Raza is a barrister specialising in public law, with an emphasis on immigration and human rights. Raza was awarded Human Rights and Public Law Junior of the Year, by Chambers Bar Awards 2007. Appointed QC 26th February 2010 (with effect from 22nd March 2010).
Raza successfully appeared as advocate both in the last case to be heard by the House of Lords (BA Nigeria), concerning fresh claims to asylum, and in the first case heard by the Supreme Court (AKM and Ors), concerning the vires of subordinate legislation implementing UN Sanctions. The House of Lords considered his submissions in BA (Nigeria) to be “excellent”, “attractive” and “enticing”.
Raza is presently instructed in another four cases (three as advocate) before the Supreme Court to be heard this year: SK (Zimbabwe) (unlawful detention and false imprisonment); KC (South Africa) (vires of EC Qualification Directive); Smith (extra-territorial Art 1 jurisdiction); and HJ (Iran) (refugee status for gay claimant).
Raza is instructed in three cases before the European Court of Human Rights: Al-Jeddah, concerning Art 1 jurisdiction (Grand Chamber, June 2010); Al-Saadoon (breach of interim measures and exposure to death penalty), and Othman (expulsion to Art 6 breach).
Over the last six years, Raza has been instructed in 24 cases in the House of Lords or Supreme Court, including the Belmarsh case (2004) concerning the indefinite internment of alien terrorist suspects, and the subsequent A (No.2) case (2005) concerning the admissibility of evidence derived from torture.
Raza was instructed by the NGOs JUSTICE and Liberty in Limbuela (2005) and in Ullah (2004), in which the House or Lords respectively declared the denial of basic subsistence to asylum seekers incompatible with human rights, and held that the application of the ECHR in immigration cases was not restricted to Article 3 (prohibition on torture etc). Raza appeared in the House of Lords in Huang (2007) and Chikwamba (2008), which concerned the meaning and content of the proportionality test under Article 8 (family life), and in JJ and Others (2007) and AN (2009), which concerned the ‘control order’ legislation enacted in the aftermath of the Belmarsh ruling.
Raza appeared before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in A and Ors (internment, 2009), and was instructed by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to intervene in the Grand Chamber in Saadi v. UK (2007), in which the UNHCR challenged the UK’s system of detaining asylum seekers for the purposes of administrative convenience alone.
Raza’s pending cases before the Court of Appeal include WL (Congo) (detention); Z, U and Ors (breach of confidence); MC (Algeria) (detention); IA (Pakistan) (vires of immigration rule); Al-Haq (UK’s response to Gaza). He is also instructed before the High Court in Evans (legality of UK’s transfer policy in Afghanistan), and by the UNHCR in Saedi (Dublin Regulation).
Important previous cases in the Court of Appeal include QD (Iraq) (Art 15 QD); F Mongolia (judicial review ouster); JM Liberia (human rights justiciability); Nadarajah 3 (legitimate expectation); Rashid (change in policy); D (false imprisonment); Nadarajah 2 (transparency of policy); E (error of fact).
Raza is the co-author with Nicholas Blake QC (now Blake J) of Immigration, Asylum and Human Rights (OUP, 2003).