23GHERSON |
BEST PRACTICE REPRESENTATIVE 2019
citizenship as an encouragement to
remain in the country, saving the
colony from a brain drain in its final
hours. The idea was that by having
British citizenship, they could move
to the UK at any time if Hong Kong
ceased flourishing once under Chinese
rule. This was our first foray into
assisting clients abroad, and between
1989 and 1997, I travelled to Hong
Kong on over 50 occasions to assist
applicants who were based there.
Next, the collapse of the Berlin Wall
and the opening up of the Eastern Bloc
in 1989 saw the emergence of a new
geopolitical terrain, new nationalities
and new migration trends. In 1994, we
were instructed in our first large Russian
case, which ultimately led to the
enactment of the Special Immigration
Appeals Commission Act 1997 and the
creation of a national security court
to try appeals against immigration
decisions involving a combination of
open and closed materials. At the
outset, SIAC was not expected to have
any work other than our case, but then
came the attacks of 9/11 and 7/7.
In 1996, the EU Association Agreements
came into force and we began to act
for applicants primarily from Romania
and Bulgaria, as well as nationals of
Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Czech
Republic, Slovakia and Poland, wishing
to establish themselves in the UK. From
2000, our protection cases became pan-
European as a consequence of politically
motivated prosecutions in the FSU
against high-profile individuals and their
associates. A single attack with multiple
targets resulted in asylum claims in
multiple jurisdictions across Europe. We
have acted in a number of jurisdictions
for such individuals. We have assisted
in connection with six such matters in
Cyprus, two in the Czech Republic and
cases in Spain, France, Germany, Italy,
Austria, Latvia and Dubai.
This in turn led to the development
of our sanctions practice. In 2014,
we were instructed in a number of
cases involving sanctions imposed on
Ukrainian nationals who were members
of the government administration
and close associates of Yanukovych.
We recently obtained a number of
landmark decisions from the General
Court of the EU vindicating our clients’
defence and resulting in the dropping
of sanctions against them.
Arising out of our asylum work, we
developed an “extradition, white-
collar crime and Interpol” department
internally, offering a complete
immigration and extradition service.
Most recently, we have been instructed
in the UK’s first Unexplained Wealth
Order case.
Going forward
It has been an exciting and challenging
30 years. We continue to be instructed
by a wide range of clients and the
challenges increase. The Ukrainian
sanctions cases we have handled and our
acting in the first Unexplained Wealth
Order case demonstrate our readiness
to grow into new areas and adapt
quickly to the changing legal terrain.
A growing problem with immigration
law is that it is governed by a complex
array of Immigration Acts and
Immigration Rules, which are now
so voluminous, interdependent and
volatile, often changing overnight, that
not even full-time immigration lawyers
and judges can keep pace, let alone
applicants. When the law becomes
this unclear and inaccessible, it offends
public law principles and becomes
unusable in practice.Time for change.
Gherson: in the heart of
London
A proactive,
discreet and
highly individual
approach to the
needs of every
client
“
“
Rt Hon The Lord David Blunkett
Rt Hon The Lord Eric Pickles
