In 2022 Sonali Naik KC had not intended to be in front of a court arguing that her client shouldn’t be deported to Rwanda in one of the most dramatic cases of the year. After spending much of the preceding year advocating for clients trying to flee Afghanistan, the immigration barrister was not in a rush to chase down the next big public interest case. But as summer rolled around, and the UK Government pressed ahead with its policy, her colleagues at Garden Court Chambers called on her experience. Following an emergency injunction stopping the flight last summer, the High Court ruled in her client’s favour in December, reverting the decision back to the Home Secretary.
Naik was part of the team that won The Lawyer’s Pro Bono Initiative of the Year in 2022, for assisting members of the Afghan legal profession secure UK visas. She also acted on her first brief for UNHCR in a child refugee case. 2022 was ultimately one of the most turbulent years of her career – one that she sadly also considers was a low point for human rights in the UK.