Shaheen Rahman KC appears as Counsel to the UK Covid Inquiry - Feb 2026
Human Rights
Shaheen has appeared in many significant public law challenges with a focus on Prisons, Healthcare, Public Consultations and Religious Discrimination. She is a leading Special Advocate in cases alleging breach of human rights. She has acted in damages claims brought under the Human Rights Act, often arising from inquests.
Selected Cases
- JJ: Lead Special Advocate in ongoing civil damages case with allegations of torture.
- Daniela Santo: Acting in damages claim against police arising from inquest proceedings in negligence and under the human rights act.
- QX v SSHD [2023] EWHC 1221 (Admin)]: Lead special Advocate in challenge to reporting obligations under a temporary exclusion order. Proceedings settled in 2025.
- AZ/RA Lead Special Advocate in two ARAP case where the challenges succeeded.
- E10 Lead Special Advocate in SIAC deprivation case
- Rahmatullah & Ali v MOD &Ors [2019] EWHC 3849 (QB): Special advocate in civil claim alleging mistreatment and unlawful transfer to US custody by UK state.
- Belhaj & Boudchar v Jack Straw & Others [2017] EWHC 1861: Special Advocate in settled claim alleging complicity in extraordinary rendition and torture.
- R (Black) v SSJ [2017]; [2016] 3 WLR 28, [2015] 1 WLR 2963: For Claimant in Supreme Court case considering whether Crown Immunity applies to the smoking ban introduced by the Health Act 2006.
- R (Serdar Mohammed) v MOD [2014] 1 WLR 1071: Special Advocate in proceedings seeking extended moratorium on transfer of UK detainees to Afghan authorities in view of risk of torture.
- R (Ullah) v Special Adjudicator [2004] UKHL 26: For Intervener, Justice, in House of Lords case concerning extraterritorial effect of Convention rights
‘The Inquest Book’ second edition out today - Jul 2025
We are pleased to announce that the 'The Inquest Book' second edition is out today! The 2nd edition of this essential handbook on coronial law incorporates the significant changes in legislation...
Shaheen Rahman KC and Emma-Louise Fenelon act in fatal domestic abuse inquest - Oct 2024
Shaheen Rahman KC and Emma-Louise Fenelon represented the family of Daniela Espirito Santo at an inquest before Senior Coroner Paul Smith at Lincolnshire Coroner’s Court. The jury found that...
1COR Webinar: Corporate Manslaughter – coming to your next inquest? - May 2023
In this upcoming webinar, Shaheen Rahman KC and Emma-Louise Fenelon will discuss corporate manslaughter, and its relevance to inquests post-Maughan. Topics covered in this webinar include: ...
1COR Quarterly Medical Law Review – Winter 2022 – Issue 12 – May 2023 - May 2023
Welcome to the twelfth issue of the QMLR, brought to you by the barristers at 1 Crown Office Row. This issue catches up on cases from early 2022. Download the Winter 2022 newsletter here: 1COR...
Shaheen Rahman QC and Matt Hill appear as CTI in Joe Pooley Inquest - Aug 2022
The inquest touching the death of Joe Pooley concluded on Friday 29 July 2022. Shaheen Rahman QC and Matt Hill were instructed by the Area Coroner for Suffolk to appear as Counsel to the Inquest. ...
Birthrights report on racial injustice in maternity care published - May 2022
The charity "Birthrights" has published its report on racial injustice in maternity care following a year long inquiry. Shaheen Rahman QC chaired the evidence sessions and wrote the foreword to the...
Shaheen Rahman QC appointed to join the UK Covid-19 Inquiry legal team - May 2022
Following a competitive recruitment process, the Chair of the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, Baroness Heather Hallett, has appointed Shaheen Rahman QC to join her legal team. Shaheen will assist with the...
1COR Quarterly Medical Law Review – Summer/Autumn 2021 – Issue 10 - Jan 2022
Welcome to the tenth issue of the QMLR, brought to you by the barristers at 1 Crown Office Row to update you on developments in Summer and Autumn 2021. Download the Summer/Autumn 2021 newsletter...
Birthrights Inquiry begins hearing evidence - Jun 2021
On 22nd June 2021, the Birthrights Inquiry held the first evidence session as part of it's ongoing investigation into disparities in maternal outcomes for ethnic minorities. Shaheen Rahman QC is...
Healthcare Inquests & Covid-19 – Where Are We Now? - May 2021
Join Chair Caroline Cross and expert speakers Shaheen Rahman QC, Matthew Hill and Rajkiran Barhey as they discuss healthcare inquests and Covid-19 at 2pm today. Caroline will begin by looking at...
How can I search for an individual QMLR article? Using our new Archive website! - Apr 2021
Want the latest case summaries? Looking for all the articles on consent? Need one place with all our COVID-19 guidance? Two years after Chambers began the 1COR Quarterly Medical Law Review (QMLR),...
1COR Quarterly Medical Law Review – Winter 2020/21 – Issue 8 - Apr 2021
Welcome to the eighth issue of the Quarterly Medical Law Review, updating you on developments in Winter 2020/21 and our announcement: New QMLR website Two years after Chambers began QMLR,...
Shaheen Rahman QC, Gideon Barth and Jo Moore take part in Pathways to Law mock trial - Feb 2021
Today Sutton Trust Pathways to Law students hosted by the University of Roehampton will participate in a virtual mock trial with Gideon Barth and Shaheen Rahman QC coaching prosecution and defence...
1COR Quarterly Medical Law Review – Autumn 2020 – Issue 7 - Feb 2021
Welcome to the seventh issue of the Quarterly Medical Law Review, brought to you by the barristers at 1 Crown Office Row. This issue was unfortunately somewhat delayed but covers developments in...
Shaheen Rahman QC chairs Birthrights’ inquiry into maternal care - Feb 2021
Shaheen Rahman QC has been asked by the charity Birthrights to chair their inquiry into disparities in maternal outcomes for ethnic minorities. Birthrights has assembled a panel of experts with...
University of Bristol Medical Law Society and Bar Society: Clinical Negligence at the Bar Panel with Shaheen Rahman QC - Nov 2020
On 13th November Shaheen Rahman QC joins the University of Bristol Medical Law Society and Bar Society virtual event looking at Clinical Negligence at the Bar. She joins a panel of experts discussing...
Join Chair Shaheen Rahman QC at the AvMA ‘Medico-Legal Issues in the Care of Older People’ Online Conference - Oct 2020
Join AvMA ‘Medico-Legal Issues in the Care of Older People’ clinical negligence conference chaired by Shaheen Rahman QC today and tomorrow. The conference focuses on the issues impacting on older...
APIL annual clinical negligence conference with speaker Shaheen Rahman QC - Oct 2020
This year, the APIL annual clinical negligence conference 2020 is held virtually with a line up of excellent speakers, including Shaheen Rahman QC, giving talks around the health law topic of...
1COR Quarterly Medical Law Review – Summer 2020 – Issue 6 - Sep 2020
Welcome to the sixth issue of the Quarterly Medical Law Review, brought to you by the barristers at 1 Crown Office Row. Download the Summer 2020 newsletter here: 1COR QMLR - Summer 2020 - Issue 6 ...
1COR Quarterly Medical Law Review – 2020 – Special Issue – Part 3 - Jul 2020
Welcome to this COVID-19 special issue of the Quarterly Medical Law Review, brought to you by the barristers at 1 Crown Office Row. Given the fast moving nature of this situation, we will likely...
Inquests in Interesting Times Webinar - Jun 2020
Experts in Inquest Law discuss different key topics related to inquest during a pandemic at this webinar on 18th June 2020 chaired by Clodagh Bradley QC. Peter Skelton QC covered Article 2 in...
1COR Quarterly Medical Law Review – Spring 2020 – Issue 5 - May 2020
Welcome to the fifth issue of the Quarterly Medical Law Review, brought to you by the barristers at 1 Crown Office Row. In this packed edition you will find: Download the Spring 2020 newsletter...
1COR Quarterly Medical Law Review – 2020 – Special Issue – Part 2 - Apr 2020
Welcome to another special issue of the Quarterly Medical Law Review, brought to you by the barristers at 1 Crown Office Row. Given the fast moving nature of this situation, we will produce a number...
1COR Quarterly Medical Law Review -2020 – Special Issue - Mar 2020
Welcome to this special issue of the Quarterly Medical Law Review (QMLR), brought to you by the barristers at 1 Crown Office Row. We are endeavouring to provide legal analysis of changes caused by...
Scope of Duty and Causation: Chester v Afshar Revisited in Leeds - Feb 2020
Join us for an afternoon debating the scope of duty and causation in medical claims based on Chester v Afshar [2005] 1 AC 134, which have come to the fore in recent cases (which we have also acted in)...
Law Pod UK Ep. 102: BBC Pay Discrimination with Shaheen Rahman QC - Feb 2020
In the latest episode on Law Pod UK, Emma-Louise Fenelon talks to Shaheen Rahman QC about Samira Ahmed’s decisive Employment Tribunal victory, handed down on 10 January 2020. The decision can be...
Shaheen Rahman QC joins panellists at HRLA’s Review of the Year 2019 - Dec 2019
Each year the Human Rights Lawyers Association (HRLA) invites a panel of legal professionals to review the year in human rights law. 2019 has been an interesting year including First 100 Years of...
The 1COR Quarterly Medical Law Review – Autumn 2019 – Issue 3 - Dec 2019
Welcome to the third issue of the Quarterly Medical Law Review, brought to you by barristers at 1 Crown Office Row. This quarterly publication aims to provide summaries and comment on recent cases...
Angus McCullough QC and Shaheen Rahman QC have tackled the question: ‘Disclosure in Closed Material Proceedings: What Has to Be Revealed?’ - Nov 2019
In the latest volume of Judicial Review, Angus McCullough QC and Shaheen Rahman QC consider the approach to “disclosure” in closed material proceedings (CMPs). They address the background and...
The 1COR Quarterly Medical Law Review – Summer 2019 – Issue 2 - Aug 2019
Welcome to the second issue of the Quarterly Medical Law Review, brought to you by barristers at 1 Crown Office Row. This quarterly publication aims to provide summaries and comment on recent cases in...
Shaheen Rahman QC authors chapter in the UK Supreme Court Yearbook Volume 9 - Jul 2019
Shaheen Rahman QC has authored a chapter on Health and Safety Law in the UK Supreme Court Yearbook Volume 9. The chapter includes commentary on the case of R (Black) v Secretary of State for...
The 1COR Quarterly Medical Law Review – Spring 2019 – Issue 1 - May 2019
Welcome to the first issue of the Quarterly Medical Law Review, brought to you by barristers at 1 Crown Office Row. This new quarterly publication aims to provide summaries and comment on recent cases...
Shaheen Rahman QC invited to speak at the JUSTICE Human Rights Law Conference 2018 - Oct 2018
Shaheen Rahman QC has been invited to speak at the annual JUSTICE conference on Privacy, Security and Surveillance. This conference offers legal professionals the chance to gain valuable insight into...
Shaheen Rahman QC to speak at Hill Dickinson’s Medical Lecture Series 2018 with Prof. Derek Tuffnell and ENS Representatives - Oct 2018
Shaheen Rahman QC joins consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Professor Derek Tuffnell as well as ENS Team Leader Kamalpreet Bedi and other representatives from NHS Resolution in one of Hill...
Philip Havers QC and Shaheen Rahman QC appear in Supreme Court prisoner smoking ban appeal - Nov 2017
Philip Havers QC and Shaheen Rahman QC have appeared in the Supreme Court on behalf of the appellant in this landmark case regarding the application of the smoking ban in prisons. Philip Havers QC and...
Law Pod UK Ep. 13: Tackling radicalisation through the civil courts - Oct 2017
Martin Downs and Shaheen Rahman QC talk about their experiences of tackling radicalisation in the civil courts, and the use of closed hearings. Recorded at the 2017 Public Law event at King’s...
Shaheen Rahman QC and Matthew Hill speak at the annual Justice Human Rights Law Conference - Oct 2017
This year Shaheen Rahman QC and Matthew Hill both spoke at the annual Justice Human Rights Law Conference on Friday 13 October, held at the London offices of Freshfields. Both were delighted to have...
1COR Public Law Seminar – Life, Liberty & Security - Sep 2017
Date: 11th September 2017 We will be tweeting using the hash tag: #1CORpublic Registration: 16:30pm onwards Programme: 17:00 - 17:50 Panel Discussion chaired by Mrs Justice Whipple. ...
The Times reports on Chambers extremism cases - Jun 2017
Frances Gibb has written in The Times (｣) about the number of cases being heard in the Family Division concerning extremism. The piece features quotations from Mr Justice Hayden in A Local Authority...
Martin Downs in new Radicalisation Judgment about protecting older children and vulnerable adults - Apr 2017
Mr Justice Hayden has just handed down a new Judgment concerning safeguarding those at risk of radicalisation: A Local Authority v Y [2017] EWHC 968 (Fam) (27 April 2017). The Judgment focuses on...
Marina Wheeler QC in Public Interest Immunity & Radicalisation case - Apr 2017
Marina Wheeler QC appeared for the Home Secretary in her successful application for public interest immunity in a Radicalisation Case. Mrs Justice Pauffley has just handed down Judgment. The case...
Oliver Sanders QC and Shaheen Rahman QC take Silk - Feb 2017
13th February 2017 was QC appointment day, and Oliver Sanders and Shaheen Rahman, accompanied by their families and Senior and First Junior Clerks Matthew Phipps and Andrew Tull, travelled to...
New QC Appointments Announced Oliver Sanders and Shaheen Rahman - Jan 2017
Two of our Members, Oliver Sanders and Shaheen Rahman, have been advised that they will be appointed Queen's Counsel on 13 February 2017. The full report, including press release and full appointment...
Philip Havers QC and Shaheen Rahman to appear in the Supreme Court in prisoner smoking case - Oct 2016
R(Black) v Secretary of State for Justice [2015] 1 WLR 3963, [2015] 4 ALL ER 790; [2016] 3 WLR 28: [2016] 3 All ER 30: (2016) 150 BMLR 145: Times, May 6, 2016. In this case Philip Havers QC and...
Shaheen Rahman acts for family in pill death case - Jul 2016
The Shropshire coroner has concluded that Charlotte Foster, 23, died of the untreated side effects of the combined oral contraceptive pill. She suffered a cardiac arrest at work and brain damage five...
Control order upheld following rehearing - May 2016
Angus McCullough QC and Shaheen Rahman were instructed as Special Advocates for GG in the long running case of Secretary of State for the Home Department v GG [2016] EWHC 1193 (Admin). Collins J held...
Philip Havers QC and Shaheen Rahman in Prison Smoking Appeal - Feb 2016
Philip Havers QC and Shaheen Rahman have appeared for the Respondent in the Court of Appeal in Black v SSHD, the prisoner smoking case. The Court considered whether Crown Immunity applied to...
Shaheen Rahman acting for the mother of woman hit by a train along with her 3 year old son - Apr 2015
Shaheen Rahman is acting for the mother of Donna Oettinger who tragically died along with her 3 year old son when she got onto railway tracks and was run down by a train. She had been treated for...
Shaheen Rahman wins ruling on smoking in jail and the status of Crown premises - Mar 2015
Shaheen Rahman won her case for prisoner, Paul Black, inmate at HMP Wymott in Lancashire, who says he suffers from a range of health problems made worse by second-hand smoke. The landmark ruling means...
Shaheen Rahman appeared as Special Advocate for a Claimant subject to a TPIM - Apr 2013
Shaheen Rahman has appeared as Special Advocate on behalf of a Claimant subject to a TPIM (Terrorist Prevention and Investigation Measures) in CF v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013]...
Members of 1COR acted in the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust Public Inquiry - Feb 2013
