Activist Lawyer

Episode 90: Daniel Machover

In this week's episode, Sarah is joined by Daniel Machover from Hickman & Rose, one of the UK’s leading solicitors in inquests, public inquiry work, complex civil litigation, and human rights cases.
Daniel has represented clients in high-profile cases, including the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, the Azelle Rodney Inquiry, and prisoners at Wormwood Scrubs Prison. Recently, he has also represented the family of Kelso Cochrane in uncovering the truth behind what has been called 'Britain’s first racist murder,' all of which is discussed in this episode.
Daniel shares his fascinating journey into the legal profession, inspired by his family’s experience at the hands of Israeli authorities as anti-Zionist Israelis speaking out against the occupation of Palestine.
He later co-founded Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights and shares his thoughts on recent rulings by the ICJ regarding Israel, as well as his efforts to issue arrest warrants under universal jurisdiction, including a warrant for the arrest of a former senior Israeli army officer for alleged war crimes.
About Daniel
 
Daniel Machover is partner and Head of Civil Litigation with Hickman & Rose law firm based in London. Daniel’s pioneering human rights work has seen him bring cases to the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights.
His long experience representing clients in civil claims arising from the criminal justice system enables him to offer specialist representation to both claimants and defendant in civil fraud cases and other civil disputes with a connection to criminal law.
Daniel is a trustee of the charity INQUEST which provides a specialist, comprehensive advice service to bereaved people on contentious deaths and their investigation, having previously served as Chair between 2010 and 2021. He is also a trustee of Legal Action Worldwide, which helps gain access to justice for those who need it most in fragile and conflict-affected states.

Episode 89: Franck Magennis

Sarah is joined by barrister Franck Magennis from Garden Court Chambers. 
Franck discusses UK asylum cases involving Palestinian applicants, his time working with Al-Haq human rights organisation as well as a swell in employment cases involving dismissals around a person’s activity in relation to what is happening in Palestine.  This is an interesting discussion on what could be described as a freedom of speech crisis.
Don’t miss an excellent and encouraging discussion about any potential conflict or tension that comes with entering the legal profession while holding strong political beliefs and being part of an active movement.  A candid and insightful episode not to be missed!
About Franck Magennis 
Franck Magennis was born in Dublin and raised in the six counties, Franck Magennis is a barrister called to the bar of England & Wales in 2016. He practises in public, civil and criminal defence. His work centres on challenging rights breaches by the British and other states, employers and landlords. He has expertise in legal claims relating to various aspects of the Palestinian struggle against "Israeli" colonialism, apartheid and genocide."

Episode 88: Miranda Cleland

We pick up our discussion on legal developments impacting Palestine as we are joined by Miranda Cleland in Washington DC. As advocacy officer with Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P), Miranda touches on the significance of the case against the Biden Administration for complicity in genocide. The case, which was dismissed, was taken by the Center for Constitutional Rights who filed a lawsuit on behalf of DCI-P and other Palestinian human rights groups as well as Palestinian and US citizens with relatives in Gaza.  The action itself was unprecedented and was not dismissed on its merits but because of technical grounds. Listen to find out more! We talk about the harrowing testimony Miranda and her colleagues receive from field researchers on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank as well Netanyahu’s address before congress as well as how the legal community and individuals can provide more support when it comes to holding Israel accountable.
 
Miranda Cleland is an advocacy officer at Defense for Children International - Palestine and lives in Washington, D.C., where she leads the No Way to Treat a Child campaign and advocates for the human rights of Palestinian children. Miranda is a writer, speaker, facilitator, and campaigner with expertise in children's rights, the Israeli military detention system, and Israeli military killings of Palestinian children. She holds a bachelor's with honors from American University in International Studies and Arabic language and has taken additional coursework in international law and the protection of children in armed conflict.

Episode 87: Wendy Joseph KC

In this week's episode, Sarah is joined by Her Honour Wendy Joseph KC as she discusses her career in law, her role as a judge at the Old Bailey as well as her fascinating new book, ‘Rough Justice.’
Until March 2022 Her Honour Wendy Joseph QC was a judge at the Old Bailey, sitting on criminal cases, trying mainly allegations of murder and other homicide. She read English and Law at Cambridge, was called to the Bar by Gray's Inn in 1975, became a QC in 1998 and sat as a full-time judge from 2007 to 2022. When she moved to the Old Bailey in 2012 she was the only woman amongst sixteen judges, and only the third woman ever to hold a permanent position there. She was also a Diversity and Community Relations Judge, working to promote understanding between the judiciary and many different sectors of our community, particularly those from less privileged and minority groups. She mentors young people, from a variety of backgrounds, who hope for a career in law and has a special interest in helping women.

Episode 86: Marc Willers KC

In this week's episode, Sarah is joined by Marc Willers KC who specialises in environmental law and climate justice, planning law, administrative and public law, civil liberties, human rights and discrimination law, and Gypsy, Traveller and Roma law.
 
Marc shares a number of climate justice success stories including the ground-breaking decision in KlimaSeniorinnen v Switzerland (ECtHR) as well as Finch (on behalf of the Weald Action Group) against Surrey County Council!
 
Marc is recommended in the Chambers UK Bar Guide and the Legal 500 in planning law, environmental law, civil liberties and human rights. He is also a member of the Irish Bar, and he is registered with the Bar Council for public access work and assists private clients in all the areas of his expertise.Marc won the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Award in 2011 and he was Joint Head of Garden Court Chambers between 2016 - 2020. He is also the co-editor of Gypsy and Traveller Law (3rd edition, 2020 LAG).

Episode 85: Martin McDonagh

In this week's episode, Sarah is joined by traveller activist and aspiring barrister, Martin McDonagh. Martin is currently furthering his career in law through the University of Ulster, Access to Justice LLM hoping to work in human rights and social justice. He recently set up Northern Ireland’s first Traveller-led support group. Martin touches on some of the challenges faced by the Irish Traveller community and discusses his determination to champion social change and amplify marginalised voices through the law and his activism.
**TW  - This episode touches on issues of suicide and mental health.  For support please follow the links below:  
Northern Ireland: https://zerosuicidealliance.com/urgent-help/helplines-and-support-northern-ireland
Ireland: https://www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/4/mental-health-services/nosp/help/
UK: https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/helping-someone-else/supporting-someone-who-feels-suicidal/useful-contacts/

Episode 84: Activist Lawyer Update

In this week's episode, our host, Sarah Henry, shares the latest updates to our website, our call for blog submissions, the launch of our brand-new newsletter, and our exciting new book club. 
Subscribe to our newsletter here: https://ow.ly/IaFJ50SaZ94

Episode 83: Úna Boyd

In this week's episode, Sarah is joined in the studio by Immigration Solicitor, Úna Boyd who works with the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ).  CAJ is an independent human rights organisation based in Belfast and Úna discusses the role of the organisation in promoting justice and protecting rights.  She shares insights into her work centring around post-Brexit legislative changes, the Rwanda Scheme, the ECHR, citizens’ rights, racial profiling and the Common Travel Area. 
 
Úna Boyd is an immigration law specialist. She studied law at Queens University Belfast and has a Master’s in Human Rights Law from the Irish Centre for Human Rights. Úna is an experienced immigration solicitor and former chair of the Law Society of Northern Ireland’s Immigration Practitioners’ Group.
 

Episode 82: Harriet Wistrich

In this week's episode, Sarah is joined by Harriet Wistrich who is the founder and director of the Centre for Women's Justice. Harriet previously worked as a solicitor with renowned civil liberties firm Birnberg Pierce for many years.Harriet talks about her work,  primarily focusing on violence against women cases including the case of Emma Humphreys and Sally Challen as well as victims of serial rapist, John Worboys. Harriet’s new book, Sister in Law provides us with a fantastic in-depth look into Harriet’s legal career touched on in today’s recording.Harriet’s book features as part of the Activist Lawyer Book Club and is available to purchase now!
 
Harriet is the founder and director of the Centre for Women’s Justice and a solicitor of 25 years experienced who worked for many years with renowned civil liberties firm, Birnberg Peirce Ltd. She is the winner of the Liberty Human Rights Lawyer of the Year award 2014, Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year 2018 for public law and Law Society Gazette personality of the year 2019.  She has acted in many high-profile cases around violence against women including on behalf of women who challenged the police and parole board in the John Worboys case, women deceived in relationships by undercover police officers and on behalf of women appealing murder convictions for killing abusive partners, most recently Sally Challen. She is also founder member of the campaign group, Justice for Women and trustee of the charity, the Emma Humphreys Memorial Prize. 
Among her notable cases are:
acting for eight women who brought claims against the metropolitan police arising from being deceived in relationships with undercover police officers – recently resulting in an unprecedented apology and substantial compensation payments Dil & Ors v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis [2014] EWHC 2184 (QB) (02 July 2014)
Acting for a vulnerable constituent of former Lib Dem member of parliament, Mike Hancock, who held him to account over sexually inappropriate conduct.
acting for two rape victims of the notorious taxi driver John Woboys, and establishing the precedent at Court of Appeal level whereby the police failure to investigate was held to be a violation of Article 3 ECHR Commissioner of the Police for the Metropolis v DSD and NBV and Alio Koraou v Chief Constable of Manchester [2015] EWCA Civ 646.
acting for two women detained at Yarl’s Wood who alleged they were sexually abused by detention centre employees
acting for a victim of sex trafficking who was unlawfully removed to her home country Moldova where she was re-trafficked
acting in inquest proceedings for the father of Eleanor de Freitas who killed herself on the eve of a trial where she was accused of perverting the course of justice by allegedly making a false allegation of rape
acting for the family of Jean Charles de Menezes who was shot dead by Metropolitan police in July 2005
acting for a number of men in claims arising from Britain’s complicity in their rendition and torture at Guantanamo Bay.
acting for a number of women in successful appeals against their murder convictions including, Stacey Hyde, Christine Devaney, Diane Butler, Kirsty Scamp and Emma Humphreys

Episode 81: Ciaran Moynagh

Sarah sits down with solicitor Ciaran Moynagh from Phoenix Law in Belfast.  Ciaran talks about how he became a lawyer specialising in human rights, equality, family law and specialist criminal defence.  Listeners might be familiar with some of Ciaran’s high-profile cases including Lee v Asher's Bakery Company (the ‘gay cake’ case) as well as his work around advancing same sex marriage and transgender rights in Northern Ireland. 
Ciaran Moynagh is an experienced Solicitor Advocate with a diverse caseload that points to his passion for human rights & equality, family & matrimonial law and specialist criminal defence. 
Ciaran is a multi-award-winning solicitor with a reputation for both challenging public bodies and the decisions they make, and also representing the interests of his clients in family courts and criminal trials.
Ciaran acted in the same sex marriage legal challenge known as Petition X and also advised on the legislation ultimately used to introduce same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland. As part of the Love Equality Consortium he was instrumental in the campaign for equal marriage including talks with NI’s political leaders. 
He represented the couple, Laura Lacole and Eunan O’Kane in the legal challenge which secured the right for couples in Northern Ireland to register humanist marriages. Other successful judicial reviews resulted in greater protection of the privacy of transgender people in the UK and access to fertility treatment for same sex couples.
Ciaran also acts for a number of charities mainly around potential interventions into legal challenges. He was instructed by the AIRE Centre in an immigration case before the European Court of Justice as well as for the Royal College of Midwives in JR 76 which challenged the prosecution of a mother for purchasing abortion pills online.
More recently he has advised and assisted with an application by Mr Lee to the European Court of Human Rights in the internationally debated matter of Lee -v- Asher’s Bakery, the so-called “gay cake” case.
Ciaran also has a passion for family and matrimonial law and regularly appears before Family Courts at all tiers. He is the Northern Ireland representative of the UK & Ireland LGBT Family Law Institute as well as a member of the Northern Ireland Children Order Panel.  In 2021 he was made a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers as well as being added to the solicitor panel for the Northern Ireland Guardian Ad Litem Agency. In his family work, Ciaran deals with private law contact / residence disputes that include complex issues such as emotional abuse commonly called parent alienation. He also regularly deals with public law family matters that have social services involved due to allegations of abuse, neglect or non-accidental injury.
Ciaran has specialist knowledge and expertise on same sex family’s creation and representation. Ciaran is one of the few lawyers in NI giving expert advice on both domestic and international surrogacy arrangements.
In a criminal context, Ciaran has been a long-standing member of the Belfast duty solicitor scheme. He has particular expertise in cases involving online legal issues, for example, social media harassment, revenge porn and so-called ‘paedophile hunters’ stings. Ciaran retains a criminal defence caseload exclusively dealing with complex fraud, terrorism and sexual offences providing robust representation right from police station right through to the Crown Court.