Matrix Chambers has earned a ‘very good reputation’ in the field of immigration and asylum law, with its practitioners regularly acting in complex and novel cases involving high net worth individuals and national security issues. Nick Armstrong KC led Toby Fisher and Darryl Hutcheon in R (AH and IS) v SSHD, a significant challenge to individual immigration detentions that raised a wider systems challenge to the Home Office and Brook House immigration removal centre. Raza Husain KC is highly regarded for his work on the Rwanda litigation, having acted as lead counsel the litigation both prior and subsequent to the Safety of Rwanda Act 2024, up until the policy's demise at the end of the Conservative government. Christopher Buttler KC acted in VT v Commissioner for the British Indian Ocean Territory, a successful claim on behalf of 61 Tamil migrants seeking damages for their treatment in the British Overseas Territory with no population other than a joint US-UK military base. Eleanor Mitchell was also involved in key Diego Garcia-related litigation.
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Profile
Position
Barrister specialising in public law, human rights and civil liberties with a particular focus on immigration, prisoners’ rights, social welfare and equality. Recent cases of note include T v The Chief Constable of Great Manchester Police & Ors [2013] EWCA Civ 25 (criminal records disclosure scheme found not to be Article 8 compliant), KA v Essex County Council [2013] EWHC 43 (Admin) (extending the protect ions owed to migrant famllies requiring accommodation); R (RB) v Devon County Council (2012] EWHC 3597 (Admin) (whether decision to contract out children’s services lawful); FV (Italy) [2012] EWCA Civ 1199 (leading case on deportation of EU citizens); James, Lee and Wells (Strasbourg decision finding detention of IPP prisoners to have been in breach of Article 5(1) ECHR); AM (Angola) [2012] EWCA Civ 521 (meaning of independent evidence of torture for immigration detention purposes).
Career
Qualified solicitor 1998; called 2001; Inner Temple. Researcher, then research fellow at Nottingham Law School 1991-97; Irwin Mitchell, solicitor 1998-2001; barrister at Tooks Chambers 2001-07; joined Matrix Chambers 2007. Former editor of ‘Education, Public Law and the Individual’; deputy editor of the ’UK Human Rights Reports’; various articles, papers and blogs.
Education
Nottingham Trent University (1991 LLB; 1995 PhD).
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Matrix are really good. They, rightly, have a very good reputation and are very well known in our field.'