Alasdair Mackenzie > Doughty Street Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile
Doughty Street Chambers Offices
53-54 DOUGHTY STREET
LONDON
WC1N 2LS
England
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Alasdair Mackenzie
Work Department
Position
Alasdair Mackenzie is an experienced leading junior who specialises in immigration and asylum law and practices generally in public law.
Alasdair is regularly instructed as sole or leading counsel in appeals to the Upper Tribunal and the Court of Appeal and in judicial reviews in both the High Court and Upper Tribunal. He appears frequently before the Upper Tribunal and First-Tier Tribunal in all areas of immigration law, including refugee, human rights, family, EEA, student, points-based system, bail and deportation cases. He also appears in judicial reviews of trafficking decisions and age assessments.
Career
Year of call: 2004; Gray’s Inn.
Before joining Doughty Street from pupillage in 2005, Alasdair spent many years as a campaigner and advice worker on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK. He was among the founders of the charity Asylum Aid, of which he was Co-ordinator from 1990 to 2002. He spent some years as an executive committee member of the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association, of which he remains an active member, and is a former Chair of the Asylum Rights Campaign and of the Refugee Legal Group.
He has acted as an expert consultant to the Immigration Services Commissioner, the regulator of immigration advisers. Alasdair has written or contributed to a number of significant reports and publications on asylum and immigration issues.
Languages
Memberships
Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association
The Constitutional and Administrative Law Bar Association
Human Rights Lawyers Association
Liberty
Justice
Education
Winchester College; Oxford University (1989, BA, modern languages); London Metropolitan University (2003, PgDL); College of Law (2004, BVC).
Lawyer Rankings
London Bar > Immigration (including business immigration)
(Leading Juniors)Ranked: Tier 1Alasdair Mackenzie –Doughty Street Chambers ‘Alasdair’s advocacy is crisp and powerful, whilst measured and thoughtful. His knowledge is first class, as are his written skills.‘
Doughty Street Chambers has expertise in the full range of immigration, nationality and asylum law with a broad range of sub-specialisms, including business immigration, national security, detention, trafficking and EU settlement issues. Described as ‘fast becoming a go-to set for immigration and asylum work‘, members act for a diverse range of individuals, charities, transitional organisations and companies, and appear before all levels of the court system, including specialist immigration tribunals. Laura Dubinsky KC was lead counsel for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the Rwanda litigation, supported by Agata Patyna, whilst Alasdair Mackenzie and Michelle Knorr were instructed in the case as part of other teams. Adam Straw KC, a Special Advocate in national security cases, has been involved in a number of judicial review and SIAC claims relating to Afghan nationals seeking relocation under ARAP, and David Lemer, who is also a Special Advocate, regularly appears before the Special Immigration Appeals Commission and on appeal in national security cases. Other notable members are Joe Middleton KC, sought after for his specialism in business immigration, Shu Shin Luh and Simon Cox. Anthony Vaughan was elected Member of Parliament for Folkestone and Hythe in the 2024 general election.