Region Area

Barristers

Eleanor Stephenson (Door Tenant)

Eleanor Stephenson (Door Tenant)

Work Department

Extradition, International Criminal Law & Criminal Defence

Position

Eleanor is a British barrister specialising in international criminal law and human rights.  She acts in a range of Chambers’ practice areas including general crime, extradition & international law, and public inquiries & inquests.

She is a dedicated advocate, who argues passionately on behalf of her clients and is able to clearly and persuasively put across complex legal arguments both in her written and oral advocacy.

Eleanor currently represents a client in a high-profile and complex case before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in the Hague. She has previously worked on the prosecution team at the International Criminal Court on the Darfur situation, and for the defence at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in relation to the 2005 bombing that killed the former Prime Minister of Lebanon. Eleanor is adept at drafting complex arguments and working with the vast volumes of evidence that are typical of cross border cases.

Eleanor appears at the Magistrates and Crown Courts in the UK and recently acted for an Albanian defendant on a multi-handed conspiracy to supply a drug of class A at Bristol Crown Court.

Alongside court work, she provides advice to NGOs and victim communities in relation to human rights abuses of minority groups in China. She prepares legal submissions and drafts correspondence on behalf of NGOs to the United Nations Special Rapporteur mechanisms in relation to the state sanctioned regime of forced organ harvesting in China. She is also involved in law reform in the UK on the issue.

Career

Eleanor was called to the bar in 2016.

Extradition & International

International Criminal Law

Eleanor has significant experience of working on both the prosecution and defence in international cases at the International Criminal Court, Kosovo Specialist Chambers, Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the ECCC in Cambodia.  Eleanor’s cases often involve multiple charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity and several modes of liability. She has also acted on contempt cases at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers which has involved issues such as the operation of the defendant’s right to freedom of opinion and expression, the protection of whistle blowers in relation to the disclosure of confidential information, police incitement, standards pertaining to prosecution investigations at the international level, witness intimidation and retaliation, and obstruction of official persons performing official duties. She is appointed to the list of assistants at the International Criminal Court and as co-counsel at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers.

Extradition

Eleanor has a keen interest in extradition law and accepts instructions in this area. She has previously assisted clients in challenging Interpol Red Notices and has acted in the capacity of an expert in relation to a Chinese extradition request from a European country.

Criminal Defence

Eleanor welcomes instructions on a wide variety of criminal matters before the courts of England and Wales. She recently acted on a 6-week trial at Bristol Crown Court on a multi-handed organised crime case regarding the supply a drug of class A and is now instructed on the appeal.

Criminal Prosecutions - Private & Public

Eleanor welcome instructions in public and private prosecutions.

Inquests & Inquiries

Eleanor accepts instructions in relation to public inquiries and inquests.

Languages

Fluent in Spanish

Memberships

Criminal Bar Association (CBA). Delf Extradition Lawyers' Forum (DELF).

Education

University of Nottingham: Biochemistry and Chemistry. BPP Law School: Graduate Diploma in Law. BPP Law School: LPC. Articles & News Epoch Times Article on Chinese Regime’s Attempt to Suppress Reporting on Forced Organ Harvesting in China: Human Rights Lawyer Decries Chinese Regime’s Attempt to Suppress Reporting on Forced Organ Harvesting (theepochtimes.com) International Legal Responsibilities of Medical Transplantation Institutions: Eleanor Stephenson | OHRH (ox.ac.uk)