Harriet Short

Call: 2007 hso@onepumpcourt.co.uk

Specialist in

Direct Access

Experience

Harriet practices predominantly in two areas: immigration and related public law, and inquests and inquiries.

In Harriet’s immigration practice she provides advice and representation in nationality, immigration, asylum, human rights, trafficking, business and economic immigration and related public law. She regularly appears in the First-tier and Upper Tribunal (Asylum and Immigration Chamber), the Administrative Court and the Court of Appeal. She is very experienced in urgent removal cases and is comfortable taking instructions at short notice.

She has particular expertise in third country and inadmissibility cases, including Italy and Hungarian returns, and removals to Rwanda. She was instructed for the Claimant NA in the test case MS & Others.

Harriet’s asylum practice includes country guidance cases, including guidance on returns to Mogadishu, Somalia (AMM & Others) where the Tribunal found a universal risk of FGM to women in Somalia; and the most recent guidance on returns to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, (BM & Others) where the Tribunal found a risk to members of APARECO. She is a compassionate advocate, and is understanding of the needs of vulnerable clients. Led by Victoria Laughton, Harriet represented the appellant PS in the UT case considering cessation and removal to Zimbabwe.

Harriet regularly advises in unlawful detention claims, both in the administrative and county courts. She is an experienced trafficking practitioner and provides advice and representation in staturory appeals, challenges to refusals of leave, and

Harriet advises on complex and routine nationality issues, including tracing, and decisions to refuse applications for naturalisation on bad character grounds. She represented several clients who received unreasoned bad character refusals on grounds of national security, and resulting appeal before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).

Harriet is an active member of ILPA, and is appointed as ILPA’s representative on the Chief Inspector for Border and Immigration’s Independent Advisory Group on Country Information (IAGCI).

Harriet’s business immigration law practice includes EU Settlement scheme advice, and Tier 2 and Tier 5 visa requirements and application processes. She is public access qualified, and is happy to advise directly where suitable.

Harriet represents families in inquests. Some recent examples of inquests in which Harriet has acted are:

Inquest touching on the death of an 18-year-old in Exeter Prison (Exeter)

https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/full-inquest-set-death-18-4368408

Inquest touching on the death of a person with schizophrenia

The jury found that failures in communications between drug and alcohol services and healthcare were possibly causative of the self-inflicted death which occurred during a psychotic episode. (Inner London South) 

Inquest touching on the death of a long-term NPS user

The jury found that the prison officer’s failure to call an emergency code possibly caused or contributed to the death of a long-term NPS user in HMP Parc. (Pontypridd)

Inquest touching on the death of a vulnerable drug user whilst on home curfew

The Coroner found multiple failings in the decision to release to home curfew (Nottingham)

https://www.simpsonmillar.co.uk/media/public-law-human-rights/stacey-macdonald-inquest/

https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/people/familys-grief-following-death-of-woman-following-release-from-peterborough-prison-4208754 

She has represented families whose loved ones died while admitted under s.3 MHA.  (Black Country)

https://www.judiciary.uk/prevention-of-future-death-reports/lisa-grant/ 

Inquest touching on the death of a trans-identified young person (instructed by Advocate and Inquest) (Lancashire & Blackburn)

https://www.inquest.org.uk/max-sumner-inquest#:~:text=The%20Coroner%20concluded%20that%20Max,risk%20at%20which%20he%20presented.

Harriet is instructed in an inquest before Bournemouth Coroner’s court investigating deaths on Bournemouth Beach in June 2023

https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/23778618.bournemouth-beach-tragedy-mum-joe-abbess-legacy/

Harriet worked for two years as the Legal Officer on the Robert Hamill Inquiry into police collusion in Portadown, Northern Ireland in 1998. She was instructed to advice on inquiry process and procedure for victims in the Leveson Inquiry.

What the directories say

Legal 500 says:

Harriet has the uncanny ability to deal with complex issues in a very short space of time.’

Ranked: Tier 4

Education

London School of Economics: Law
University of Essex: International Human Rights Law
Inns of Court School of Law: BVC

Professional Memberships

ILPA

Languages

French, Spanish

29Sep 2022

One Pump Court ranked as a Leading Set in Legal 500

One Pump Courts Immigration team has been recognised again in this year’s Legal 500. 20 members across all our teams have been ranked individually.

— Read more