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What others say

Immigration - Chambers and Partners (2025)

“Asma is incredibly sharp. She is a problem solver who works collaboratively with instructing solicitors. She is highly empathetic and kind towards clients.”

“She is very patient; our client had been through a lot but was met with grace.”

“She is a very good advocate who is clear and concise.”

Immigration - Legal 500 (2024)

"She is a diligent and knowledgeable junior with good ideas about how to get the most for her client. She fights their corner hard. She is persuasive and concise."

Court of Protection - Legal 500 (2024)

"Asma always presents herself as enthusiastic, energetic and keen to assist those instructing her. She always acts with the utmost integrity and proves herself to be an empathetic listener and a persuasive speaker, both in and outside the courtroom."

Immigration - Chambers and Partners (2024)

"Asma prepared succinct, compelling, and persuasive grounds and advised on strategy. We were able to achieve a brilliant result for the client and I would highly recommend Asma."

Court of Protection - Legal 500 (2023)

"Asma is very pragmatic and takes a very proactive approach in proceedings both during her prep and at court. She proposes sensible solutions at court, she is very persuasive and has a very good ability at securing agreement from the other side."

Immigration - Legal 500 (2023)

"Very strong commitment to her clients and pursues every evidential and legal angle of the case; extremely personable and wins the trust of vulnerable clients."

Summary

Asma is an experienced human rights practitioner with specialisms in mental capacity law, immigration and asylum and education law. She has a particular interest in the human rights of vulnerable clients. Asma is ranked in the 2023 edition of the Legal 500 directory as a ‘Leading Junior’ in the fields of Court of Protection/Community Care and Immigration.

Asma is registered to accept Direct Public Access work and often accepts pro-bono instructions.

Background

Prior to coming to the Bar, Asma was a judicial assistant in the Court of Appeal. She also spent a year as the Assistant Legal Officer at the Free Representation Unit (‘FRU’), working on employment and social security cases and supervising the work of FRU volunteers. She spent several years on FRU’s Management Committee (including a year as the elected Chair) and also volunteered with IPSEA and Haringey Migrant Support Centre. Asma spent several years on the Young Lawyers’ Committee of the Human Rights Lawyers’ Association.

Asma is committed to pro-bono work and is currently working pro bono with Safe Passage UK. She volunteers for Bail for Immigration Detainees and was previously on the Executive Committee of Refugee Legal Support (previously Athens Legal Support Project). She has volunteered for Here for Good, providing advice to European nationals seeking advice on immigration status following Brexit.

Court of Protection (Health and Welfare)

Asma is regularly instructed by the Official Solicitor, litigation friends, ALRs, and family members in the Court of Protection. Asma appears before all three tiers of the COP judiciary in all types of hearings; directions hearings, fact-finding hearings, contested capacity hearings, committals and appeals. Asma has expertise spanning the full range of the Court of Protection’s jurisdiction, including welfare disputes, s.21A challenges, cases involving deprivations of liberty, and complex matters before the High Court (including cases where the inherent jurisdiction has been invoked).

Asma often represents young people subject to physical restraint strategies as part of their care packages, and she has expertise in ‘hoarding’ cases where forced removal is contemplated. Asma has experience of cases where there is a cross over between the Family Court and the COP and she is regularly instructed in parallel COP/forced marriage cases.

Asma’s reported COP cases include: Re GA (vaccination) [2021] EWCOP 66 and Re GA [2021] EWCOP 67, acting for P in the appeal of Re YC [2021] EWCOP 34 which raised issues about the validity of a standard authorisation in the event of errors in a Form 5, the appeal of Re M [2018] EWCOP 4 and a case relating to covert contraception: P (Sexual Relations and Contraception) [2018] EWCOP 10. 

Immigration/Asylum

Asma provides advice and representation in all areas of immigration, asylum, deportation and European law. Known for her sensitive approach, Asma regularly represents vulnerable clients including victims of trafficking, those suffering from physical or mental ill-health and those vulnerable because of their age.

Asma represents clients at all levels, including in statutory appeals and judicial reviews. She is regularly instructed in cases involving Home Office delay. She has experience of representing those facing deportation after the commission of serious offences, cessation of refugee status and cases involving the deprivation of nationality as well as the full breadth of immigration and asylum cases. Asma has a particular interest in detention related cases (claims for damages for false imprisonment) and in immigration cases where clients lack litigation capacity.

Asma appeared as junior counsel in all stages of R on the application of WA (Palestinian Territories) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] EWCA Civ 12, which was an immigration judicial review involving a client on who was refusing food and nutrition. She successfully represented a client in an appeal against the decision to deport him after he had been convicted of murdering his wife. See: EH (PTA: limited grounds, Cart JR) Bangladesh [2021] UKUT 117 (IAC). 

Education Law

Asma maintains an education practice and is instructed in cases involving discrimination in schools and higher education institutions. She also deals with school exclusions and has experience of cases involving Special Educational Needs. She represents higher education students in internal disciplinary cases and has experience of public law challenges and negligence cases in the field of education. Asma previously worked as an in house advocate for a specialist London based education law firm.