Miss Serena Gates

020 7520 6000 chambers@18rlc.co.uk View profile

Position

Serena Gates is a skilled and respected advocate with a sharp mind and broad range of both national and international experience. Her criminal practice, both prosecuting and defending,  focuses on serious and organised crime, drugs conspiracies, fraud, serious sexual offences and terrorism. She is also frequently instructed in regulatory cases, particularly those relating to proceedings brought on behalf of the GDC.

Serena also has extensive experience advising, training and mentoring prosecutors in foreign jurisdictions in the prosecution of terrorism offences.  She is also well versed in investigating, documenting and analysing evidence relating to war crimes and human rights abuses by both terrorist organisation and Government forces and their affiliates.

Serena is a Grade 4 advocate on the General CPS panel and a Garde 4 on the specialist panels for Fraud, Organised Crime, Counter-terrorism, Rape and Serious Sexual Offences. She has also been instructed in numerous Courts Martials.

Serena has particular experience in a number of specialist areas including:

• Legal arguments on abuse of process; autrefois convict; PII; bad character; human rights, interpretation of human trafficking provisions.
• Dealing with intermediaries for young and vulnerable witnesses.
• Advising on drafting of Letters of Requests from foreign jurisdictions and utilising evidence obtained pursuant to such LORs.
• Forensic and expert evidence including cell site analysis and call data; hand writing analysis; blood distribution and splatter evidence, expert psychiatric evidence, footwear tread pattern; ballistics.
• Significant experience of international and cross border money laundering networks including the use of the hawala and international third party payment systems.
• Extensive practical firearms experience (stemming from previous military tours in a non- legal role)

Career

Call 2001

CPS specialist panels for Fraud, Organised Crime and Counter-terrorism (Grade 4)

CPS grade 4 panel for general crime

Member of International Advisory Committee for Legal Action Worldwide

Senior Civilian Expert for UK HMG Stabilisation Unit (A cross Whitehall unit providing specialist advice to HMG departments including FCO, NCA, HO and others.)

Languages

Spanish

Memberships

Criminal Bar Association
South Eastern Circuit

Middle Temple

Women in Criminal Law

Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers

Education

MA (Cantab)