Laura Dubinsky

Before coming to the Bar, Laura Dubinsky worked as a senior trade union campaigner in the United States and Canada with UNITE, the North American textile and garment workers' union. She directed large-scale campaigns for trade union recognition and collective agreements.

Laura works extensively in immigration law and immigration-related civil actions for damages and judicial review.

Her immigration and asylum cases include R (J) v SSHD [2009] EWHC 705 (Admin) (successful challenge and guidance case on certification under s.96 Nationality Immigration and Asylum Act 2002) and HS (Afghanistan) v SSHD [2009] EWCA Civ 771 and M v SSHD [2006] EWCA Civ 798 (successful reasons challenges). She was instructed as junior counsel in HJ (Iran) v SSHD [2009] EWCA Civ 172 (test case on approach to sexual identity in Refugee Convention claims).

Laura's cases on immigration detention include R (Abdi) v SSHD [2009] EWHC 1324 (Admin) (successful challenge to the detention of a former foreign national prisoner, guidance given on the relevance of time spent on appeal). She was also junior counsel in R (Hassan Jama Abdi and Others) v SSHD [2008] EWHC 3166 (Admin) (test case on the Secretary of State's 'hidden' immigration detention policy) and in R (S and Others) v SSHD [2007] EWHC 1654 (Admin) (successful challenge to the immigration detention of a family with children).

Laura also practices in prison law. She acted in R (Adelana) v SSHD [2008] EWHC 2612 (Admin) in which the Home Office's policy precluding the grant of Release on Temporary Licence for many prisoners subject to confiscation orders was found to be unlawful.

Laura has also been instructed in litigation around the prohibition of torture. She was instructed as junior counsel by a consortium of human rights organizations intervening in A and Others v SSHD [2005] UKHL 71 (inadmissibility of evidence obtained under torture). She was also junior counsel for the Interveners in both the Court of Appeal and House of Lords in Ronald Jones & Others v Saudi Arabia [2006] UKHL 26 (sovereign immunity and claims against foreign states over torture).

Laura is currently writing the Legal Action Group's upcoming book on representing foreign national prisoners, along with Judith Farbey, another member of Doughty Street Chambers. Laura is one of the contributing authors to the Blackstone's Guide to the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004 and also to Labour Migration and Employment Rights (Institute of Employment Rights).

Year of Call

2002

Education

BA (Oxon); MA (Columbia University NYC); CPE

Email Address

l.dubinsky@doughtystreet.co.uk

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Specialist Teams

Member :

• Actions Against the police
• Human Rights
• Immigration
• International Law Group
• Prisoner's Rights
• Public and Administrative Law