Rajesh Rai

Call: 1993

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Rajesh is meticulous in his preparation, practical in the advice he gives and bold in his advocacy. He is a well-regarded and experienced barrister who has practised immigration, human rights and public law for over twenty years.

He has been a director of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and the Kurdish Human Rights Project, both of which are leading organisations in the field of immigration and international human rights law. He is now on the panel of the council of experts of the democratic progress institute.
Rajesh is formerly treasurer and deputy head of his former chambers. He has also been a director of an AIM-listed investment company where he took charge of the renewable energy portfolio. This has given him insight into business and organisational structures, which he uses when advising on business applications.
He has lectured extensively in the UK and internationally on a wide variety of legal issues, including immigration and asylum law and freedom of expression (Bar of Armenia), enforcement of European court judgments (human rights organisation in Turkey), minority linguistic rights (European Parliament), women’s and children’s rights in areas of conflict (cross-border conference to NGOs working in Kurdish regions). He has chaired these cross-border conferences on an annual basis from 2009 to 2012 in regions in south-east Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan. He has had several reports published as a trial and human rights observer.

Speaking events, training and seminars

Rajesh has lectured on CPD accredited courses for chambers and JCWI. He also lectures internationally on a wide variety of legal issues for the KHRP and BHRC including:

- Freedom of expression (to the Bar of Armenia), enforcement of European Court judgments (to human rights organisation in Turkey);
- Women’s rights (cross-border conference in south-east Turkey to NGOs working in Kurdish regions);
- In November 2011 Rajesh travelled to northern Iraq to chair a cross-border conference of NGOs dealing with issues such as children’s and women’s rights in conflict situations. He has chaired these cross-border conferences of NGOs on a yearly basis from 2009 to 2012;

More recently Rajesh has concentrated his efforts on community and social regeneration programmes. This has been reflected in lectures such as a talk in India during the Kumbh Mela on “Energy Farming” (2007) in Africa and Asia, in the USA on “Ethical enterprise and holistic trusteeship of people and land” (2008) and “Spirituality today: shared benefits and shared responsibilities” (2009).

Rajesh has also developed models promoting community and environmental regeneration programmes. He is the founding director of HIC – a community centred NGO based in Cameroon – and Human Energy (Uganda) Ltd.

Rajesh is also an accredited mediator and accepts instructions in civil and commercial mediation.

Languages

Punjabi and Hindi (not fluent)

Publications

Rajesh was a contributor to the 1998 edition of the JCWI Handbook on Immigration and Asylum Law.

He has conducted a number of international trial observations in the last ten years in regions such as Turkey, Tunisia and Armenia and has had a number of reports published. They include:

“Publishers on trial: Freedom of expression in Turkey in the context of EU Accession” (khrp.org);
“Trial observation: Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Association – Unfair trials in Tunisia” (www.euromedrights.org/files) in which he carried out trial observation and wrote a report in 2001 on Dr Moncef Marzouki who had been tried by the then government for his vocal promotion of fundamental freedoms. In 2011 Dr Marzouki was elected the President of Tunisia.

Hobbies & interests

Eastern philosophy, Sanskrit, meditation, sitar

Interested in instructing Mr Rai?

Please call 020 7353 6802 or complete the form below:

Immigration
Public Law
International Human Rights

Immigration Barrister

Rajesh started work in this emotive area of law when very few took the rights of immigrants seriously. He has seen a significant change. Immigration and asylum law has become an intricate and complex area of work, which is politically charged, profoundly impacts on individuals lives and has become synonymous with fundamental rights of individuals. Has done work in all courts including the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights and his involvement with organisations such as JCWI means he possesses a wider perspective in this area of law than just court experience.

Notable Cases

Stanley College London Ltd, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWHC 1038 (Admin): A challenge to the SSHD’s decision to refuse the claimant’s application for highly trusted sponsor status under tier 4 of the points based system of the Immigration Rules.
LH (Nigeria) & Anor v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2013] EWCA Civ 26: Heard in the Court of Appeal. This case was one of the first that started to explore issues in immigration law in relation to conflicts in representation of the interests of parents and children approaching adulthood.
R v Secretary of State for The Home Department ex parteGloszzcuk ECJ [2001] 3 C.M.L.R 46 C-63/99: Leading case on rights of establishment of businesses and association agreements, heard before the Grand Committee of the European Court of Justice.

Public Law Barrister

Rajesh practises in all aspects of public law within the human rights and immigration and asylum context including emergency grounds for judicial review and High Court proceedings.

Notable Cases

Stanley College London Ltd, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2014] EWHC 1038 (Admin): A challenge to the SSHD’s decision to refuse the Claimant’s application for highly trusted sponsor status under tier 4 of the points-based system of the immigration rules.
R v Secretary of State for The Home Department ex parte Gloszzcuk ECJ [2001] 3 C.M.L.R 46 C-63/99: Leading case on rights of establishment of businesses and association agreements, heard before the Grand Committee of the European Court of Justice.

International Human Rights Barrister

Rajesh was a director of the Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP) for over seven years. He was treasurer for three years. In that time the KHRP litigated over 50 cases in the European Court of Human Rights including some of the most prominent cases in the Court’s history such as Ocalan, abolishing the death penalty in Turkey, and Illisu Dam.

Notable Cases

Stepenyan v Armenia (EctHR) (45081/04) (2009): The European Court of Human Rights found infringements to the right to a fair trial under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This is a KHRP assisted case in which Rajesh led on all pleadings and written submissions;
Gabrielyan v Armenia (EctHR) 8088/05 (April 2012): The European Court of Human Rights found contraventions of Article 6(3) when read with Article 6(1) of the Convention. In particular, the Court made important observations in relation to the right to effective representation by state appointed lawyers, on the right to cross examine witnesses and the legal position in relation to dealing with absent witnesses. Rajesh drafted the full submissions in this application
R v Secretary of State for The Home Department ex parteGloszzcuk ECJ [2001] 3 C.M.L.R 46 C-63/99: Leading case on rights of establishment of businesses and association agreements, heard before the Grand Committee of the European Court of Justice.
R v Daniel (Anthony James) [1998] Court of Appeal 2 Cr.App.R. and Times Law Reports 1998: First Court of Appeal judgment to engage with the then controversial inferences to be drawn from a no comment interview and proper directions to be given to the jury in the exercise of the right to silence.

Areas of practice

Appointments

Council of Experts Democratic Progress Institute

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