Biography
Iain specialises in asylum, immigration and human rights law at all levels of the court system. He also practises in employment law acting for employees in the areas of unfair dismissal, redundancy and discrimination.
Experience
Iain’s experience in immigration law spans over 15 years. Before being called to the Bar, he worked as a paralegal in solicitors’ offices on high profile civil liberties cases. Since Call he has appeared in tribunals, the Administrative Court and the Court of Appeal acting against the government for clients from backgrounds as diverse as heads of foreign national banks and media figures to senior members of proscribed terrorist groups. Iain has also acted for private colleges against the government in matters relating to the Points Based System of controlled migration.
Reported Cases
T (s.55 BCIA 2009 – entry clearance) Jamaica [2011] UKUT 00483 (IAC) – the Upper Tribunal ruled that the Secretary of State’s duties under section 55 of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 do not extend to children living outside the United Kingdom
MO (Illegal Exit-Risk on Return) Eritrea CG [2011] UKUT 00190 (IAC) – the most recent Country Guidance case on Eritrea
R (on the application of Denzil Tavona Smith) v SSHD [2010] EWHC 2774 (Admin) – an action in the High Court involving a Zimbabwean national detained in immigration detention for over 3 years
R (on the application of SS (Sri Lanka)) v SSHD [2009] EWHC 223 (Admin) – judicial review of a fresh claim for asylum
Education
LLB (Hons); BVC, Inns of Court School of Law
Awards
Winner of Middle Temple’s Winston Churchill and Blackstone Awards during pupillage