Our People

Rajesh K. Rai (1993)

Teams

Crime, Immigration, Human Rights, Mental Health, Public Law, VAT and Tax Law (MTIC)

Profile

Rajesh was called to the Bar in 1993 and his areas of expertise include Crime, Public Law, Immigration & Asylum, Human Rights Law (both domestic and international), Community Law and VAT and Tax Law (MTIC) in the VAT and Tax Tribunal.

His Immigration & Asylum Law practice, in which he has over 15 years experience and covers all aspects, including immigration offences both in the Civil and Criminal Courts, business immigration, Advice and appeals. He has been a director of The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) (www.jcwi.org) and is a director of the Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP) (www.khrp.org).

Rajesh has extensive hands-on experience in humanitarian and environmental issues in his work with NGOs, cooperatives and companies based in the UK and overseas. This gives him a unique insight into his practice as a Barrister when dealing with a client base who require cultural sensitivity in their representation and an understanding of cross national issues.

His commercial practice includes MTIC cases in the VAT and Tax Chamber. He advises regularly on this complex and specialist area of law and has just completed another substantive hearing.

Rajesh is a founder director of HIC, an NGO based in Cameroon, and founding director of a company promoting land and community regeneration programmes internationally .

He has lectured on CPD accredited courses for chambers and JCWI. He also lectures internationally on a wide variety of legal issues for the KHRP and BHRC (www.barhumanrights.org.uk) including Freedom of Expression (to the Bar of Armenia), Enforcement of European Court Judgments (to Human Rights organisation in Turkey) and Women's Rights (Cross Border conference in South East Turkey to NGO's working in Kurdish regions).

More recently Rajesh has concentrated his efforts on community and social regeneration programmes. This has been reflected in lectures delivered which included Rajesh chairing and delivered lectures in India during the Kumbh Mela on "Energy Farming" (2007) in Africa and Asia, in the USA on "Ethical enterprise and holistic trusteeship of people and land" (2008) and "Spirituality today: shared benefits and shared responsibilities" (2009).

Publications

Rajesh was a contributor to the 1998 edition of the JCWI Handbook on Immigration and Asylum Law.

He has conducted a number of international trial observations in the last ten years in regions such as Turkey, Tunisia and Armenia and has had a number of reports published. They include "Publishers on trial: Freedom of expression in Turkey in the context of EU Accession" (www.khrp.org), "Trial observation: Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Association - Unfair trials in Tunisia" (www.euromedrights.org/files)

More recently Rajesh travelled to South East Turkey to report on the ongoing issue with Ilisu Dam.

Rajesh has also developed models promoting community and environmental regeneration programmes. He is the founding director of "HI Community Centre" based in Cameroon and soon to be deployed in Sub Sahara Africa and the Americas and Human Energy (Uganda) Ltd.

Notable cases

Rajesh's reported cases include:

R v Daniel (Anthony Junior) (CA) [1998] 2 Cr App R 373, Times Law Reports 10 April 1998
[1997] EWCA Crim 2885 Right to silence in criminal proceedings and proper directions to be given by judge to jury.

R v SSHD ex parte Gloszczuk (ECJ) [2001] 3 CMLR 46 C-63/99
Leading case on rights of establishment of businesses pursuant to Association Agreements with EC, this was heard before the Grand Committee of the ECJ.

Stepenyan v Armenia (EctHR) (45081/04) (2009)
Dealing with infringements to the right to a fair trial under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This is a KHRP assisted case in which Rajesh led on submissions.

Interests

Eastern philosophy, Sanskrit, family and my vegetable garden.