Nadia is a public law and human rights barrister. She is ranked as a ‘Rising Star’ in the Legal 500 and was nominated for the ‘Young Pro Bono Barrister of the Year’ Award 2024.
Her practice encompasses immigration & asylum, community care, education, human rights, civil liberties and anti-discrimination law.
She has particular expertise in migrants’ rights, regularly acting in judicial review proceedings relating to unlawful detention, age disputes, asylum support, support under the Care Act 2014, support for victims of trafficking and challenges to certification or fresh claim decisions.
Alongside her judicial review work, Nadia regularly appears in matters before the Immigration Tribunal, including the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (‘SIAC’).
Prior to coming to the Bar, Nadia worked in the human rights sector at leading UK non- governmental organisations, Liberty and JUSTICE. She has extensive experience acting for charities and NGOs in public interest interventions.
Nadia undertakes Inquiry work and is presently instructed as part of the Cranston Inquiry investigating the events of 24 November 2021, when at least 27 people died crossing the Channel by small boat.
Administrative and Public Law
Overview
Nadia’s judicial review work cuts across her multi-disciplinary practice, drawing on her strong academic and policy background, teaching administrative law at UCL and working with organisations, including Liberty and JUSTICE. She accepts judicial review instructions in all areas of immigration law, unlawful detention, community care and education law. She regularly acts, led and unled, in complex claims concerning the interplay between these areas.
Notable Cases
BLZ No 1 (R (BLZ) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2025] EWHC 153 (Admin)): Nadia acted for the successful Claimant in this landmark case in which Fordham J held that the Home Office systemically failed to provide safe and suitable accommodation to disabled applicants on release from immigration detention (led by Stephanie Harrison KC, with Grace Capel and Isaac Ricca-Richardson).
BLZ No 2 (R (BLZ) v Leeds City Council [2025] EWHC 154 (Admin)): Nadia acted for the Claimant in this case in the first published authority on the interplay between the Care Act 2014 and Schedule 10(9) Immigration Act 2016. The High Court held that Home Office bail accommodation under Schedule 10(9) IA 2016 is ‘residual’ and ‘legally irrelevant’ to the Care Act 2014.
R (CWJ) v Director of Legal Aid Casework & Lord Chancellor [2025] EWHC 306 (Admin): Nadia acted for MIND (the mental health charity) in an intervention highlighting the impact on children’s mental health of permanent exclusion (led by Grace Brown). The High Court recognised for the first time that the right to a fair hearing under Article 6 ECHR can be engaged in school exclusion appeals before an Independent Review Panel (‘IRP’), opening the possibility of legal aid being granted for such appeals moving forward.
R ((RWU) by his litigation friend LTA) v The Governing Body of A Academy [2025] EWCA Civ 147: Nadia acted for the intervener, Black Equity Organisation (‘BEO’), in this rolled-up hearing before the Court of Appeal, a case concerning the interplay between permanent exclusion from school and the positive obligation to protect victims of trafficking/ modern slavery under Article 4 ECHR (led by Duran Seddon KC).
R v IA (see here): Nadia successfully acted for an age disputed unaccompanied asylum-seeking child in these unusual proceedings before the Youth Court, in which the District Judge treated the question of IA’s age as a preliminary issue (led by Stephanie Harrison KC with Gráinne Mellon).
R (AK) v Westminster City Council [2024] EWHC 769 (Admin): Nadia acted for the Claimant in this successful judicial review challenging the lawfulness of Westminster City Council’s Housing Allocation Scheme. The High Court held that the scheme indirectly discriminates against women and girls who need to move borough to escape violence, and that Westminster had breached the Public Sector Equality Duty (‘PSED’) (led by Stephanie Harrison KC).
R (Wendy Smith) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2024] EWHC 1137 (Admin): Nadia acted for Friends, Families and Travellers in an intervention in this landmark claim for judicial review, in which the High Court held that certain provisions of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, introduced by the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, are incompatible with Article 14 ECHR (the prohibition on discrimination) read with Article 8 ECHR (the right to private life) as they amount to unjustified discrimination against Gypsies and Travellers (led by Stephen Simblet KC).
R (TMX) v London Borough of Croydon [2024] EWHC 129 (Admin): Nadia acted for the successful Claimant in this important judicial review claim about the interplay between local authority duties under the Care Act 2014 and Home Office duties under s. 95 Immigration Act 1999. The High Court held that in failing to provide the Claimant with suitable accommodation, Croydon had breached his Convention rights under Articles 3 and 8 ECHR.
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Asylum & Immigration
Overview
Nadia has a strong background in immigration law. Prior to coming to the Bar, she qualified as an IAAS Senior Immigration Caseworker and worked for two years providing legal advice and assistance to migrants in Greece and Calais, France. Nadia has expertise across the full spectrum of statutory appeals, including asylum, deportation, deprivation, EUSS and human rights appeals. She has experience in cases involving national security and welcomes instructions in cases before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (‘SIAC’).
Nadia regularly acts for vulnerable clients, including children, victims of trafficking, and persons lacking mental capacity. She takes a trauma-informed approach to her practice.
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Community Care Law
Overview
Nadia has a busy community care practice. She regularly acts in age dispute challenges on behalf of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children and in matters involving the entitlement of children and adults to support under the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, Children Act 1989, and Care Act 2014. Nadia has particular expertise on the interplay between the duties of the Home Office to accommodate asylum seekers and migrants, and the obligations on local authorities to provide care and support under the Care Act 2014.
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Education Law
Overview
Nadia has an extensive education law practice. She is regularly instructed in SEND Tribunal appeals relating to Education, Health and Care Plans, and has experience in disability discrimination claims.
She has particular expertise in challenging decisions to permanently exclude children from school and is confident in running complex and novel human rights and Equality Act 2010 arguments. She acts for children, young people, and parents, often pro bono. Nadia welcomes difficult instructions that require a creative and novel approach.
