Angelo Monni
Solicitor
Contact Information
- Solicitor
- Public Law
- City of London
- 02031141141
- @Send Email
Profile / Experience
I joined Duncan Lewis' Public Law department in June 2023. I conduct a wide range of work, including judicial reviews and human rights claims.
Prior to joining Duncan Lewis, I qualified as a Solicitor in April 2022 at a specialist mental health and mental capacity law firm in the South West. I have also previously worked at Citizens Advice, as a healthcare assistant in secure psychiatric hospitals and as a paralegal (education and charity law) at Stone King LLP.
Outside of work, I volunteer as a telephone listener at an emotional support charity.
Prior to joining Duncan Lewis, I qualified as a Solicitor in April 2022 at a specialist mental health and mental capacity law firm in the South West. I have also previously worked at Citizens Advice, as a healthcare assistant in secure psychiatric hospitals and as a paralegal (education and charity law) at Stone King LLP.
Outside of work, I volunteer as a telephone listener at an emotional support charity.
Education
- I qualified from the University of Warwick with a first-class degree in History, before obtaining a distinction in both the Graduate Diploma of Law (law conversion) and Legal Practice Course
Career
HHH & ors v SSHD (JR-2024-LON-001182)
These group judicial review proceedings were brought on behalf of 12 clients, all of whom had been refused “VTS leave” (leave to remain in the UK for the purposes of assisting their recovery from their experience of trafficking).
I managed this strategic challenge alongside my colleague Sophie Chadd. Proceedings ended in late July 2024, after the Home Office agreed to review their policy in light of the concerns we had raised. The Home Office also agreed to reconsider the claimants’ negative VTS decisions, in addition to giving assurances regarding a large number of other Duncan Lewis clients who had not yet issued proceedings.
Following the conclusion of the case, I drafted a pro-bono letter to the Home Secretary and Minister for Safeguarding, to set out the anti-slavery sector’s concerns with the previous policy for granting VTS leave, and to set out the changes we think need to feature in the amended VTS policy that is going to be put in place. This was signed by a range of prominent anti-slavery NGOs and experts.
The Guardian reported on the successful outcome of this case, in an article which featured a quote from me and my colleague Sophie Chadd: https://amp.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/28/trafficking-victims-may-be-able-to-recover-in-uk-in-home-office-u-turn
R (IAB and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities / SSHD and another -v- IAB and others [2024] EWCA CIV 66 Judicial review proceedings were brought on behalf of eight asylum seeker clients, challenging the lawfulness of the Draft Houses in Multiple Occupation (Asylum-Seeker) Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. The regulations would have exempted properties occupied by asylum seekers from the vital protections of the HMO licensing regime in Part 2 of the Housing Act 2004, exposing potentially thousands of asylum seekers to unsafe and overcrowded accommodation.
In the last working hour before the hearing was due to start, the court and claimants were informed that the government had decided to withdraw the draft regulations.
The Defendants’ approach to disclosure and candour in this case had been criticised in satellite proceedings in the High Court and the Court of Appeal. In those satellite proceedings, the court ruled it was inconsistent with the principle of open government and with public authorities’ duty of candour to routinely redact the names of junior civil servants when providing disclosure.
The successful outcome of the main challenge was covered in the national press:
BNE (a protected party by litigation friend, CBR) and PER v SSHD, Appeal No. CA-2024-001484 / CA-2024-0018110 Ongoing Court of Appeal litigation regarding GPS electronic monitoring conditions imposed on asylum seekers when on immigration bail.
Diego Garcia (British Indian Ocean Territory) I represented a Tamil asylum-seeker client regarding multiple legal challenges concerning his detention on Diego Garcia.
Bibby Stockholm Barge I represented three asylum seekers, in a successful challenge to their planned transfer to the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland, Dorset. These clients were in the first cohort of people selected for transfer to the barge.
I managed this strategic challenge alongside my colleague Sophie Chadd. Proceedings ended in late July 2024, after the Home Office agreed to review their policy in light of the concerns we had raised. The Home Office also agreed to reconsider the claimants’ negative VTS decisions, in addition to giving assurances regarding a large number of other Duncan Lewis clients who had not yet issued proceedings.
Following the conclusion of the case, I drafted a pro-bono letter to the Home Secretary and Minister for Safeguarding, to set out the anti-slavery sector’s concerns with the previous policy for granting VTS leave, and to set out the changes we think need to feature in the amended VTS policy that is going to be put in place. This was signed by a range of prominent anti-slavery NGOs and experts.
The Guardian reported on the successful outcome of this case, in an article which featured a quote from me and my colleague Sophie Chadd: https://amp.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/28/trafficking-victims-may-be-able-to-recover-in-uk-in-home-office-u-turn
R (IAB and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities / SSHD and another -v- IAB and others [2024] EWCA CIV 66 Judicial review proceedings were brought on behalf of eight asylum seeker clients, challenging the lawfulness of the Draft Houses in Multiple Occupation (Asylum-Seeker) Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023. The regulations would have exempted properties occupied by asylum seekers from the vital protections of the HMO licensing regime in Part 2 of the Housing Act 2004, exposing potentially thousands of asylum seekers to unsafe and overcrowded accommodation.
In the last working hour before the hearing was due to start, the court and claimants were informed that the government had decided to withdraw the draft regulations.
The Defendants’ approach to disclosure and candour in this case had been criticised in satellite proceedings in the High Court and the Court of Appeal. In those satellite proceedings, the court ruled it was inconsistent with the principle of open government and with public authorities’ duty of candour to routinely redact the names of junior civil servants when providing disclosure.
The successful outcome of the main challenge was covered in the national press:
- https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/feb/07/home-office-drops-plan-to-remove-housing-protections-from-asylum-seekers-in-england-and-wales
- ttps://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/uknews/plan-to-remove-asylum-seeker-housing-licensing-requirements-scrapped-court-told/ar-BB1hW4nZ
- https://www.expressandstar.com/news/uk-news/2024/02/07/plan-to-remove-asylum-seeker-housing-licensing-requirements-scrapped-court-told/
BNE (a protected party by litigation friend, CBR) and PER v SSHD, Appeal No. CA-2024-001484 / CA-2024-0018110 Ongoing Court of Appeal litigation regarding GPS electronic monitoring conditions imposed on asylum seekers when on immigration bail.
Diego Garcia (British Indian Ocean Territory) I represented a Tamil asylum-seeker client regarding multiple legal challenges concerning his detention on Diego Garcia.
Bibby Stockholm Barge I represented three asylum seekers, in a successful challenge to their planned transfer to the Bibby Stockholm barge in Portland, Dorset. These clients were in the first cohort of people selected for transfer to the barge.
Articles
- Judge rules Sri Lankan asylum seekers were unlawfully detained for three years on Diego Garcia (17 December 2024)
- BIOT Migrants Stranded in Diego Garcia are to be allowed into the UK (5 November 2024)
- Government to Reconsider Unlawful Trafficking Policy Following Duncan Lewis Challenge (30 July 2024)
- Duncan Lewis Challenges Unlawful Trafficking Policy on Behalf of Multiple Clients (3 June 2024)
- Duncan Lewis’ Public Law Team Featured in openDemocracy Report (29 May 2024)