Edward Fitzgerald CBE QC

Edward Fitzgerald, the winner of the Silk of the Year award in 2005 and Times Justice Human Rights Award in 1998, specialises in criminal law, public law and international human rights law. In June 2008 he was awarded the CBE for services to human rights.

As a criminal practitioner he has featured in many of the leading cases involving extradition, appeals against miscarriages of justice, and international law. He also frequently appears in the Privy Council in cases involving the constitutions of the Commonwealth, Caribbean, death penalty appeals and extradition.

Chambers and Partners listed Edward as the leading silk in the field of Extradition, Crime and Administrative and Public Law and Star Performer in the fields of civil liberties.

Edward has been called to the Bar in numerous jurisdictions including Belize, Grenada and St Vincent and has been granted rights of audience to appear in cases in Hong Kong, Trinidad and Tobago, St Lucia, Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands.

Edward Fitzgerald has won numerous important appeals in the House of Lords and the Privy Council establishing rights for life sentence prisoners and prisoners on death row, including:

• SSHD ex p Anderson [2003] AC 837,
• Reyes v The Queen [2002] 2 AC 235,
• R v Matthew [2005] 1 AC 433,
• R v Greene Browne [2000] 1 AC 45 .

Other notable prison law cases include:

• ex parte Smith [2006] 1 AC 159,
• ex parte Leech [1994] QB 201,
• ex parte Hindley [2001] 1 AC 410
• ex parte Pierson [1998] AC 539.

Important criminal appeals have included recent successful appeals:

• R v Coutts [2006] 1WLR 3154,
• The Bridgewater Three appeal,
• Bentley appeal,
• Michael Stone appeal,
• He argued the case of Simms and O'Brien in the House of Lords, establishing prisoners' rights of access to the media to complain about miscarriages of justice.

He has also appeared frequently in the European Court of Human Rights in cases such as:

• Venables and Tompson v UK,
• Stafford v UK,
• Johnson v UK,
• Singh & Hussain v UK,
• Scott v Spain,
• Portington v Greece and Steele
• Others v UK.
• Represented the applicants Mitchell and in the case of Jones and Others v Saudi Arabia in the House of Lords and is conducting their appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

Recent notable cases have included:

• The Ghurkas' test case successful challenge to the Secretary of State's refusal of their right to settle in the UK
• The successful challenge to the Control Order regime in the case in the House of Lords (SSHD v MB) [2007 3 WLR 681
• The successful appeals against deportation to Lybia of AS and DD [2008] EWCA Civ 289
• The successful appeal of Mr Othman (Abu Qatada) [2008] EWCA Civ 290 against hisdeportation to Jordan. The case is currently pending in the ECHR.

Recent cases in the field of extradition include:

• Rwanda v Ugirashebuja and Ors [2009] (The successful appeal of Mr Ugirashebuja who is wanted in Rwanda for genocide. The appeal has now been heard and awaiting judgment.)
• Spain v Jose Ignacio de Juana Chaos [2008] (defendant fighting his extradition to Spain)
• United States of America v Stanley Tollman [2008] EWHC 184 (Admin)Successful ruling against the extradition of Stanley Tollman on grounds of oppression before the District Judge following the remittal of the case from the High Court.
• Federal Republic of Germany v Roisin McAliskey.The successful appeal against extradition to Germany on terrorist charges of Roisin McAliskey, the daughter of Bernadette McAliskey., a case heard in Belfast.
• R (On behalf of Lotfi Raissi) v SSHD [2008] EWCA Civ 72. Successful challenge to the Secretary of State's decision to refuse compensation to Lotfi Raissi, the Algerian pilot wrongly accused of participation in 9/11 plot and sought by the United States of America for extradition.
• The case of Jamil El Banna and Omar Deghayes which resulted in Spanish judge abandoning his request for extradition of two defendants returned from Guantanamo Bay.

He is currently involved in the European Court on behalf of Babar Ahmad and Haroon Aswat , a case in which the European Court exceptionally intervened to prevent the extradition to the United States of America of the two defendants.

His has also built up special expertise in Russian extradition cases and has acted successfully for Ahmad Zakhayev, Boris Berezovsky, Aleksandar Temerko, Natalya Chernysheva, in resisting extradition to Russian Republic.

Edward has represented death row prisoners in the Caribbean at all levels - at sentencing hearings in the local courts, in the Court of Appeal of Belize and the Eastern Caribbean and the Privy Council.
He recently successfully represented Grenada 17 in their sentencing appeal in the Privy Council and the Supreme Court of Grenada and represented "Cathedral killers" in their appeal against their death sentences.

Edward gives various lectures and seminars and provides sentencing training to lawyers in the Caribbean.

Edward's Research Assistant Mia Hakl-Law can be contacted on m.hakl-law@doughtystreet.co.uk

Year of Call

1978

Queen's Counsel

1995

Education

BA (Hons) Congratulatory First, MPhil Criminology, qualified in New York and American Law

Email Address

e.fitzgerald@doughtystreet.co.uk

Click for contact details

Specialist Teams

Team leader :

• Extradition

Member :

• Actions Against the police
• Criminal Law
• Extradition
• International Law Group
• Mental Health
• Prisoner's Rights
• Public and Administrative Law