Shahram Taghavi is a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

practising in the United Kingdom. He is a specialist in

judicial review Judicial review is a process under which a government's executive, legislative, or administrative actions are subject to review by the judiciary. In a judicial review, a court may invalidate laws, acts, or governmental actions that are in ...

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

, immigration and

EU law European Union law is a system of Supranational union, supranational Law, laws operating within the 27 member states of the European Union (EU). It has grown over time since the 1952 founding of the European Coal and Steel Community, to promote ...

. He was called to the

bar of England and Wales Barristers in England and Wales are one of the two main categories of lawyer in England and Wales, the other being solicitors. Barristers have traditionally had the role of handling cases for representation in court, both defence and prosecutio ...

in 1994. He is a partner at Article 1, a law firm specialising in immigration, EU freedoms of movement and human rights law. He practised as an independent barrister at Doughty Street Chambers specialising in human rights, immigration and

public law Public law is the part of law that governs relations and affairs between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that ...

. He was joint head of the Human Rights and Public law departments and head of the Immigration department at Simons Muirhead & Burton solicitors. He was a Senior Barrister at Bates Wells & Braithwaite LLP as a member of their Public & Regulatory, Human Rights and Immigration departments, Deputy Head of Human Rights and Immigration at Lewis Silkin LLP, Head of Human Rights and Immigration at Charles Russell LLP (now Charles Russell Speechly LLP) and National Head of Immigration and Human Rights at Grant Thornton LLP. He has appeared in numerous "test" cases on human rights and migration . He is a contributing author to ''Tolley's Employment and Personnel Procedures'', ''

Human Rights Act 1998 The Human Rights Act 1998 (c. 42) is an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which received royal assent on 9 November 1998, and came into force on 2 October 2000. Its aim was to incorporate into UK law the ...

, A Practical Guide'', a contributing author to the ''Blackstone's Guide to the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004'', the ''Guide to the Points-Based System'' and the founder and former editor of the ''Immigration and

Nationality Law Nationality law is the law of a sovereign state, and of each of its jurisdictions, that defines the legal manner in which a national identity is acquired and how it may be lost. In international law, the legal means to acquire nationality and for ...

Reports'' from 1997 to 2001. He also taught Constitutional and

Administrative law Administrative law is a division of law governing the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law includes executive branch rulemaking (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regul ...

at the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

from 2001 to 2004 whilst practising at the Bar. Shahram Taghavi is recognised as a leading lawyer in the following fields by the Legal 500: immigration litigation; administrative &

; civil liberties &

. He has been recommended as a leading lawyer in the following fields in Chambers and Partners: Civil Liberties, Personal immigration; Business immigration. The directories have described him as "brains on legs", "excellent", having a "dynamic touch" and a "calm and reassuring manner and inside-out knowledge of immigration law", a lawyer whose "knowledge shines through", and a "respected advocate". The UK Chambers & Partners has described him as "Absolutely first class in terms of his knowledge and pragmatism". He has acted pro bono in numerous high profile human rights cases, including the Trafigura Ivory Coast toxic waste dump incident, prohibiting the Turkish authorities from torturing a leading political leader, and representing dozens of victims and relatives of the

Grenfell Tower fire On 14 June 2017, a List of fires in high-rise buildings, high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of Public housing in the United Kingdom, flats in North Kensington, West London, England, at 00:54 British Summer Time, BST ...

. Shahram Taghavi has been involved in many of the key test cases challenging the Home Secretary's tightening of the UK's human rights and immigration laws such as ''Pankina'', the successful challenge to the coalition government's 2010 immigration cap and ''Alvi''. He was also the lawyer behind the challenge to the UK's secret 'blacklist' that permits British officials to actively discriminate against certain (undisclosed) nationalities. He continues to lecture on human rights, immigration and public law and is regularly called as an expert witness on immigration and human rights law in civil and criminal matters. He is founder of "We Are You", a non profit mentoring scheme introducing young refugee children to adult first generation refugees who have excelled in their professions.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taghavi, Shahram English barristers Living people Human rights lawyers Year of birth missing (living people)