Free Hybrid Seminar – It’s Criminal: Yet Another Borders Bill?

On 30 January 2025, the government introduced yet another immigration Bill, the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill 2025.

This time, there is some good news: the repeal of the Safety of Rwanda Act 2024 and parts of the Illegal Migration Act 2023. However, the Bill also brings bad news with the introduction of new criminal offences and provisions relating to modern slavery.

This seminar examined the main provisions as they pass through Parliament, featuring insights from leading immigration and criminal law practitioners from Garden Court Chambers.

Speakers
Sonali Naik KC, Garden Court Chambers (Chair)
Sonali Naik KC specialises in public law cases and in all aspects of immigration, asylum and nationality law and practice. She regularly advises on and acts in public law policy challenges and test cases in this field. She is representing UNHCR in a challenge to the refugee child family reunion policy in the Court of Appeal listed in May 2025 and she acted in the successful ‘Rwanda’ litigation (AAA and others) in the Supreme Court. Sonali acted in the leading case on internal relocation in the asylum context: AS (Afghanistan) v SSHD [2019] WLR 5345. In 2023, Sonali was listed in The Lawyer magazine’s Hot 100 list, which recognises excellence in the legal profession. She was one of the winners of a Highly Commended Award at the Lawyer Awards 2022 for a pro bono initiative to assist Afghan judges secure UK visas.

Adrian Berry, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Adrian’s practice spans a range of public law areas concerning nationality, immigration and mobility, human rights, international protection,  education, and social assistance. He is ranked Band 1 in Chambers & Partners and Tier 1 in Legal 500 2025 for Immigration Law. He is the co-author of the current 4^th edition of Fransman’s British Nationality Law. Adrian is a Patron of the Immigration Law Practitioner’s Association (ILPA), Convenor of its Legislation Working Group, and its former Chair. He is to be appointed King’s Counsel in March 2025.

Jennifer Twite, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Jennifer’s public law practice involves taking challenges regarding the disclosure of criminal records, criminal-justice-related judicial reviews and community care. She has been involved in a number of high-profile cases involving the rights of children within the criminal justice system at all levels up to the Supreme Court. She also undertakes criminal appellate work including referrals to the Criminal Cases Review Commission. Jennifer’s work predominantly involves the rights of children, although her cases include those arguing discrimination, and other arguments under the Human Rights Act and Equality Act. She sits as a Deputy District Judge in the Magistrates’ Court and is a member of the Equality & Human Rights Commission’s panel of preferred counsel.

Audrey Cherryl Mogan, Barrister, Garden Court Chambers
Audrey Cherryl Mogan is a criminal defence barrister with particular expertise defending victims of trafficking, protestors, and vulnerable defendants. Audrey won Legal Aid Newcomer of the Year at the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards 2021. Her background of ten years in the international armed conflict, European human rights law and deportation and asylum NGO sector, makes her qualified to advise on these matters within a criminal context. Audrey led the project to challenge the discriminatory requirement in the 2017 Criminal Procedure Rules to require defendants to give their nationality in criminal courts which was removed in 2020, and she recently secured the overturning of a conviction in the high profile Court of Appeal case of Oni & Ors [2025] EWCA Crim 12 (also known as the Manchester 10), where her young defendant and prospective law student was convicted at first instance of grievous bodily harm. The case garnered a lot of media interest due to the discriminatory use of the gang narrative and drill music by the Crown to secure convictions.