UK: Afghan judge thanks pro bono lawyers for ‘life-saving’ work

An Afghan female judge and her son have been granted permission to enter the UK following two years’ pro bono work by lawyers.

City firms Jenner & Block and Kingsley Napley began representing the family following the fall of Kabul in August 2021 and instructed Garden Court Chambers barrister Helen Foot.

The firms said the judge was also a women’s rights defender in Afghanistan. She held senior positions in the Afghan Criminal Court system and adjudicated cases involving the Taliban.

After the Taliban regime took over, the judge and her son fled to Pakistan, where they lived in hiding. Last month the Home Office admitted the judge and her son to the UK on a resettlement scheme. They have been granted indefinite leave to enter and will be eligible to apply for British citizenship after five years.

The judge said she was overjoyed to be reunited with family in the UK. ‘We look forward to fully settling to a new life in the UK. I have started learning some English. My son, a law graduate from Kabul University, is hoping to go back to university to gain a UK qualification to become a lawyer.

‘We are so grateful to Jenner & Block, Kingsley Napley, Helen Foot, and several others who all played their part in helping save our life and bringing us here. We feel deeply touched by everyone’s generosity and endurance in working on our case. We cannot express in words how thankful we are to everyone for the care they have shown to me and my family. May God bless them all.’

Oliver Oldman, senior associate in Kingley Napley’s immigration team and international protection group, said living with the constant threat of deportation to Afghanistan over their heads for nearly two years had taken a toll on the judge and her family. ‘We are thrilled to see them reunited but remain concerned about the other vulnerable Afghans, including judges, who remain in hiding’.

Lucy Blake, special counsel at Jenner & Block, said governments around the world had more work to do to create legal routes to safety for those who remain at risk.

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/afghan-judge-thanks-pro-bono-lawyers-for-life-saving-work/5116709.article

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/23/female-afghan-judge-wins-legal-battle-to-come-to-uk

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/afghan-judge-yosra-entry-uk-b2379006.html

https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2023/07/afghans-who-supported-the-british-governments-mission-now-face-death/

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/afghan-judge-free-to-enter-uk-after-two-year-battle-05v56bfvt

https://www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk/news/helen-foot-secures-resettlement-for-former-female-afghan-judge

https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2023-07-06/debates/23070651000024/FemaleJudgesAndProsecutorsInAfghanistan