Paula Kelly

Paula accepts instructions in all areas of public and administrative law as well as human rights. She is a member of the Attorney General’s ‘Junior Junior’ Panel. Recent highlights include:

• Represented the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in In the matter of an application by the Secretary for Northern Ireland for Judicial Review [2025] UKSC 47, in respect of a claim for Public Interest Immunity in a Troubles-related legacy inquest (led by Oliver Sanders KC)
• Advising on claims arising out of R(HM) v Secretary of State for Home Department [2022] EWHC 695 in relation to the Home Office’s policy of seizing and downloading data from the mobile phones of migrants arriving by small boats.
• Acted in a successful application to strike-out a claim for false imprisonment on limitation grounds.
• Represented the Ministry of Justice in a case about the extent of the Probation Service’s duty to service users.

She has acted in or assisted in all stages of judicial review in cases spanning inquests, prisons, immigration, social care, public consultations and politically sensitive matters involving deprivation of citizenship and peerage nominations.

In her previous political role, Paula advised on a variety of Bills, Select Committee inquiries and reports, and policy areas. She developed expertise in legislative drafting and policy design. She can advise on the legislative process, parliamentary procedure and devolution.

Paula also studied international law under Philippe Sands KC and graduated first in the year in Public International Law in her LL.M.

Paula has experience in a wide range of personal injury matters and regularly provides advice and advocacy on liability and quantum.

Paula began to develop a specialised practice representing survivors of sexual abuse and neglect under the supervision of Justin Levinson, including claims in negligence, for violations of human rights, and for data breaches putting them at risk of further harm. Her experience includes acting and assisting in claims against local authorities, healthcare trusts and the settlement scheme for the victims of the mortuary abuser, David Fuller.  She also has a particular interest in online and image-based abuse and was a Judicial Assistant to Mrs Justice Thornton in the case of FGX v Gaunt [2023] EWHC 419 (KB), the first civil judgment for image-based sexual abuse in England and Wales.

Paula accepts instructions in all areas of coronial law. Her experience includes drafting submissions to Coroners on behalf of a clinician and assisting in an Article 2 jury inquest into a death in prison. She also represented a bereaved family in a successful judicial review challenge to a Coroner’s decision not to open an inquest into the death of a young person (led by Richard Booth KC).

Paula accepts instructions in data protection, privacy and information law matters, particularly cases involving psychiatric injury.

She was a Judicial Assistant to Mrs Justice Collins Rice in WFZ v BBC [2023] EWHC 1618 (KB), which concerned a high-profile individual under criminal investigation for sexual offences who obtained an interim injunction to prevent the BBC identifying him before a charging decision was made. The judgment clarified the scope of Bloomberg v ZXC [2022] UKSC 5 and raised novel questions about the interaction between Article 8, Article 6 and potential contempt of court.

Selected Cases

• Successfully represented a claimant whose home address was disclosed to her abusive ex-partner, against whom she had obtained a molestation order, leading to threats made by him against her and her children. Awarded over £11,000 at trial.
• Advised in a successful settlement by an individual whose highly sensitive medical data was sent to a patient with the same name.
• Representing a young person whose gender identity was revealed to classmates by a teacher.
• Advising in ongoing claims against schools for breach of students’ data and misuse of their private information.

Paula is interested in the intersections of criminal matters with all aspects of public and civil law, including inquests, judicial review and private claims.

She is regularly instructed by Claimants (including children) and Defendants to advise on cases brought against prisons and the police for unlawful arrest, false imprisonment, assault and human rights claims. She also worked on several judicial reviews relating to prisoner categorisation under the supervision of David Manknell KC and assisted in an inquest touching on a death in a prison.

During her LL.M. at Harvard Law School, Paula represented criminal defendants Boston courts and provided advice and advocacy to prisoners, including in parole proceedings. As a Judicial Assistant, she assisted in High Court trials concerning injuries sustained by the use of a taser during an arrest and a civil claim arising out of a criminal conviction for voyeurism, as well as applications for permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division).

Paula has assisted and worked on a wide range of clinical negligence matters for both claimants and defendants. She has prepared pleadings and drafted Advices on liability, quantum and costs, including in catastrophic birth injury and brain damage cases. She contributed to the chapters on Limitation and Alternative Dispute Resolution in ‘Clinical Negligence: A Practitioner’s Handbook’ (2^nd ed.).

Paula accepts instructions for both registrants and regulators. She regularly appears in the High Court on behalf of professional regulators.

Paula has successfully defended professionals in negligence claims, securing strike-outs at early stages of litigation. She welcomes further instructions in this area.

Paula gained experience of employment law by acting as a trade union representative. In her previous political role, she was involved in a successful challenge to an NHS Trust’s policy of denying IVF treatment to single women on the basis of discriminatory views about single mothers.

Paula has advised on claims for disability and race discrimination and is keen to build her practice in these areas.