With an established tradition of human rights expertise, Matrix Chambers ‘combines intellectual heft and sector-based knowledge with approachable and communicative barristers’ to represent vulnerable clients in prominent international criminal and human rights proceedings. Praised for her ’utterly brilliant written work and advocacy’, Blinne Ní Ghrálaigh KC represents South Africa in its International Court of Justice case against Israel, which it accuses of genocide regarding the war in Gaza following Hamas’s October 7th attack in 2023; Michelle Butler continues to represent the families of Israeli victims of physical and sexual violence as part of October 7th. Edward Craven KC took silk in 2025 and has ongoing involvement for the claimant in Abu Zubaydah v Home Office and Foreign & Commonwealth Office, which concerns allegations of international human rights abuses against UK and US authorities. Joanna Buckley was recently instructed to act before the UN’s Committee against Torture on behalf of Yazidi victims of slavery and torture, a case which raised complex cross-border conflict questions regarding non-state actors.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Profile
Work Department
Criminal, public, EU and human rights.
Position
Joanna has a practice spanning international, criminal, public, and civil law, specialising in the crossovers between those fields. She is ranked in the areas of Criminal Law, Administrative & Public Law, International Human Rights Law and Civil Liberties & Human Rights in Chambers & Partners; Crime and Administrative & Human Rights Law in Legal 500; and Criminal Fraud by Who’s Who Legal.
Career
Called 2011; Gray's Inn; traineeship Matrix 2011-2012; member since 2011.
Memberships
Criminal Bar Association.
Education
Wycombe Abbey School; Oxford University (2000-2003 BA Philosophy, Politics and Economics); School of Advanced International Studies, John Hopkins University (2003-2005 MA International Relations); City University (2009-2010 Graduate Diploma of Law – with distinction; 2010-2011 Bar Professional Training Course).
Content supplied by Matrix Chambers
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Clerks are good, especially Paul Venables.'
- 'Paul Venables must be highlighted for particular praise and credit. He knows the market in public international law better than any other clerk, and is highly effective at protecting the interests of the barristers with whom he works.'
- 'Good depth in senior and junior areas in this area of law.'
- 'Matrix is an incredibly experienced set for constitutional, public and international law. They manage to combine intellectual heft and sector-based knowledge with approachable and communicative barristers.'
- 'Matrix is outstanding.'