A first-choice barrister. She is extremely conscientious and thorough. Excellent on trafficking cases, she is very approachable and responsive.
Lucy Mair is a passionate and experienced human rights barrister who practices in all areas of immigration and asylum law, with particular expertise in cases involving gender-based violence, especially for victims of human trafficking/ modern slavery and migrant victims of domestic violence.
Lucy has acted in a number of reported trafficking cases including with regard to the correct approach to expert evidence, to the definition of forced labour and in reported migrant domestic violence cases regarding rights of appeal, procedural fairness and the correct approach to corroborative evidence
Lucy also represented a trafficking client in the first successful substantive claim for judicial review against a decision of the Upper Tribunal (a “CART JR”) which addressed issues of procedural fairness, country guidance and expert evidence.
Lucy acts regularly in appeals before the First-Tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal, in judicial reviews in the Upper Tribunal and Administrative Court and in the Court of Appeal.
Lucy’s practice extends beyond the court room and she is a frequent guest lecturer; trainer; mentor for Young Legal Aid Lawyers and sits on the Liverpool Law Clinic Advisory Board, Refugee Legal Support Legal Experts Panel and the Centre for Women's Justice Legal Reference Panel. She is currently working on a forthcoming book, ‘A Practical Introduction to Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery Cases'.
Lucy was a member of the research team which produced the 2021 report: "Access to legal advice and representation for survivors of modern slavery" (published by the Centre for the Study of International Slavery at the University of Liverpool, ATLEU and the Rights Lab at the University of Nottingham). Lucy undertakes pro bono work for Bail for Immigration Detainees and in refugee family reunion cases where legal aid is not available. Lucy has volunteered as a legal advisor on the Greek island of Samos during the Mediterranean refugee crisis.
Lucy was called to the bar in 2011 and was shortlisted for a Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year award in 2014. Before coming to the bar, Lucy worked in the fields of international human rights and refugees for over a decade. Most recently she worked at Human Rights Watch, during which time she opened and managed the first Jerusalem field office. She has also worked as a freelance consultant for international aid agencies and holds a masters degree in Human Rights from Columbia University in New York. Lucy is a lifelong campaigner for racial and migrant justice and is a founding member of GCN’s internal Equality and Diversity Committee.
Lucy is an experienced public law practitioner with particular familiarity of immigration, asylum, trafficking and unlawful detention judicial reviews. She is available for drafting advices and grounds of judicial review and appearing at oral permission and full substantive hearings. Lucy has experience of applying for interim relief including urgent injunctions.
Lucy regularly represents clients in all types of immigration and asylum appeals.
Lucy is particularly noted for representing vulnerable clients who are victims of human trafficking, torture, domestic violence and sexual or other forms of exploitation. Lucy appears regularly in the First Tier and Upper Tribunals and has had success appealing to the Court of Appeal. She also has experience bringing CART judicial reviews against the Upper Tribunal.
Lucy’s approach to immigration and asylum cases is substantially informed by her detailed knowledge of domestic, regional and international human rights law due to her previous career with Human Rights Watch.
Lucy has developed a particular specialism in trafficking cases, including representing victims of human trafficking/modern slavery in their asylum appeals, in judicial reviews challenging negative Reasonable Grounds and Conclusive Grounds trafficking decisions, and in refusals to grant discretionary leave to victims of trafficking. She works closely with a number of organisations that specialise in providing assistance and representation to victims of trafficking and has been involved in numerous cases where the Competent Authority has agreed to reconsider a negative decision following a targeted request for reconsideration or following issue of a claim for judicial review.
She succeeded in challenging a failure by the National Referral Mechanism to have regard to evidence from a specialist trafficking organization and medical evidence before making a Conclusive Grounds decision (see R (on the application of AB) v Secretary of State for the Home Department and the Free Movement commentary).
Lucy was instructed in the first reported successful substantive CART-type judicial review case in the High Court, in which she represented a Nigerian trafficking victim against the Upper Tribunal.
Lucy is available to advise and represent victims of trafficking in compensation claims, public law challenges against the police where they have failed to investigate a credible allegation of trafficking and in unlawful detention claims.
VH v The Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 2848
The Secretary of State for the Home Department v SS (Jamaica) [2018] EWCA Civ 2817
Lucy is a member of Young Legal Aid Lawyers, where she acts as a mentor to aspiring human rights lawyers. Lucy serves on the Executive Committee of the Bar Human Rights Committee, where she engages in pro bono international human rights work, including contributing to a report on sexual violence and torture perpetrated by the Sri Lankan authorities against Tamils.
Lucy regularly volunteers to speak to students and community groups including speaking recently on a panel at the 2017 Social Justice Lecture at University of Huddersfield on human trafficking and modern day slavery.
Lucy also regularly appears as a trainer for Garden Court North Chambers, as well as for ILPA, the Public Law Project (PLP) and Highgate Solutions.
Lucy’s previous and upcoming ILPA training events can be found here
Lucy’s upcoming events with MBL seminars can be found here
Lucy’s Privacy Notice may be viewed by clicking here.
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