrorism, as this often overlaps with his immigration and asylum practice. He has appeared in the High Court in relation to control orders imposed against suspected terrorists under the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005. More recently, he is part of the legal team involved in challenging the proposed deportation of suspected terrorists to countries with which the UK government has signed Memorandums of Understanding (which give assurances that such deportees will not be tortured).
In 2006, Sadat undertook a fellowship at the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, having been awarded a Pegasus Scholarship by the Inns of Court. Sadat went to New York to specifically work on behalf of the detainees being held at Guantánamo Bay. His focus was on the international law aspects of the Guantánamo litigation, and he was involved in the drafting of the Center’s submissions to the United Nations Committee Against Torture (on the USA’s compliance with the Convention Against Torture) and to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (on the USA’s compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). He also worked on the Guantánamo refugee issues.
Sadat also practices in inquest law, and appears on behalf of bereaved families in inquests arising out of controversial deaths in prison, police and immigration custody. His approach to such inquests is both probing and investigative, but he is also acutely aware that inquests are emotionally draining for bereaved families, and therefore must be conducted sensitively. In inquests, Sadat regularly deals with matters relating to the Article 2 (ECHR) investigative obligation.
In addition, Sadat practices in prison law, and appears before the Parole Board, as well as before independent adjudicators in prison discipline matters.
Sadat's practice also includes mental health law, and he appears before Mental Health Review Tribunals on behalf of detained patients.
Notable Cases
O'Driscoll v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2002] EWHC 2477 Admin (Divisional Court) - (compatibility of s.16 of Terrorism Act 2000 with Articles 10 and 11 of ECHR (junior));
R (on the application of Parmaksiz) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2006] EWHC 2235 – (contempt of court against the Home Office for removal in breach of injunction).
Publications
Sadat is a regular contributor to the Administrative Court Digest (formerly Crown Office Digest), has written articles in Socialist Lawyer. Sadat is one of the contributors to the 6th edition of Macdonald's Immigration Law and Practice.
Sadat has also published the following article: "Beyond the Language of Deference" [2005] JR Vol 10 Issue 2.
Honours
CPE Bursary (1999), Major Scholar (2000) and Duke of Edinburgh Scholar (2000) (all from Inner Temple).
Pegasus Scholar (2006 – Inns of Court, Pegasus Trust)
Societies
Administrative Law Bar Association, Immigration Law Practitioners' Association, Inquest Lawyer's Group, Liberty, Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, Society of Black Lawyers and Legal Action Group.
Other activities
Sadat was formerly a volunteer at Tower Hamlets Law Centre, working for the Immigration Group. He is on the Management Committee of CAPA Civil Rights, a Tower Hamlets based police monitoring group that provides advice and support to, and campaigns on behalf of, the victims of police and racial harassment. He is also an active member of the "Freedom and Justice for Samar and Jawad" campaign.
Languages
Bengali (fluent).
