Caoilfhionn Gallagher

Caoilfhionn Gallagher is a dual-qualified barrister, called to the Bars of Ireland (2001) and England and Wales (2006). She is a human rights and civil liberties specialist. Her areas of particular interest are prison law, crime-related public law, and all aspects of the Human Rights Act 1998 and the ECHR. She was recently appointed as a Council of Europe expert on Articles 10 and 11 ECHR and has trained Turkish judges and prosecutors on freedom of expression and the right to protest and association under their new Criminal Code. She is one of the authors of Blackstone's Guide to the Human Rights Act 1998, 4th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2007). She is experienced in urgent judicial review work and she is happy to discuss cases informally before being instructed. She is also available for work in Northern Ireland and Ireland, and has a particular interest in cross-border issues.

Prior to Doughty Street Caoilfhionn worked for six years as an academic, campaigner and policy lawyer, and this experience means she is well placed to assist campaigning organisations with strategic litigation (test cases and third party interventions). She has represented and advised (amongst others) the Howard League for Penal Reform, Fair Trials Abroad, British Irish Rights Watch, REDRESS, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, the Law Society, the Centre for Corporate Accountability, JCWI, NUS, Genewatch, the AIRE Centre, the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases, REPRIEVE, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the Irish Council for Ageing and Older People and the NSPCC, and she previously worked for Liberty. In 2005 she delivered a paper on costs in public interest litigation to a specialist group reviewing the Corner House principles, chaired by Lord Justice Maurice Kay.

PUBLIC LAW
Caoilfhionn's litigation experience prior to Doughty Street encompassed European Court of Human Rights, House of Lords and Court of Appeal cases and interventions under the HRA and ECHR. She now has a wide-ranging claimant public law practice at all levels. Current/ recent notable cases include:

Privy Council

• Lawrence v. AG for Grenada [2007] UKPC 18, [2007] WLR (D) 76 (constitutional definition of 'misbehaviour in public office'/ fair trial, led by Edward Fitzgerald QC).

House of Lords

• Intervention for a coalition of NGOs in R (Al Rawi and Others) v. Secretary of State for the FCO and Secretary of State for the Home Department (UK's obligations concerning non-national UK residents detained in Guantanamo, with Richard Hermer, to be heard October 2007).

Court of Appeal

• R (S) v. Sutton London Borough Council [2007] EWCA Civ 790 (now the leading case on local authorities' duties to homeless children upon their release from custody, with Ian Wise).

High Court

• R (H) v. Essex County Council; R (SH) (A Child) v. Wolverhampton City Council; and R (G) v. London Borough of Croydon (local authority duties to vulnerable children and young people post-custody),
• Ali v. Hacques (Re Election Petitions in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets) [2006] All ER (D) 113 (alleged impropriety in the conduct of local elections, with Gavin Millar QC).

PRISON LAW
Caoilfhionn regularly undertakes prison-related judicial reviews, including many emergency Children Act 1989 cases concerning homeless, self-harming and vulnerable young people in and leaving custody. She regularly represents lifers, IPP and recalled prisoners before the Parole Board. She has given expert evidence to the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee on electronic tagging.

Caoilfhionn also represents prisoners wishing to transfer jurisdiction, including many UK-based Irish prisoners who want to serve the remainder of their sentences in Ireland.

CRIME
Caoilfhionn regularly appears in the Crown Court and also undertakes Youth Court and Court of Appeal work. Caoilfhionn's prison and human rights law expertise means she is particularly well-placed to deal with criminal cases involving vulnerable or child defendants and cases raising HRA issues, such as the rights of protestors or asylum seekers.

Caoilfhionn has particular expertise in cases under s. 25, Identity Cards Act 2006, and she has co-authored Blackstone's Guide to the Identity Cards Act 2006 (Oxford University Press, 2006).

Recent/ notable cases include:

• R v. Okeshola, Court of Appeal (female drug courier, appeal against sentence)
• R v. McNamara, Central Criminal Court (murder - diminished responsibility/ PTSD, led by Peter Thornton QC)
• R v. McBride and Ors, Newbury Magistrates Court (prosecution under MoD byelaws of peaceful anti-war protestors)

INQUESTS AND ARTICLE 2 INQUIRIES
Current cases include:

• An inquest at Poplar Coroners' Court concerning the suicide of a young woman with a long history of mental illness after she absconded from a hospital.
• An inquest at Newry Courthouse concerning a work-related death.
• Lewis v. Chief Constable of Staffordshire, Birmingham County Court (police failure to protect from death threats, led by Edward Fitzgerald QC).
• The Rosemary Nelson inquiry, on behalf of an NGO (independent public inquiry into the murder of a solicitor in Northern Ireland, including questions of possible RUC collusion in her death).

HUMAN RIGHTS CONSULTANCY
In addition to litigation dealing with human rights issues, Caoilfhionn undertakes human rights consultancy and advisory services for many UK and Irish clients, including NGOs, the Ministry of Justice/ Department of Constitutional Affairs, and Irish government departments. Prior to Doughty Street Caoilfhionn worked for Liberty for a number of years. During her time there she wrote Parliamentary briefings and consultation responses on a wide range of Bills, and her work was frequently quoted in the House of Commons, House of Lords and the national press.

last updated August 2007

Year of Call

2006

2001 - Ireland and 2006 - England and Wales

Email Address

c.gallagher@doughtystreet.co.uk

Specialist Teams

Caoilfhionn Gallagher is a member of the following specialist law teams:

• Actions Against the police
• Criminal Law
• Education
• Human Rights
• International Law Group
• Public and Administrative Law