Call: 2009
Specialist in
Experience
Deborah specializes in immigration law. She is particularly interested in deportation cases involving ‘serious harm’ and ‘persistent offenders’, the proper interpretation of Appendix FM, and the reasonableness test under s117B(6) of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002. She has considerable experience of asylum appeals by Sri Lankan nationals and Christian converts.
Alongside her regular court appearances, Deborah is an accomplished written advocate; she frequently wins cases on the basis of her drafting alone and is regularly praised by judges for the quality of her skeleton arguments, grounds of appeal, and judicial review grounds. She enjoys identifying and advancing novel points of law, and frequently challenges common Home Office and Tribunal assumptions and practices.
Before coming to the Bar, Deborah worked for the Immigration Advisory Service (formerly the UK’s largest provider of legal advice on immigration and asylum), and was accredited by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner. She then spent a year as the employee of two direct access immigration barristers. She completed pupillage in a predominantly criminal set and, on accepting tenancy there, chose to work exclusively in immigration law, going on to establish a successful practice in the field almost from scratch before moving to more specialist chambers.
Deborah provides expert advice on immigration law for family court proceedings and is a contributor to Free Movement, the widely read and highly respected immigration law blog.
Some notable cases include:
AK v SSHD: Successful appeal against revocation of protection status for a Gambian national granted refugee status during childhood.
XP v SSHD: Successful asylum appeal for a young Albanian man whose family had been targeted by a criminal gang.
JT v SSHD: Successful asylum appeal for a Georgian victim of domestic violence whose protection claim was made 16 years after her arrival.
DP v SSHD: Long-running asylum proceedings (involving three hearings in the First-tier Tribunal and two in the Upper Tribunal) in respect of a vulnerable Sri Lankan national who was wrongly accused of assisting the LTTE. It was ultimately accepted that, notwithstanding his Sinhalese ethnicity, his lack of political activity, and the passage of nearly 10 years, he would be at risk on return.
R (WD) v SSHD: Judicial review of a decision to grant the Applicant leave to remain under the Partner route after a successful appeal despite her not having applied for leave in that capacity. The Court of Appeal granted permission to appeal and the case was subsequently settled by consent.
SB v SSHD: Human rights appeal in which the First-tier Tribunal accepted that the combination of lengthy absence from country of origin, responsibilities towards an unwell adult daughter, and the best interests of the Appellant’s granddaughter constituted ‘insurmountable obstacles’ to the continuation of family life outside the UK. The SSHD’s appeal to the Upper Tribunal was unsuccessful.
Education
Bar Vocational Course, BPP Law School (Leeds): Outstanding
Graduate Diploma in Law, BPP Law School (Leeds): Distinction
BA (Hons) Philosophy and Theology, University of Oxford: 2:1
Deportation appeal in which the UT set aside its own decision following a challenge to its focus on unproven past allegations on which the SSHD had not relied. The appeal was reheard and allowed.
— Read moreJudicial review addressing the presumption against retrospective legislation in the context of Part 5A of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002.
— Read moreJudicial review arguing that the Applicant had a legitimate expectation of being issued an EEA permanent residence card. The Secretary of State agreed to issue the card after permission was granted.
— Read moreSuccessful Upper Tribunal appeal on the basis that an Appellant with a conditional discharge did not make false representations when stating she had no convictions.
— Read moreAppeal to the Court of Appeal addressing the meaning of ‘serious harm’ in paragraph 398(c) of the Immigration Rules.
— Read moreDeportation appeal concerning a persistent offender who had never been imprisoned. After the Court of Appeal granted permission to appeal, the Secretary of State conceded the case prior to a hearing a
— Read moreCourt of Appeal case concerning the correct approach to third-party support in a spouse application and the meaning of ‘financial independence’ in the context of NHS treatment.
— Read moreThis Practice Note for Lexis PSL summarises the effect of decisions to curtail and cancel permission to enter and stay, and considers how they can be challenged.
— Read moreThis case note for the Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law summarises and comments on R (Kalsi and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] EWCA Civ 184.
— Read moreDeborah frequently contributes articles to the popular immigration blog Free Movement.
— Read more