Joanna joined Matrix as a trainee in October 2011. She intends to build a broad practice in domestic and international law.
Prior to joining the Bar, Joanna worked as an information analyst with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and as a political adviser to the Special Representative of the European Union in Afghanistan. Based in Afghanistan from 2005 to 2009, Joanna provided policy advice and analysis in the areas of good governance and the rule of law, specifically on the reform of the Afghan National Police. Joanna has contributed to debates on Afghanistan, including at Oxford University and the Centre for European Reform, and written several policy papers and commentaries on current international policy in Afghanistan. Joanna is listed as a Deployable Civilian Expert with the UK Government’s Stabilisation Unit.
In the UK, Joanna has volunteered as a criminal legal case worker with Just for Kids Law, assisting in criminal and education cases involving young persons. She has a particular interest in cases with an international dimension. In the summer of 2011, Joanna worked with Ben Cooper, of Doughty Street Chambers, on the criminal defence of Al-Amin Kimathi, a Kenyan human rights activist detained in Uganda. Al-Amin was released, after charges were dropped, in September 2011. Joanna has also conducted legal research in Phnom Penh on behalf of the victims of the Khmer Rouge’s policy of forced marriage, admitted as civil parties to the war crimes tribunal in Cambodia. In the summer of 2010 Joanna worked as a legal intern with the International Bar Association, where her research focused on international war crimes tribunals and UK counter-terrorism legislation.
Joanna has an undergraduate degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) from Oxford University. She has a Masters, with Honours, in International Relations from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Johns Hopkins University, USA. Joanna gained Distinction in the Graduate Diploma in Law in 2010. She was awarded The Denise Pannick Award and the Churchill Scholarship by The Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn and a Phoenicia scholarship by the Bar European Group.