Shina Animashaun joins Garden Court as a pupil under the supervision of James Scobie QC. He continues to develop a practice across the spectrum of general and international crime.
Shina has previously worked at the United Nations, and a variety of non-profit legal organisations including JUSTICE and Modernising Justice (formerly the Homicide Review Advisory Group). He now applies the skills he learned from these challenging and fulfilling roles in the preparation of his own cases.
Criminal Defence
Shina represents individuals charged with a full range of criminal offences. He is well known and highly regarded for his approach with clients; he has experience beyond his years of call when working with both vulnerable adults and children. More recently, he has been specifically instructed to represent the interests of those who have been found unfit to plea in the Crown and Magistrates’ Court.
Shina has assisted in the preparation of a number of serious and complex criminal cases, these include but are not limited to: the prosecution of Barclays, the Stansted 15 Protesters, reviewing evidence concerning the liability of a cladding company for the Grenfell Tower fire and the prosecution of a former football coach for historic sexual abuse. In doing so he assisted both pre and during trials by drafting speeches, preparing bad character and abuse of process applications, sentencing notes, schedules of evidence and conducting research on law, procedure, and evidence.
Contact Shina
Background
Prior to pupillage Shina worked at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. There he assisted the UN Prosecutor Serge Brammertz on the trials of Jovica Stanišić, a former head of the Serbian State Security Service, and Ratko Mladić, a former Bosnian Serbian military leader. Shina drafted an application to admit the evidence of the former President Milan Babić to assist in the prosecution of crimes against humanity.
At the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, Shina prepared interventions to the European Court of Human Rights and the Supreme Court. He also provided legal opinions to the Home Office on their proposals to deport foreign criminals.
While working at JUSTICE, Shina undertook research analysing the impact of proposals for online courts on digitally marginalised groups. The results of which were published in his 2018 report, 'Preventing Digital Exclusion from Online Justice'.
Shina also previously worked as a legal researcher for Modernising Justice (formerly 'The Homicide Review Advisory Group). In this capacity he assisted Sir Louis Blom-Cooper QC in researching and producing an article on issues relating to the law on murder and the mandatory life sentence.
Shina is a founding member of 'East London Arts and Music', an arts and music specialist free school for 16-19 year olds in Bromley-by-Bow. This was a joint project in collaboration with Teach First and Will Kennard from the electronic music duo Chase and Status. In March 2013 they were successful in persuading the former Secretary of State for Education to approve and secure public funding for the school.
Publications
JUSTICE, 'Preventing Digital Exclusion from Online Justice', 2018
Training and Seminars
- Youth Justice Legal Centre - Youth Advocacy Training
- The Nursing and Midwifery Council - Case Presenting Training
Awards
- Sir Geoffrey Nice Foundation Scholarship, 2018
- Sir Joseph Priestley Scholarship, 2016
- The Honorable Society of the Inner Temple Exhibition Award, 2014
- Duke of Edinburgh Entrance Award, 2014
- Sir Terry Matthews Scholarship, 2013
- Award for the Outstanding Performance in Human Rights Law, 2013
- Award for the Outstanding Performance in Land Law, 2013
Education
- First Class, LLB, University of Swansea
- Very Competent, BPTC, City Law School
Professional Membership
- Human Rights Lawyers Association
- JUSTICE
Languages
Yoruba