Congratulations to new silks Neil Sheldon and Robert Kellar - Jan 2019
Human Rights
Neil regularly appears in the higher courts in a wide variety of judicial review cases, with particular emphasis on claims involving the European Convention on Human Rights. A selection of his recent cases in this area is set out below.
Neil is currently instructed in a number of cases before the European Court of Human Rights including AL v United Kingdom (female genital mutilation in Nigeria), Bureau of Investigative Journalism v United Kingdom (bulk interception of communications; protection of journalistic sources), and Nait-Liman v Switzerland (universal jurisdiction for acts of torture; state immunity).
Selected Cases
Supreme Court
- KV (Sri Lanka) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA 119 (judgement awaited): Asylum; self-infliction of injuries by proxy; correct approach to medical evidence in asylum cases.
- R (Kiarie & Byndloss) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (judgment awaited): Article 8; certification; procedural fairness in out of country appeals.
- SXH v Crown Prosecution Service [2017] UKSC 30: Article 8; whether decisions to prosecute can engage the right to respect for private/family life.
- Agyarko v Secretary of State for Home Department [2017] UKSC 11: Article 8; removal of overstayers; need for ‘insurmountable obstacles’ to continuation of family life and ‘exceptional circumstances’.
- MM (Lebanon) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] UKSC 10: Articles 8/14; proportionality of minimum income requirement; discrimination; correct approach to a challenge to the immigration rules.
- Hesham Ali v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] UKSC 60: Article 8; deportation of foreign criminal; principles to apply; function of the Tribunal in human rights appeals.
- R (Eastenders) v HMRC) [2014] UKSC 34: Article 6; power to detain goods pending enquiries as to whether duty paid; construction of s.139 of CEMA 1979.
Court of Appeal
- Nguyen v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWCA Civ 258: Article 8; foreign criminal deportation; interests of children, including step-children whose biological parents are opposed to relocation.
- R (Rights of Women) v Lord Chancellor [2016] 1 WLR 2543: Challenge to LASPO regulations concerning victims of domestic violence; Padfield ulra vires; financial abuse as component of domestic abuse.
- WW (Jamaica) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWCA Civ 648: Article 8; foreign criminal deportation; correct approach to proportionality assessment.
- BB (Algeria) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWCA Civ 25: Immigration; interpretation of long residence rules; transitional provisions; statutory construction.
- Danso v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWCA Civ 596: Article 8; foreign criminal deportation; correct approach to proportionality assessment.
- Ikuga v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] 1 WLR 390: Article 8; removal of overstayers; need for ‘insurmountable obstacles’ to continuation of family life and ‘exceptional circumstances’.
- FZ (China) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] 3 CMLR 12: EU law; Article 20, TFEU; deportation; Zambrano principle.
- CG (Jamaica) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWCA Civ 194: Article 8; foreign criminal deportation; young offenders; correct approach to application of immigration rules.
- AJ (Angola) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWCA Civ 1636: Article 8; foreign criminal deportation; correct approach to application of immigration rules.
- LC (China) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] INLR 302: Article 8; foreign criminal deportation; best interest of children in foreign criminal cases.
- HA (Iraq) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWCA Civ 1304: Article 8; foreign criminal deportation); correct approach to the public interest in the deportation of serious offenders.
- SJ (Pakistan) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] 1 WLR 1073: Articles 8/14; proportionality of minimum income requirement; discrimination; correct approach to a challenge to the immigration rules.
- SXH v Crown Prosecution Service [2014] EWCA Civ 90: Article 8; whether decisions to prosecute can engage the right to respect for private/family life.
- AA (Iran) v Upper Tribunal [2013] EWCA Civ 1523: Asylum; unaccompanied minors; duty to trace; imputed political opinion.
- MF (Nigeria) v Secretary of State for Home Department [2014] 1 WLR 544: Article 8; foreign criminal deportation; correct approach to new immigration rules.
- CW (Jamaica) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] EWCA Civ 915: Article 8; foreign criminal deportation; public interest in deportation of serious drugs offender.
- MB (Bangladesh) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] EWCA Civ 220: Right of Abode; presumption of legitimacy under s.1(4) of Legitimacy Act 1976.
- Hayat & Treebhowan v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] INLR 17: Article 8; requirement to apply from abroad; interpretation and application of Chikwamba.
- R (Eastenders) v HMRC [2012] 1 WLR 2067: Article 6; power to detain goods pending enquiries as to whether duty paid; construction of s.139 of CEMA 1979.
- RS (Uganda) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] EWCA Civ 1749: Article 8; deportation of young offenders; application of Maslov v Austria.
- Quila v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] 3 All ER 81: Articles 8 & 12; proportionality of raising age limit to combat forced marriages; paragraph 277 of Immigration Rules.
High Court / Divisional Court
- R (Britcits) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2016] EWHC 956: Article 8; Padfield ultra vires; challenge to immigration rules restricting rights of entry for adult dependant relatives.
- R (Rights of Women) v Lord Chancellor [2015] 2 FLR 823: Challenge to LASPO regulations concerning victims of domestic violence; Padfield ulra vires; financial abuse as component of domestic abuse.
- R (Litvinenko) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] HRLR 6: Challenge to Home Secretary’s decision not to order a statutory inquiry; Article 2; public interest considerations in investigation of high profile deaths.
- Foreign Secretary v Coroner for Inner North London [2014] ACD 43: PII; Litvinenko Inquest; successful Jr of Coroner’s decision to order disclosure of material.
- R (Majid) & Ors v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] 1 WLR 2306: Articles 8/14; proportionality of minimum income requirement; discrimination; correct approach to a challenge to the immigration rules.
- SXH v Crown Prosecution Service [2013] EWHC 71 (QB): Article 8; whether decisions to prosecute can engage the right to respect for private/family life.
- R (Wilmot) v Secretary of State for Justice [2012] EWHC 3139 (Admin): Life prisoners; transfer to open conditions; principles to be applied by parole board.
- Raed Mahajna v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2011] EWHC 2481: Article 5; detention pending deportation; requirement to give accurate reasons for deportation.
- R (Bonhoeffer) v General Medical Council [2012] IRLR 37: Hearsay evidence in professional disciplinary proceedings; Article 6; compelling reasons required to justify absence of witness.
- R (MA) v National Probation Service [2011] ACD 86: Article 6; challenge to conditions imposed after release on licence; sufficiency of judicial review.
- R (English) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] EWHC 1726: Foreign students; minimum educational requirement; ultra vires; application of Pankina.
Neil Sheldon and Matthew Hill in Supreme Court over the correct approach to the assessment of medical evidence in asylum claims - Dec 2018
Neil Sheldon and Matthew Hill have appeared in the Supreme Court in a case concerning whether an asylum seeker’s scars were inflicted by torture or as the result of a planned procedure carried out...
Neil Sheldon wins ‘Public Inquiries Barrister of the Year’ at the annual Lawyer Monthly Awards - Nov 2018
Each year the Lawyer Monthly conducts research and collects votes for each nominee to determine who in the legal world has delivered outstanding results for their clients in the last twelve months....
Neil Sheldon and Matthew Hill instructed in the Westminster Bridge Inquests - Sep 2018
Neil Sheldon and Matthew Hill are instructed in inquests into the deaths arising from the Westminster Bridge terror attack in March 2017. Neil appears for the Home Secretary, instructed by GLD. ...
Neil Sheldon successful in Court of Appeal in cases concerning leave to remain under Article 8 - May 2018
Neil Sheldon was instructed by the Government Legal Department to defend against two appeals to the Secretary of State for the Home Department's (SSHD) decision not to grant leave for them to remain...
Neil Sheldon defends the 2012 Immigration Rules in the Court of Appeal - Mar 2018
Neil Sheldon represented the defendant in Cheryl Ribelli v Entry Clearance Officer, Pretoria [2018] EWCA Civ 611. This appeal was made against the Upper Tribunal’s decision not to grant admission...
Neil Sheldon appears in the Court of Appeal in a case concerning the admission to the UK of adult dependent relatives - May 2017
Neil Sheldon was instructed by the Government Legal Department in an appeal against the Administrative Court’s decision to dismiss their application for judicial review seeking to overcome new...
Philip Havers QC and Neil Sheldon succeed in Supreme Court on Art 8 Rights case - May 2017
Philip Havers QC and Neil Sheldon appeared for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in SXH v CPS. The Supreme Court held that Article 8 of the Convention did not apply to the CPS's decision to...
Neil Sheldon Acts For The Home Office In Trio of Article 8 Supreme Court Cases - Mar 2017
The Supreme Court has recently delivered judgment in three important Article 8 immigration appeals. Neil Sheldon acted for the Home Office in each case, instructed by the Government Legal Department. ...
Inquest result announced for Frances Cappuccini, Whose Family Are Represented By Neil Sheldon - Jan 2017
The inquest into Frances Cappuccini's death concluded today. Neil Sheldon represented her family, instructed by Kate Rohde of Kingsley Napley. Frances Cappuccini, already a mother of one, died...
Neil Sheldon Represents Family of Mother, Frances Cappuccini In Ongoing Inquest Into Her Death - Jan 2017
The inquest has begun to investigate the death of Frances Cappuccini, at age 30, at Pembury Hospital in 2012. Neil Sheldon is representing Frances Cappuccini's family. He was instructed by Kate Rohde...
Neil Sheldon and Alasdair Henderson appear for the Lord Chancellor in LASPO case: Rights of Women v SSJ - Jan 2015
Neil Sheldon and Alasdair Henderson recently appeared for the Lord Chancellor in a case concerning the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 ("LASPO"). A group of charities and...
Neil Garnham QC, Neil Sheldon and Robert Wastell are representing the Home Secretary in the Public Inquiry into the death of Alexander Litvinenko - Aug 2014
Neil Garnham QC, Neil Sheldon and Robert Wastell are representing the Government, and in particular the Home Secretary, in the Public Inquiry into the death of Alexander Litvinenko, a former employee...
Neil Sheldon successful for HMRC in Supreme Court smuggling case - Jun 2014
Neil Sheldon (led by a QC) acted for the Commissioners in their appeal to the Supreme Court in the case of HMRC v Eastenders [2014] UKSC 34. The case concerned the power of the Commissioners to...
Neil Garnham QC and Neil Sheldon are representing the Home Secretary in the inquest into the death of Alexander Litvinenko - Feb 2014
Neil Garnham QC and Neil Sheldon are representing the Government, and in particular the Home Secretary, at the inquest into the death of Alexander Litvinenko, a former employee of the Russian Security...
Neil Garnham QC and Neil Sheldon successful in judicial review challenge to the Public Interest Immunity decision in the Litvinenko Inquest - Dec 2013
Neil Garnham QC and Neil Sheldon, representing the Foreign Secretary, were successful in a judicial review challenge to the Public Interest Immunity (PII) decision of the Assistant Deputy Coroner for...
Nine members of 1COR involved in Al-Sweady Public Inquiry - Mar 2013
After more than three years of preliminary investigations, Monday, 4 March marked the commencement of oral hearings in the Al-Sweady Public Inquiry. The Inquiry was announced by the Secretary of State...
New Appointments to the Attorney General’s A, B and C Panels – February 2013 - Feb 2013
We are delighted to announce the following new appointments to the Attorney General's Panels - Owain Thomas to the A Panel (a re-appointment), Amy Mannion and John Jolliffe to the B Panel and Caroline...
Neil Garnham QC and Neil Sheldon are representing the Home Secretary at the Inquest into the death of Alexander Litvinenko - Feb 2013
Neil Garnham QC and Neil Sheldon are representing the Government and in particular the Home Secretary, at the Inquest into the death of Alexander Litvinenko, a former employee of the Russian Security...
Kieran Coonan QC and Neil Sheldon obtain block on hearsay evidence in Bonhoeffer case - Jul 2011
In R (Bonhoeffer) v General Medical Council [2011] EWHC 1585 (Admin) The Divisional Court has made an important ruling in Judicial Review proceedings brought by Johannes Bonhoeffer (represented by...
New Appointments to the Attorney General’s A, B and C Panels – February 2012 - Feb 2012
We are delighted to announce the following new appointments to the Attorney General's Panels - Oliver Sanders to the A panel, Robert Wastell to the B panel and Adam Wagner to the C panel. The 23...
New appointments to the Attorney General’s A, B and C Panels - Mar 2010
We are delighted to announce the following new appointments to the Attorney General's Panels - Marina Wheeler and Neil Sheldon to the A Panel, David Manknell to the B Panel and John Jolliffe to the C...
GMC’s findings of fact re Dr Wakefield announced - Feb 2010