Edward Fitzgerald KC KC > Doughty Street Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile
Doughty Street Chambers Offices
53-54 DOUGHTY STREET
LONDON
WC1N 2LS
England
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Edward Fitzgerald KC KC
Position
Edward Fitzgerald KC was named Human Rights and Public Law Silk of the Year in the Chambers Bar Awards 2013, Legal Aid Lawyer of the year in 2009, and Silk of the Year award 2005. In 1998 he was given the Times Justice Human Rights Award. In 2008 he was awarded the CBE for services to human rights. He specialises in criminal law, public law, judicial review and international human rights law.
Edward Fitzgerald KC is a highly acclaimed silk who offers vast experience across the fields of public, criminal and international human rights law. Edward is ranked in the highest Bands of each of his fields in the Chambers and Partners 2022 tables. He is Band 1 in Extradition, Civil Liberties and Human Rights, Administration and Public Law. He is listed as a ‘starred individual’ in the area of Crime in 2022, and listed in the ‘international spotlight’ in the area of International Human Rights Law.
Career
Year of Call: 1978; resides Inner Temple; KC 1995.
He is described in the 2022 Guide as “full of energy” and “a brilliant advocate”. As “a formidable opponent” who is “so tough that he can make the totally unpalatable palatable”. Edward is regularly called upon to handle the most significant, highly publicised cases. He appears routinely before the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court; the Privy Council and the ECtHR. He is highly regarded for his work on behalf of vulnerable individuals.
Edward has represented a number of high-profile, public figures including Silvio Berlusconi in the European Court of Human Rights, Boris Berezovsky and Akmed Zakaev of Chechnya and Ejup Ganic of Bosnia in their respective fights against extradition to Russia and Serbia. Recently he represented Julian Assange in obtaining the ruling of District Judge Baraitser to refuse Julian Assange’s extradition to America on January 4th 2021; and at the High Court where that ruling was reversed. He successfully represented Gary McKinnon (2012), Lauri Love (2018), Robert McDaid (July 2020) and Corey De Rose (2022) in their fight against extradition.
Languages
Education
Oxford and Cambridge (BA (Hons) Congratulatory First, MPhil Criminology, qualified in New York and American Law).
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > International human rights and criminal law
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 3Edward Fitzgerald KC – Doughty Street Chambers ‘Truly sublime. A real treat to watch in court and a fountain of knowledge.’
London Bar > Extradition
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Edward Fitzgerald KC –Doughty Street Chambers ‘Truly sublime. A real treat to watch in court. A fountain of knowledge.’
A pre-eminent set with experience in appearing before the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights in extradition cases, Doughty Street Chambers is reputed for acting in some of the most high-profile cases on a national and international level, and particularly recommended handling extradition requests involving human rights issues, allegations of war crimes, cybercrime, and multinational frauds. With a track record of defeating requests from the US, Edward Fitzgerald KC continued to represent Julian Assange against extradition to the US, up to a resolution which saw Assange plead guilty to espionage but avoid a custodial sentence in the US. Fitzgerald KC also appeared in Popoviciu v Romania, leading Graeme Hall in the High Court and the Supreme Court, arguing a breach of the right to a fair trial in a challenge to extradition to Romania. Peter Caldwell KC is representing German authorities in a request for extradition in relation to a multi-million-euro Ponzi scheme, with the extradition being challenged on grounds of mental and physical conditions, as well as the risk of increased risk of antisemitism in Germany’s prison estate following the conflict in Gaza. Malcolm Hawkes is acting as opposing counsel, led by Fitzgerald KC, in the same proceedings.
London Bar > Administrative law and human rights
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 1Edward Fitzgerald CBE KC –Doughty Street Chambers ‘He is a legend in his field.’
Doughty Street Chambers is regarded by many as ‘exceptional when it comes to human rights‘, and is equally adept at handling complex administrative and public law matters. Edward Fitzgerald KC has ‘encyclopaedic knowledge‘ of human rights law, and successfully represented the claimant in R (Quaye) v Secretary of State for Justice, a case concerning the impact of s.128 of the Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 on the provision of sentence reviews to murderers who, owing to the fact they committed the offence under the age of eighteen, are sentenced to detention at His Majesty’s pleasure rather than life imprisonment. Jude Bunting KC is ‘a work of art in the court room‘, and the ‘very astute‘ Adam Wagner is ‘an outstanding lawyer‘.
London Bar > Crime
(Leading Silks)Ranked: Tier 2Edward Fitzgerald KC – Doughty Street Chambers ‘Edward is, without a doubt, one of the finest barristers of our time. He is always completely focussed on the case before him and draws on his encyclopaedic knowledge of the law to get the very best outcome. But more than that he brings great humanity to the cases he works on, mastering the facts and using the law to achieve justice.’