Described in Chambers and Partners 2009 as ‘exceptionally bright and extremely easy to work with’, Alison is an established junior practitioner with a wide-ranging civil and criminal practice, both in the domestic courts and in international tribunals. In October 2008 she was named as one of the ten ‘future stars of the Bar’ by Times Online.
In the domestic courts, Alison specialises in human rights and civil liberties within the criminal justice system. She regularly represents individuals in claims against the police, prison service and other State agencies, and the families of those who have died in custody. She has appeared in many inquests into controversial deaths. In the field of police law, she has a particular interest in developing areas of law, including data protection and discrimination, as well as the established causes of action. Alison is the co-author of Prison Law, and had extensive experience of all aspects of prisoners’ rights litigation.
Alison has a broad criminal practice, with particular experience in complex crime, including offences under the anti-terrorism legislation, and cases with an international dimension. She also has experience in protest and direct action cases. She has appeared in many Privy Council capital appeals from Caribbean jurisdictions.
In the international field, Alison has extensive arbitration experience, including both advocacy and advisory work. She is instructed as counsel in a number of ongoing ICSID arbitrations and annulment proceedings, and has advised governments, NGOs and companies on arbitration, environmental and trade law matters. She specialises in international criminal law and the issue of domestic remedies for international crimes, as well as inter-jurisdictional offences such as corruption.