Alex Gask

Alex became a tenant at Doughty Street in October 2009 after successfully completing pupillage. Alex has a broad civil and criminal practice, with a particular focus on human rights, encompassing immigration, actions against the police, prisoners' rights, public law and criminal defence work.

Since coming to the Bar, Alex has been instructed in the following fields:

Immigration:

Alex has appeared before the AIT at initial appeal and on reconsideration. He also has experience of bail applications and an interest in asylum support - frequently appearing on a pro bono basis before the Asylum Support Tribunal.

Prison law:

Alex has represented prisoners at adjudications and parole board hearings, and has advised on prisoners' judicial review claims.

Civil actions:

Alex has advised on civil actions against the police and other public authorities. He recently appeared as junior in the Court of Appeal in the case of Iqbal v Prison Officers Association [2009] EWCA Civ 1312

Criminal defence & extradition:

Alex regularly appears in magistrates' and crown courts on criminal matters. He is instructed on first appearances, sentencing hearings, mentions and summary trials. He has a particular interest in the right to protest and in working with vulnerable defendants, especially youths.
He also has experience in preliminary extradition hearings, as well as having acted as a junior on Liberty's intervention in the Supreme Court in the case of Norris v USA.

Media law:

Alex was led by Geoffrey Robertson QC in proceedings relating to Guantanamo detainee Binyam Mohamed. They were instructed to appear on behalf of the US media organisations.

As a pupil Alex also gained experience, through assisting in and observing the work of his supervisors and other tenants, in the following areas:

• International law - drafting applications to the European Court of Human Rights, including submissions on complex issues of international law;
• Discrimination law - advising on discrimination in the treatment of prisoners;
• Public law - advising on a wide range of public law issues and drafting judicial review claims.

Prior to joining Doughty Street, Alex spent 5 years as a solicitor and legal officer at the human rights organisation Liberty. During his time there, Alex led on much of the organisation's most significant and high profile litigation. His cases ranged from the magistrates' court to the House of Lords, as well as several challenges before the European Court of Human Rights. He worked on a wide range of issues including the right to protest, sex and sexuality discrimination, breach of privacy by police & local authorities, excessive police powers and the right to effective investigation into inhuman & degrading treatment. Alex also provided training on human rights to solicitors and advisers throughout the UK.

Alex is a member of the Council of Management of CRAE (Children's Rights Alliance for England) and also a Council member at Liberty (NCCL). He is also a member of the Human Rights Lawyers Association.

Year of Call

2008

Email Address

a.gask@doughtystreet.co.uk

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Specialist Teams

Member :

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