Mr Matei Clej > Guernica 37 Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile

Mr Matei Clej

Position

Matei is an extradition practitioner with a thriving practice.  He takes a pro-active approach to guiding both lay clients and instructing solicitors through this complex area of law. He is able to provide expert advice on all stages of the extradition process from surrender through to appeal, removal and beyond.

Matei also accepts instructions in domestic criminal matters both legally aided and private.  He has experience of road traffic law and regularly defends professional drivers facing general criminal charges and the regulatory investigations that follow.

Recent work

Extradition

Romania v CM

Secured the discharge of the RP on Section 10 and Article 8 grounds. Matei successfully resisted judicial authority application to adjourn for further information about offence particulars and successfully argued that extradition pursuant to a second warrant issued five years after the discharge of the first would amount to a disproportionate interference with the private life of the RP. Despite the RP being a fugitive and being a single man with no dependents, the DJ was persuaded to discharge the RP pursuant to Article 8.

Romania v AI 

Secured the RP’s discharge on Article 8 grounds by persuading the District Judge to assume that, if extradited, the RP would almost certainly benefit from early release. Ordinarily, early release is considered a matter for the requesting state. The District Judge discharged Matei’s client at the point that she had served 8 months on remand, or two thirds of the outstanding sentence of 1 year’s imprisonment, equivalent to a grant of early release under Romanian law having been ‘factored in’. 

Czech Republic v JK

Secured the discharge of a Requested Person sought for extradition to the Czech Republic to serve a sentence of 6 months for theft on proportionality grounds

Italy v VS

Secured bail for a Requested Person with limited community ties sought for extradition to Italy for a recent, high value fraud and constituting an organised criminal group.

Romania v CS 

Secured the discharge of a Requested Person sought for extradition to Romania to serve 27 months imprisonment for fraud and driving offences on grounds of incompatibility with Article 8 ECHR , calling expert evidence of a medical psychotherapist on the potential impact of proceedings on the Requested Person’s 8 year-old foster son. 

Romania v GP

Secured the discharge of a Requested Person sought for extradition to Romania to serve an outstanding sentence of 22 months’ imprisonment for computer fraud and constituting an organised criminal group on the grounds of incompatibility with Article 8 ECHR. 

Croatia v JE

Instructed for the RP, a vulnerable individual sought for extradition to Croatia to face allegations of conspiracy to commit cash card scam. The RP challenges his extradition grounds of passage of time, ill health, Article 8 disproportionality and Croatia prison conditions. The RP has complex needs and a convoluted history of mental health interventions. 

Romania v GM and another 

Instructed on behalf of two co-defendants sought by Romania to serve sentences of imprisonment for their involvement in an offence of joint enterprise murder. The RP has been found not fit to plead and raises Section 25 ill-health and breach of Article 6 on grounds that his condition was not taken into account at the time he entered his plea. 

Criminal Law

​R v TG (Luton Crown Court)

Secured the acquittal of a defendant charged with witness intimidation in the Crown Court, having been instructed as defence advocate mid-trial.

R v KF (Portsmouth Crown Court)

Secured a sentence of 36 months imprisonment on a plea of ‘guilty’ after the jury was sworn for a second strike offence of PWITS Class A. The Judge was persuaded to grant 10% credit for the very late plea.

R v AT (Winchester Crown Court)

Secured a suspended sentence on a guilty plea to an indictment charging 4 counts of possession of over 20,000 indecent images of Cat A-C, including over 1,500 of Cat A.

R v SK (Cambridge Crown Court)

Secured a suspended sentence order for a defendant on a plea of guilty to laundering the proceeds of a £25,000 fraud against an elderly victim.

R v CC (Luton Crown Court)

Secured a sentence of a Community Order for a defendant charged with production of cannabis in an indictment concerning an EncroChat conspiracy to supply multi-kilo quantity of cocaine.

Luton Borough Council v HK (Luton Crown Court)

Successfully negotiated an agreed order in a substantially reduced sum, excluding the initially pursued value of the Defendant’s property, in confiscation proceedings arising from the Defendant’s sale of counterfeit cigarettes.

R v MH (Luton Crown Court)

Represented a defendant on an 8-count indictment in which the most serious charge was controlling and coercive behaviour. Following discussions on the first day of trial, the prosecution accepted pleas of guilty to 4 offences on the indictment and the coercive and controlling behaviour count was left to lie on file.

R v BA (Inner London Crown Court)

Secured a suspended sentence for a defendant charged with various offences arising out of an incident where, three times the legal limit for alcohol, he had driven his car at two bystanders;

R v DJ (Canterbury Crown Court)

Represented a lorry driver charged with assisting a breach of immigration law by carrying illegal entrants. After mitigation, the judge took a starting point 5 years and imposed a sentence of 3 years’ imprisonment;

R v RC (Chelmsford Crown Court)

Represented a cash courier stopped with £300,000. On a plea of guilty at PTPH the defendant was sentenced to 9 months’ imprisonment;

R v CD (Isleworth Crown Court)

Successful appeal to the Crown Court against a points endorsement for speeding. The appeal was allowed on the basis that the New Driver Provisions produced a harsh outcome in this particular case.

 

Matei is Qualified to accept Direct Access instructions, licensed to litigate and police station accredited.

Languages

English, French, Romanian

Memberships

Bar of England and Wales

Defence Extradition Lawyers Forum

Criminal Bar Association

Education

City Law School – BTPC
Birkbeck College – LLB