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Keio is an experienced human rights barrister specialising in the areas of inquests and inquiries, public law, media law and the court of protection. Keio has acted in groundbreaking cases before domestic, regional and international bodies and courts on women´s rights, environmental rights and LGBTI rights. He has successfully advised individuals and NGOs strategically litigating cases to the European Court of Human Rights and other international bodies and tribunals. He has also acted in the High Court and Court of Appeal in public law judicial reviews. Many of Keio´s cases raise novel points of equality law, non-discrimination, and international discrimination. 

Keio is frequently instructed in Article 2 jury trials including those in prisons, police custody, and in psychiatric detention. He has experience acting for bereaved families where issues include restraint, self-harm, safeguarding and abuse allegations, drug intoxication. He has a particular interest in inquests which raise issues involving domestic abuse and acting for the families where the deceased is trans or non-binary. As a fluent Spanish speaker, Keio acts in cases where the families speak Spanish or where the death takes place abroad in Spain.

Keio is qualified to practice in England and Wales and the Republic of Ireland. Keio is a published author of two books. Pride and Prejudices: queer lives and the law, on LGBTQ+ rights in the law, and Silenced Women/How Many More Women (with Jen Robinson) on media law, defamation, women´s rights and anti-SLAPP legislation. He has extensive experience before coming to the Bar working as an in-house lawyer in NGOs and in academia. He has also worked for a short time in-house as a lawyer at a national newspaper. 

Inquests and Public Inquiries

Keio specialises in inquests and public inquiries and is part of the Chambers inquests and inquiries team. He was instructed in three strands of the Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). Keio is regularly instructed on behalf of bereaved families in article 2 jury inquests with experience in deaths in prison custody, psychiatric detention and in police custody. 

  • Junior counsel representing the Child Migrants Trust in the Children Outside of the UK Strand 1 of IICSA (2016 -2017)
  • Junior counsel representing Child Redress International and ECPAT in the Children outside of the UK Strand 2 of IICSA
  • Junior counsel representing the Centre for Women’s Justice in the Organised Networks strand of IICSA
  • Acting in an Article 2 investigation commissioned by the Ministry of Justice into a young woman who self-harmed in prison

Keio has also acted in a number of Article 2 inquests representing bereaved families. These include:

  • Inquests in prison custody, including those which involve drug intoxication, self-harm and restraint
  • Inquest into the death of a person detained in a medium secure unit raising issues about ambulance service responses and resulting in a PFD report
  • Inquest into the death of a British man in a Spanish police cell, with a neglect finding and PFD report. National reporting in both Spain and the UK
Public Law and Equality

Keio has a public law and equality pracice with a particular focus on strategic litigation and matters which raise equality law issues. Keio has been instructed in a number of cases which raise novel issues under Article 14 and has been instructed and appeared in the High Court, and Court of Appeal. Keio was formally on the C Panel of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and is currently on the panel of lawyers for the Human Dignity Trust. 

Reported Cases include: 

  • QSA, Broadfoot and ARB v Secretary of State for the Home Department and Secretary of State for Justice [2021] (junior counsel led by Karon Monaghan QC on the disclosure, recording and retention of criminal convictions for soliciting offences before Divisional Court and Court of Appeal)
  • Delve & Glynn v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2020] (junior counsel led by Michael Mansfield KC, Henrietta Hill KC, Adam Straw KC representing women born in the 1950s).
  • R (Mohammad Ahmed Hussein, Muhammad Rafiqur Rahman v Secretary of State for the Home Department v G4S, National Council for Civil Liberties ("Liberty") (2018) EWHC 213 (Admin) (led by Healther Williams KC).
  • Foster v McNicol (2016) EWHC 1966 (QB) (junior counsel representing the Labour Party, led by Mark Henderson)
Court of Protection

Keio accepts instructions in the Court of Protection. Keio has been instructed on many applications under s. 21A of the Mental Capacity Act 2005. Keio has also acted in section 16 MCA 2005 procedings, and in the High Court.

Media Law

Keio practises in media law in cases concerning free speech, reporting and newsgathering.  He has years of experience as a pre-publication lawyer at a number of newspapers and accepts instructions on a wide range of media law issues. Keio also has experience of representing NGOs on access to information and surveillance issues. Keio is the co-author with Jen Robinson of the book Silenced Women (Octopus, 2023) on the intersectional between media law and women´s rights.  Keio has a wide range of experience advising journalists, media organisations and individuals on reporting complex issues. 

Recent cases include:

  • Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council v M, F, G (a child) etc [2016] EWHC 2260:  acted alone for the Times Newspapers Limited successfully ensuring that the matter was heard in open court.  The case concerned open justice, and reporting restriction orders.
  • Butkevich v. Russia [2016] (European Court of Human Rights): led by Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, for the Media Legal Defence Initiative (MLDI), ARTICLE 19 and the Mass Media Defence Centre, intervening).
  • Amaghlobeli and Others v. Georgia [2021] representing MLDI as third party interveners in journalist freedoms case. 
International Human Rights Law

Keio is a recognised expert on international human rights law. In 2025, Keio was named by Attitude as one of top 10 LGTBQ+ people in law and business globally. Keio has acted in counsel in cases before the CEDAW Committee, (Rosana Flamer Caldera v Sri Lanka 2022), European Court of Human Rights, Inter-American Court of Human Rights and in high profile domestic public law challenges. This includes instructions to strategically litigate and bring cases before these bodies or to act as a third party. Keio has particular expertise in women´s rights, LGBT+ rights, environmental and indigenous rights.

Keio has delivered training and workshops on international law and international human rights law for different organisations and is happy to discuss bespoke training. 

Reported cases before regional and international courts and bodies include: 

  • Rosana Flamer Caldera v Sri (CEDAW, counsel)
  • AB v United Kingdom (ECHR, counsel)
  • Butkevic v Russia (ECHR acting for MLDI intervention)
  • Amaghlobeli and Others v. Georgia [2021] representing MLDI as third party interveners in journalist freedoms case.
  • Angela Gonzalez v Spain (CEDAW Committee, intervention)

Keio has 5 years of experience working within international NGOs leading strategic litigation as a senior staff attorney at the Center for Reproductive Rights and Women´s Link Worldwide. Keio has deep experience working with human rights mechanisms across the world and can advise on how the law can be used creatively for human rights purposes. 

Public International Law and Other Instances
  • Advising the Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) in relation to FIFA’s compliance with their human rights obligations under FIFA Statutes over unequal prize money in the 2019 Women’s WorldCup (with Heather Williams QC and Jennifer Robinson).
  • Expert Opinion on public international law and state immunity in South Korean litigation regarding Japanese responsibility for war crimes and sexual slavery perpetrated during the second world war
  • Instructed by CCJAR and London Mining Network to draft amicus brief on indigenous rights and environmental law for case in Colombian Courts
  • Advising Special Procedsures and UN bodies on human rights standards.
  • Carrying out judicial training on international human rights law. 
Human Rights Investigations, Research and Advisory Work

Keio has experience coordinating research, drafting reports and advising civil society organisations on large scale projects. Keio has published three books and numerous articles in journals including the European Human Rights Law Review, International Affairs (shortlisted for early career prize 2021), and Human Rights Quarterly. Keio has lectured in a number of universities including the LSE (2015), City University (2018), SOAS (2020), the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (Ghana) (2017) on international human rights law. 

  • Co-author: Trial International Manual ‘La prevue audiovisuelle devant les instances internationales: techniques et admissibilite’ (with Jelia Sane) 2019. Report available here.
  • Principal author, GAPs, Women´s International Peace Center and LSE Center for WPS. Defending the Future: Gender, Conflict and Environmental Peace, 2021, report available here

Co-author: Article 19. Equally safe. Towards a feminist approach to the safety of journalists. 2022. Report available here