Danielle Barden

Danielle Barden is a specialist barrister instructed in business crime, serious organised crime, general crime and extradition.

She is ranked in the Legal 500 in International Crime & Extradition and in Fraud: Crime. Danielle is also recognised in Chambers & Partners for her work in Extradition, Crime, and Financial Crime.

"An up-and-coming and very capable Barrister. She has an impressive grip on issues at hand and is very thorough in her preparation, regularly achieving fantastic outcomes for her clients."

Danielle has significant experience of acting in business crime cases and enforcement proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 concerning cash forfeiture, detention, confiscation and enforcement proceedings. She has appeared at the Court of Appeal in relation to such matters.

Danielle is an experienced advocate in extradition. She exclusively appears on behalf of individuals who are requested for extradition before both the High Court on appeal and the Magistrates’ Court at first instance. Danielle has broad experience of arguing complex legal issues, regularly involving human rights abuses, before the High Court and has successfully argued against the extradition of requested persons, both at the Magistrates’ Court and on appeal, to a range of states.

Danielle appears regularly in complex criminal matters including fraud, money laundering, robbery, sexual offences and drugs offences, both as a led junior and a junior alone. She appears for both the defence and prosecution in the Crown, Magistrates’ and Youth Courts and has achieved success in all these forums, as well as before the Court of Appeal.

She is a skilled prosecutor and has acted in a plethora of private prosecution cases. She has successfully acted on behalf of private bodies, such as the Royal Mail and local authorities. Danielle prosecutes for both the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Serious Fraud Office. She is a level 3 panel member for general crime, fraud and serious crime for the CPS and a level B panel member for the SFO. Danielle has acted in incredibly complex cases for both bodies, prosecuting matters of serious and high level financial and organised crime, regularly with an international element.

Danielle has significant experience in representing vulnerable defendants, such as youths, victims of exploitation and individuals with mental health difficulties. Her skill at putting clients at ease, building a rapport and ensuring their comfort and understanding of the process throughout is second to none. As a result, Danielle has significant expertise in representing defendants running defences under section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

Danielle is a dedicated advocate, who argues passionately on behalf of her clients and is able to clearly and persuasively put across complex legal arguments, both in her written and oral advocacy.

Before coming to the bar, Danielle worked at a specialist criminal defence firm in Northwest London. She specialised in confiscation law.

Danielle is a Digital Sub-Committee member for the Female Fraud Forum, as well as a member of the Management and Tenancy Committees within chambers, is presently a mentor in the Judicial Reverse Mentoring Scheme, and is committed to promoting equality at the Bar.

• Danielle was called to the Bar in 2014.
• Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) general crime panel: Level 3
• Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) specialist advocates’ panel: Fraud: Level 3
• Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) specialist advocates’ panel: Serious Crime: Level 3
• Serious Fraud Office (SFO) panel of external counsel: B panel

Extradition & International

Danielle is a specialist extradition practitioner and is ranked in the Legal 500 as a Band 3 leading junior in International Crime and Extradition and in Chambers and Partners as a Band 4 leading junior in Extradition.

She exclusively represents requested persons in extradition proceedings.

Danielle regularly appears before the Magistrates’ Court and the High Court in complex extradition cases, representing requested persons whose extradition has been requested to countries both throughout Europe and further afield, both as a led junior and alone.

Danielle has successfully opposed the extradition of requested persons at the Magistrates’ Court and the High Court in relation to a range of legal bars to extradition. She represents requested persons on the basis of the full range of issues that fall under the Extradition Act 2003 and the European Convention on Human Rights.

“[Her arguments] were beautifully presented and eloquent”.

Feedback from Mr Justice Kerr presiding over an extradition appeal in the High Court in which Danielle represented the Appellant.

Danielle has acted in complex cases before the Magistrates’ Court and the High Court, including raising arguments on prison conditions that amount to the inhuman and degrading treatment of prisoners (Article 3), risk to life (Article 2), the lack of decisions to charge and try requested persons (section 12A), forum (section 19B), procedural failings in the body of the Arrest Warrant (section 2) and the lack of a right to a re-trial on extradition (section 20).

“It might not be possible to envisage anyone being better represented on this particular matter”.

Feedback from Mr Justice Lane presiding over an extradition permission hearing in which Danielle represented the Applicant.

INTERPOL

Danielle assists clients with the drafting of letters to INTERPOL concerning the request for the removal of, and information concerning, INTERPOL Red Notices.

Business Crime & Financial Regulation

Danielle specialises in business crime. She is ranked in the Legal 500 as a Band 4 leading junior in Fraud: Crime and in Chambers and Partners as a Band 4 leading junior in Financial Crime.

She has significant experience of acting in business crime cases, acting for both the prosecution and defence in large-scale, multi-handed, high value cases of fraud and money laundering, often with the added complication of an international element.

Currently, she is instructed for the Serious Fraud Office as a led junior, in a multi-handed international bribery and corruption case. She has also defended in lengthy multi-handed money laundering trials that have involved tens of millions of pounds of money laundering.

She is regularly instructed in lengthy and complex trials involving very high value financial loss, with vast amounts of evidence, including evidence of a cross-border nature and requiring the presentation of multifaceted legal arguments.

Danielle's experience in extradition law and resultant knowledge of international criminal law means that she is uniquely placed to accept business crime instructions with an international element.

Asset Recovery, Civil Fraud & Confiscation

Danielle represents both the defence and prosecution in confiscation proceedings at the Crown Court and Court of Appeal.

She represents defendants in high value confiscation proceedings, both as a led junior and a junior alone and has successfully argued for the significant reduction of confiscation orders.

Danielle appears at enforcement proceedings at the Magistrates’ Court concerning the activation of default sentences for the non-payment of confiscation orders and has successfully opposed the activation of default sentences for clients whose outstanding confiscation orders have amounted to hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Criminal Defence

Danielle is a skilled advocate within the field of criminal proceedings. She is a specialist criminal defence practitioner and is ranked in Chambers and Partners as a Band 6 leading junior in Crime.

Danielle has broad and extensive experience at the Crown Court, Magistrates’ Court, Youth Court and the Court of Appeal, appearing in cases for both the prosecution and defence.

She has successfully secured the acquittal of defendants in a range of cases, such as those involving serious organised crime, including allegations of kidnapping, blackmail, serious assault, robbery, burglary, sexual offences and drugs offences.

Danielle regularly acts in large scale criminal cases, involving multiple defendants and allegations of joint enterprise and conspiracy. Danielle has recently acted in cases involving serious organised crime, involving human trafficking, kidnapping and blackmail.

As a result, of the unique rapport Danielle can build with her clients, one of her specialisms is representing vulnerable defendants. She has successfully obtained acquittals in cases running the defence under section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

"The undoubted brilliance of Miss Danielle Barden, was I believe the difference between the not guilty judgement the jury delivered and the very real prospect of being found guilty and therefore losing my clean record, a thing I didn't really value until it was hanging on a razors edge...

I can't sing the praises of Miss Barden enough, her pure professionalism, her determination to get the result required, her willingness to go that extra mile in a worthwhile cause, her sheer mastery of the court room setting. I can only imagine the hours that Danielle spent preparing the final summing up of all the details of the case to the jury just before they went out to deliberate and in doing so making mincemeat of all the prosecutor's arguments."

Feedback from lay client in a crown court trial for theft and burglary where his acquittal was secured.

Criminal Prosecutions - Private & Public

Danielle prosecutes on behalf of private prosecutors, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO). She is a Grade 3 Prosecutor for the CPS on their general crime, fraud and serious crime panels and level C Prosecutor for the SFO.

Danielle is a skilled prosecutor and has successfully acted on behalf of private bodies, such as the Royal Mail and local authorities.

She is currently instructed in a complex, international bribery case for the SFO, involving voluminous evidence and numerous legal arguments.

Danielle has extensive experience in disclosure, having acted as disclosure counsel in a number of large-scale prosecutions and thus provides invaluable advice to prosecuting bodies in this area.

Inquests & Inquiries

Danielle accepts instructions in relation to Public Inquiries and Inquests.

• Female Fraud Forum.
• Young Fraud Lawyers Association.
• Women in Criminal Law.
• Defence Extradition Lawyers’ Forum.
• Middle Temple Young Barristers’ Association.
• Middle Temple.
• South Eastern Circuit.

• City Law School, BPTC.
• Cardiff University, LLB Law.