Karwan Eskerie Call: 2010 (England & Wales), 2005 (New Zealand)
karwan.eskerie@1cor.com Profile Karwan is developing a broad practice covering all main areas of Chambers’ work, with a particular focus on public law, human rights, immigration, inquests and inquiries, professional discipline, regulatory law and employment. He has been appointed to the Legal Services Board’s Panel of External Legal Advisors. Karwan regularly appears before various courts and tribunals, including the High Court, the County Courts, the First-tier Tribunal and disciplinary panels. He is also regularly instructed in drafting and advisory work. His most recent work has included: - appearing for the respondents in the Supreme Court case of Bloomsbury International Ltd v Sea Fish Industry Authority & DEFRA [2011] UKSC 25, which concerned the Authority’s power to levy persons engaged in the fishing industry and the compatibility of related legislation with EU law;
- several hearings in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), in a range of asylum, deportation and managed migration cases;
- being instructed by one of the parties in the Al-Sweady Public Inquiry into allegations of mistreatment and unlawful killing of prisoners in Iraq;
- extensive drafting and advisory work for a legal regulator on the review of its rules and regulations in light of the requirements of the Legal Services Act 2007, including advice on the need for and the wording of required amendments to the Act and other primary legislation;
- undertaking work for the Metropolitan Police in relation to Operation Weeting and Operation Elveden;
- undertaking work for the Foreign Office in relation to the Chagos Archipelago sovereignty dispute with Mauritius;
- being instructed in judicial review proceedings involving alleged abuse of process and breach of human rights;
- a number of proceedings (including hearings of up to six days) before the Conduct and Competence Committee of the Nursing and Midwifery Council;
- being instructed in a class action in an environmental matter; and
- advising on the lawfulness of compensation decisions by the Legal Ombudsmen.
During pupillage, Karwan was also involved in preparing written observations to the European Court of Human Rights, matters before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), Court of Appeal hearings in immigration and asylum matters, and VAT appeals. In addition to being a member of the English Bar, Karwan has been admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor in New Zealand and a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. Before coming to the Bar, he practised as a solicitor for four years in leading public law practices in New Zealand and England. As such, he acted on a wide range of public law, local authority, planning and regulatory law matters. Most recently, he advised the Solicitors Regulation Authority extensively on its new authorisation rules and acted in General Medical Council fitness to practise proceedings. He also spent some time in an employment law practice, advised on the drafting of primary and secondary legislation, and was seconded to a local authority as its planning appeals manager. Karwan has a Bachelor of Civil Law with Distinction from the University of Oxford and first class undergraduate degrees in Law and Political Studies from the University of Auckland. During his undergraduate studies, he was granted the Senior Prize in Law for overall high grades and the Simpson Grierson Award for coming top of his class in employment law. Karwan has interned at the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and taught public law at the University of Auckland. He has also been an associate editor of the Oxford University Commonwealth Law Journal and a judge in the UK National Rounds of the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. He speaks Hindi, Urdu, Persian and Kurdish fluently and has a working knowledge of Arabic and Punjabi. Karwan is a regular contributor to the UK Human Rights Blog, a contributor to Burnett-Hall on Environmental Law and a member of the Bar Pro Bono Unit’s panel of volunteer barristers.
Qualifications Bar Aptitude Test, BPP Law School, London (2010)
Bachelor of Civil Law (Distinction), St Catherine’s College, University of Oxford (2009)
Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test, College of Law, London (2008)
Certificate of Professional Legal Studies, College of Law, New Zealand (2005)
Bachelor of Arts (1st Class), Major in Political Studies, University of Auckland (2005)
Bachelor of Laws (1st Class), University of Auckland (2005) Professional Memberships Constitutional and Administrative Bar Association (ALBA)
Human Rights Lawyers Association (HRLA)
Advocates for International Development
Appointments Appointed to the Legal Services Board Panel of External Legal Advisors (2012)
Other information VAT Registration No: 154-5836-91 | 
