The United Kingdom Supreme Court handed down a very important judgment today, 21st December, allowing the Appeals of Dinjan Hysaj and Agron Bakijasi, Hysaj & Ors, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] UKSC 82, overruling the judgments of the Administrative Court and the Court of Appeal, who had previously ruled that the decisions of the Secretary of State for the Home Department, to treat their grant of British citizenship as a nullity, on the basis that it was obtained by means of impersonation was lawful. The consequence of this ruling is that “nullity” principle where a person is not and has never been a British citizen is limited to a small number of cases of impersonation of a real person’s identity. Read more...
The Administrative Court has designated a cohort of six Duncan Lewis cases (Omar & Others) to examine the legality of the Transfer for Determination of an Application for International Protection Regulations 2017 which came into force on the 15th March 2017. The Administrative Court has ordered a rolled-up hearing to take place on the 1st February 2018. Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors are excited to announce that we have won the Best Contribution by a Firm with a London Head Office at last night's LawWorks Pro Bono Awards. Our Housing Director Heather Iqbal Rayner and Childcare Director Emine Mehmet were highly commended for the best contribution by an individual and our Cardiff Housing Law team were recognised by LawWorks for their multiple pro bono projects. And last but not least, along with others, our partnership with University of East London and Romford Autism Hub Clinic was also commended. Read more...
R (BG (ALBANIA)) V SSHD C4/2016/1722 – IN THE COURT OF APPEAL Read more...
Under the guidance of the recently appointed Wills and Probate Director, Caroline Roche, Duncan Lewis Solicitors is now one of many firms across the UK taking part in Will Aid a fundraising campaign established by nine UK charities. Read more...
Following Duncan Lewis Solicitors’ success in the Legal 500 2017 Edition, which ranked 11 legal departments and saw 34 exceptional lawyers receiving recommendations, we are pleased to announce that the firm has been shortlisted for Legal 500 UK Awards 2018 in two categories. Read more...
Last week, on Wednesday 15 November, caseworkers Rachael Lenney, Husein Meghji and Patrick Page from the Duncan Lewis Harrow Public Law Team spoke at City University about their careers in legally aided public law funded. They were joined by Alex Schymyck, who recently left the team to work as a judicial assistant in the Court of Appeal, with a view to pursuing a career at the Bar. All four of them had completed their law conversions at City University. Read more...
Aina Khan, Islamic Law specialist, will feature in Channel 4 documentary “The Truth About Muslim Marriage” tonight, Tuesday 21st November, at 10pm. Read more...
Last week, on Monday 13 November, Patrick Page spoke in Parliament on a panel discussing refugee issues from family reunion to integration. The event was organised by the Afghanistan & Central Asian Association (ACAA) as part of Parliament Week 2017. Read more...
Duncan Lewis’ Public Law team in Harrow are representing five detainees who have lodged a wide-ranging challenge at the High Court to the lock-in regime and living conditions at Brook House Immigration Removal Centre (IRC). The G4S-run detention centre, near Gatwick Airport, was recently the subject of a BBC Panorama documentary showing undercover footage of violent verbal and physical abuse by officers towards detainees. Read more...
Sheroy Zaq, Public Law and Immigration solicitor at Duncan Lewis, was invited to talk on the Voice of Islam’s Breakfast Show on the 2nd November about the way that the UK government are serving decisions to detain individual EU nationals by working alongside the police and homeless charities to target those EU nationals that they suspect to be sleeping rough. Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors is delighted to announce the hiring of Wills and Probate Director and Solicitor, Caroline Roche. Caroline will be based in the company’s Harrow office and will be spearheading the Wills and Probate department UK-wide, as Duncan Lewis seeks to expand its services in this area. She will also contribute to the firm’s Clinical Negligence and Road Traffic Law services. Read more...
Banana-stalls, cement stores and carpentry-workshops blurred passed us, the diesel engine gurgled over gently, and the soft warm air breezed through the wide-open windows, caressing us into a tropical torpor. Eager to take it all in, we were struggling to fight back the sleep denied us by the all-night flight (why rest when “The Wedding-Crashers” and “The 40 Year Old Virgin” feature in the in-flight entertainment?) Read more...
Shyam Dhir and Roshni Jobanputra recently attended the University of Birmingham where they were invited to host a presentation to international students for immigration options after they graduate. Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors are excited to announce that we have been shortlisted for four awards at the LawWorks 2017 Annual Pro Bono Awards. Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors are pleased to announce excellent results in the Chambers & Partners 2018 legal guide with the firm receiving departmental ranking and recognitions as well as 3 Solicitors receiving “Leading Individual” status and another noted as a “Recognised Practitioner”. Read more...
“Look!” interjected an old man, jerking up a shirtsleeve to reveal his emaciated forearm, his jaundiced eyes smouldered under a black fedora, “in Congo I was strong, now I’m a skeleton.” Read more...
Legal 500 “Top Tier” firm Duncan Lewis Solicitors are extremely proud to announce that Immigration & Public Law Solicitor Krisha Prathepan received the Society of Asian Lawyers’ Prestigious Civil Lawyer of the Year Award on Saturday, 28th October 2017. Read more...
‘Immigration detention in the U.K. is bound up with questions of race.' This is how Lewis Kett, a supervising solicitor in the Harrow Public Law Team, introduced his talk on strategic litigation to challenge structural racism on 18th October. Read more...
We are delighted to announce that 4 of Duncan Lewis’s leading solicitors were recognised for their hard work in the past year at the annual Law Society Excellence awards, with Public Law Director Ahmed Aydeed taking home the gold as the 2017 Junior Lawyer of the Year. Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors is proud to announce its involvement in King’s College London’s (KCL) Legal Clinic. The firm will be offering regular free immigration and asylum advice at the KCL, which is located on the Strand, offering assistance and support to law students at KCL in advising clients in need of specialist immigration advice. Read more...
Toufique Hossain, Director of Immigration and Public Law at Duncan Lewis, is featured as lawyer of the week in The Times. Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors are proud to announce outstanding recognition in the Legal 500 2017 Edition which sees 11 legal departments nationwide and an exceptional 34 lawyers receiving recommendations. Read more...
In a judgment handed down on the 10th October 2017, the Home Office was told that its policy regarding how it defines those who have suffered torture is unlawful, for the purposes of identifying those who are vulnerable and at risk in detention. Read more...
Lex 100 has undertaken its annual trainee survey, finding Duncan Lewis worthy of winning two categories in UK law firm training contracts. Read more...
Duncan Lewis’ Family and Childcare Director, Emine Mehmet, will be providing free legal advice sessions at the Romford Autism Hub from 11th October. These sessions are run by charity Sycamore Trust UK and the University of East London (UEL). Read more...
We are very pleased to announce that Duncan Lewis has been shortlisted for 8 awards at the Lawyer Monthly Legal Awards 2017! Read more...
Legal 500 “top-tier” firm Duncan Lewis Solicitors have been shortlisted for the Family Law London Firm of the Year in the 2017 edition of the prestigious Jordan’s Family Law Awards. Read more...
Entrepreneurs are usually in a league of their own. Admirably so, as they show capacity and willingness to develop and manage a business venture along with any of its risks to make a profit. Talent and drive has led to the success of many notable entrepreneurs: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, JP Morgan and Coco Chanel, just to name a few Read more...
The High Court has ruled, in YA v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2017] EWHC 2135, that it was unlawful for the Home Office to detain YA, a torture victim who provided indicators of vulnerability, including a letter from the Helen Bamber Foundation that stated the detainee’s case merited further clinical investigation Read more...
‘Do I need to sell my bracelets?’ asked Sham at our first meeting. ‘I have been selling all my jewellery bit by bit to support my family since we left Syria. These are all I have left. Shall I sell them to pay your fee?’ Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors are pleased to announce the recent hiring of Housing and Property Litigation solicitor, Adrian Smith. Adrian will be based in the company’s Luton office and will also provide housing services in Milton Keynes Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors are pleased to announce the recent internal appointments of Manjinder Kaur Atwal as Director of Housing and Sheena Donlon as Director of Family & Childcare Read more...
Any practitioner of Law will have, undoubtedly, encountered a Client (or two…) who feels the Judiciary is simply not representative of them; disconnected. Arguably, there are many contributory factors – whether it’s the use of Latin terminology in Court Proceedings, the garb adopted by Counsel and the Judiciary in Criminal matters or the domination of the bench by white privately educated males Read more...
Many migrants with no status that have fled their country of origin due to torture, violence and/or the fear of persecution will escape to countries which are globally perceived as havens of justice, equality and liberty Read more...
The London Central Employment Tribunal has ruled that a former bike courier of Addison Lee was a ‘worker’ not an “independent contractor” and therefore was entitled to employment rights that were not afforded to him, such as holiday pay and the national minimum wage Read more...
I recently assisted a Hungarian Roma (gypsy) in his immigration appeal against the Secretary of State’s decision to remove him to Hungary on the basis of his Article 3 ECHR grounds. Initially I couldn’t fathom that the treatment of Roma people in my home country of Hungary, an EU country, could be so bad. However, after my client’s flight was stopped, I felt a sudden curiosity to explore the plight of the Hungarian gypsies and the type of discrimination they are subject to on a daily basis Read more...
We are very pleased to announce that Duncan Lewis has been shortlisted for 7 awards at The Law Society Excellence Awards 2017! The Law Society’s Excellence Awards annual ceremony is committed to celebrating excellence across all disciplines in the legal profession and is designed to reward outstanding contributions to the industry Read more...
The Supreme Court handed down judgment in N v ACCG on 22 March 2017, unanimously rejecting an appeal brought by MN’s parents. The principal issues that the Court had to consider can be illustrated by asking this question: what should the Court of Protection do if a party to the case wishes to pursue a best interest option that a public body will not fund? Read more...
With 63% of the workforce being female, 14% over the age of 45 years, 38% from an Asian/Asian British background and 20% from other ethnic minority groups*, Duncan Lewis is a national law firm which continues to embraces its equality, diversity and inclusion Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors is pleased to announce that the High Court has handed down a ruling finding that the segregation of their client at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) was unlawful and in breach of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) Read more...
On the 5th July the Public Law & Immigration teams at Duncan Lewis Solicitors welcomed speakers Mr Clayton QC (Deputy High Court Judge), Mr Tim Meakin and Mr Chris Canning to the Harrow Office Read more...
Rubin Italia was interviewed by LBC Radio to discuss the extension of the legal scheme under which anyone can ask for convicted criminals sentences to be extended. As it stands the current scheme allows these requests to be made for criminals who have been convicted of crimes such as sexual offences, robbery and crimes involving fire arms. However, it is being extended to terrorist related offences Read more...
Phillip Armitage was recently interviewed by Nick Ferrari on LBC Radio about the £1 an hour wages in immigration detention centres shortly after Baroness Williams defended the work as "entirely voluntary" Read more...
Manjinder, of Harrow’s Housing Department, was interviewed on TALKRAdio, where she discussed her work with residents of Grenfell Tower Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors is very pleased to announce the recent internal appointment of Ahmed Aydeed as Director of Public Law. He will oversee the company’s Public Law Judicial Review Claimant practice in Birmingham, Leicester & Milton Keynes Read more...
Naim Hasani, immigration and public law consultant solicitor with Duncan Lewis Solicitors, participated at a conference on Albanian asylum seekers on Tuesday 6 June 2017. The conference, ‘Walking a tightrope’: Exploring hidden issues, challenges and complexities surrounding the protection needs of unaccompanied minors from Albania living in the United Kingdom, took place at University College London Read more...
Sondos Arafa spent a week in Athens helping asylum seekers as part of the ILPA (Immigration Practitioners Association) Athens Legal Support project. The project is a pilot scheme aimed at sending volunteer asylum lawyers to Greece to provide legal advice and assistance Read more...
London has developed a reputation of being the global capital for “divorce tourism”. It has previously been reported by The Times that one sixth of all divorce cases, and around half of the ‘big money’ cases, heard by Family Courts in London involved international couples Read more...
In October 2016, I travelled on two occasions to the Refugee Camp in Calais, known as the ‘Jungle’ with my colleagues. The camp was due to be destroyed imminently in a collaborative effort between the French and British governments. This destruction left thousands of asylum seekers who dreamed of seeking refuge in the United Kingdom homeless and in limbo Read more...
This July, Duncan Lewis Solicitors are sending Toufique Hossain, Director of Public Law, and Patrick Page, a caseworker in that department, to work in the Kiryandongo Refugee Settlement of central Uganda Read more...
Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 is a breathtakingly broad and intrusive power to stop, search and hold individuals at sea and, airports and international rail stations Read more...
We were pleased to see that Baroness Hamwee raised the issue of immigration detainees working for £1 an hour in immigration removal centres (IRCs) in the House of Lords. This follows the recent Guardian article that reported on our group litigation challenging this Read more...
Duncan Lewis would like to express their most sincere sympathies to all those who have been affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. As an organisation we have raised funds and also made a significant donation in the form of clothes and other necessities to the victims and their families Read more...
Two unions representing locum doctors, nurses and allied healthcare professionals have today succeeded in overturning a new tax rule imposed by NHS Improvement (NHSI) that risked thousands of agency workers leaving the NHS Read more...
Duncan Lewis is pleased to announce that Public Law Director Toufique Hossain has been shortlisted for Immigration and Asylum Lawyer of the Year at the forthcoming Legal Aid Practitioners Group Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year (LALY) Awards Read more...
“The waiting is the worst part of detention. It’s like you don’t have any control any more, you just sit and wait. You wait for someone else to tell who you are and what is your country.” Read more...
In February this year, the Court Of Appeal ruled that a heterosexual couple could not enter into a civil partnership instead of a marriage. Recent polling by Populus has found that three in five people in Great Britain believe that civil partnerships should be open to both hetero and homo-sexual couples Read more...
Having watched ‘Big Little Lies’ dramatic conclusion, I felt compelled to extol its virtues; this mini-series, written for Sky Atlantic by David E. Kelly, is set in a beautiful coastal town where a murder has taken place. The characters are played by beautiful actors, who all have beautiful children. Most are in couples with successful careers and living in Architect Digest/Grand Designs worthy homes overlooking the ocean Read more...
A group of solicitors from Duncan Lewis took part in pilot scheme run by the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association (IPLA) to help asylum seekers in Greece Read more...
Ahmed Aydeed was interviewed by Channel News Asia for a special video feature about the plight of the victims who have been trafficked from Vietnam Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors welcomes solicitor Alex Peebles to the Public Law team Read more...
Over 800 women are taking legal action against the NHS and manufacturers of vaginal mesh implants, including a client represented by Duncan Lewis Clinical Negligence Solicitors Read more...
Gethin is a solicitor-advocate for Duncan Lewis Solicitors, regularly appearing in Magistrates Courts across the country as an advocate as well as litigating more serious matters. Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors is currently representing a Libyan national in an asylum appeal against a decision by the Secretary of State dated September 2015 for the Home Department to refuse asylum Read more...
Graeme Rothwell of Duncan Lewis Solicitors represented Karen Taylor, who had been charged with offences under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2007 – known more commonly as money laundering Read more...
The story is familiar but that does not make it any less shocking. I am speaking with a client who now has the threat of forced removal to Afghanistan hanging over him. He may be in a detention centre, told that he is to be removed in a couple of days. He is terrified that every time he reports, he may be detained. Read more...
Patrick was invited to ABN to discuss the state of detention centres in the most popular arrival destinations for refuges in Europe. Having spent time visiting a detention centre in Malta Patrick focused his discussion on the knowledge he garnered from this Read more...
The Court of Protection is responsible for assisting people that no longer have the mental capacity to make decisions. It is the responsibility of the Court to ensure that vulnerable persons cannot be exploited, and those responsible for their welfare are assisting appropriately Read more...
The first day of April was a beguilingly calm and beautiful spring day, with a warming sun and a fresh breeze, as we assembled on the fields of White City Tiger Turf, a tangled mass of sinewy limbs, chiselled jaw-lines, bulging calf muscles, and heavy brows; the crème de la crème of Duncan Lewis sporting talent Read more...
When entering the UK the UK Border Force retains the right to search persons they deem suspicious or believe to be carrying restricted or prohibited items under section 164 of the Customs and Excise Management Act 1979 (CEMA) Read more...
‘We are one great union of people and nations with a proud history and a bright future’. So declared Theresa May in her statement to the Commons on Wednesday 29 March, the day the United Kingdom set sail, with the Union Jack flying high, into unchartered seas Read more...
We are pleased to announce the appointments of Rohena Wallace as Director of Public Law & Immigration and Zofia Duszynska as Director of Immigration Read more...
Public Law Caseworker Nicholas Hughes was invited to ABN radio to discuss the triggering of Article 50 Read more...
Patrick Page was recently interviewed on ABN radio alongside Queen Naa Tsotsoo Soyoo discussing the recent ruling from the ECJ stating that it is not unlawful to ban religious, political or philosophical symbols in the workplace where a company wishes to project a neutral image and this 'neutral' image is enshrined in the companies internal rules Read more...
On 15th March, seven refugee children were invited to Parliament by Citizens UK, where they met their local MPs and Lord Dubs, the man who sponsored a crucial amendment to the Immigration Act 2016 that allowed for the safe passage of unaccompanied refugee children to the UK at a time when the European migrant crisis was at its peak Read more...
On Tuesday 7 March Zofia was delighted to be invited by Norton Rose Fulbright to join a panel discussing the distinct issues facing women and child refugees Read more...
What can I do if my ex partner is hiding money? This is a question frequently asked of family solicitors. There is a very real fear from many parties to divorce, particularly those in a weaker financial position, that the other party is hiding a large proportion of their assets and failing to disclose this to the court Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors is pleased to announce that the firm has made the shortlist for four out of the fifteen categories for the Solicitors Journal Awards 2017 Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors is pleased to announce that Cardiff based newly qualified Public Law & Immigration Solicitor Eleri Haf Davies is one of five individuals nationwide shortlisted for the Solicitors Journal “Rising Star” Award 2017 Read more...
Rubin was invited on to ABN to clarify the changes in legislation regrading drivers using their mobile phones. He clarified that it is not the law that had changed, but the punishment for breaking said laws have become more severe Read more...
Public Law Solicitor Eleri Haf Davies was invited by Colombia Caravana, a human rights activist group, to form part of a delegation determined to unearth the interlocking socio-economic and political web that has allowed this part of the world to fall to the hands of warring paramilitary forces Read more...
Pamela* had just had a shower and was still in her underwear, applying moisturiser, when the immigration officers came into her room to remove her from the UK. Our client refused to be taken to the airport, as she still had an outstanding application for leave to remain in the UK, so the officers tried to remove her by force, one grabbed her neck and head, pushing these down towards her chest and blocking her windpipe. ‘I was filled with fear and tried to get out of her grip,’ Pamela told us, ‘I kept telling her “I cannot breathe” but she continued to push my head towards my chest. Eventually I stopped trying to get out of her grip and fell to the floor’ Read more...
When an unaccompanied minor child enters the UK seeking asylum, some would have their age disputed by the authorities, and would have to be subject to an age assessment by the relevant Local Authorities. Normally, such referrals would be made by the Home Office before any decision can be taken on the asylum claims Read more...
On 27th February 2017 two clients of Duncan Lewis Immigration Consultant Solicitor Naim Hasani were granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court in three linked nationality cases. This matter looks to clarify when it is appropriate to deprive an individual of British nationality or treat the citizenship claim as a nullity, in cases where the individual has obtained citizenship by way of impersonation, fraud and/or concealment of a material fact. The cases are lined up to set a precedent for future decisions regarding nationality claims via naturalization as a result of false representations Read more...
This is a fear for many people seeking a divorce. In a recent case, widely publicised in the national press, Tini Owens attempted to divorce her husband and has been told by the court that she cannot. Read more...
The Calais ‘Jungle’ in early October 2016 was tense and dangerous. As Dan Tucker from Social Workers Without Borders (SWWB) put it, ‘the most creative of poets could not encapsulate the frustration and prolonged misery of that place’. The French authorities had announced their intention to destroy the camp, but none of the residents knew when this was due to happen, or where they would go. Read more...
The Dubs Amendment, named after its key proponent Lord Dubs who was rescued, via the kindertransport network, from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia when he was six, legislated that the government would have to ‘make arrangements to relocate to the United Kingdom and support a specified number of unaccompanied refugee child from other countries in Europe’ Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors’ Cardiff Immigration team, headed by Director of Immigration, Vinita Templeton, discloses position of client Bashir Naderi’s current legal battle Read more...
Legal 500 leading law firm Duncan Lewis Solicitors is pleased to announce the opening of its new office in Swansea, Wales offering legal services in matters pertaining to Immigration; Public Law; Family & Childcare; Clinical Negligence and Personal Injury. Duncan Lewis is also pleased to announce the opening of its new office in Luton, Bedfordshire on 30th January 2017 headed up by Director of Public Law Bahar Ata and Director of Childcare Krina Parmar. Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors is proud to announce that Syed Talha Rafique is the winner of the British Muslim Award’s Services to Law Award. Presented by Al Rayan Bank on 25th January 2017 at the Athena in Leicester, these awards aim to acknowledge and honour the achievements of British Muslims throughout the country across various different aspects of society, such as business, charity, sport, arts and culture. Read more...
James Packer appeared on ABN radio to comment on the legal and political implications, of the Supreme Court ruling which rejected the Government’s appeal in the Miller Case (the Brexit appeal). Read more...
Jaswinder Kalsi, a Solicitor with Duncan Lewis & Co Solicitors has been named on a list compiled by The Sikh Network of 350 Sikh Women to celebrate 350th birthday of Sri Guru Gobind Singh ji – who formed the concept of baptised Sikhs. It aims to raise the profile of contribution of Sikh Women in history. Read more...
Legal 500 “Leading Law Firm” Duncan Lewis are pleased to announce the appointment of Bahar Ata as Director of Public Law & Immigration for our Luton Office. Read more...
Duncan Lewis Solicitors recently acted in Regina v K, at St Albans Crown Court, in which the exceptional abuse of process jurisdiction was invoked to stay proceedings. The case involved allegations of historic sexual abuse between two half-brothers that were the subject of a police investigation in 2007. Originally, the investigation had concluded and a social services disposal followed, when both of the parties were young children, aged 12 and 9 years old respectively. Read more...