The 36 Group

James Collins specialises in all the practice areas of chambers, in particular public and administrative law and immigration and human rights law. He is regularly instructed in many of the cutting edge challenges in this area and has been involved in a series of seminal cases in the High Court, Court of Appeal, House of Lords and more recently the Supreme Court. A full list of representative lead cases published in the Law Reports is available but recent lead cases include: Secretary of State for the Home Department v Baiai at al [2008] 3 WLR 549 (House of Lords); Ahmed Mahad & Others v Entry Clearance Officer [2010] 1 WLR 48 (Supreme Court); HH & Others v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2010] Imm AR 563 (Court of Appeal) James Collins is preferred counsel for the Equality and Human Rights Commission. More recently James successfully represented the Claimant in Mehmet Ebcin v SSHD [2011] Imm AR 552 the first case to come before the High Court on the issue as to whether an application to revoke an automatic Deportation Order made in accordance with the UK Borders Act 2007 generates a right of appeal under section 82(2)(k) of the Nationality and Immigration Act 2002; James also appeared in AAO v Entry Clearance Officer [2011] EWCA Civ 840 a case before the Court of Appeal where there was no previous authority, either in Strasbourg or the United Kingdom, in which a dependent parent argued she had a right pursuant to Article 8 ECHR to join an adult daughter in the United Kingdom; James also successfully represented the Claimant in Ali Polat v SSHD [2011] EWHC 3445 Admin the first case where the High Court considered how the exclusion clauses of the 1951 Refugee Convention applied to an applicant to a discretionary policy of the Secretary of State In 2012 James was instructed on a pro bono basis by Liberty to represent a Palestinian family and in three different ‘Country Guidance’ cases in the Upper Tribunal in relation to Albania, Azerbaijan and Ethiopia. Decisions in two of those have now been handed down [2012] UKUT 00348 (IAC) EH (Blood Feuds) Albania and [2013] UKUT 00046 (IAC) SL (Unmarried mother with mixed race child) Azerbaijan. James is presently instructed in a series of Court of Appeal matters including a challenge to the current interpretation of the Court of Appeal decision in Kugathas v SSHD [2003] EWCA Civ 31 and a challenge as to whether the Upper Tribunal can depart from extant country guidance in respect of Somalia.

Called 1997; Gray’s Inn.

Manchester University; City of London Polytechnic (BA Hons 1st Class); Inns of Court School of Law.