YLAL North Minutes 12.05.2016

The subject of the meeting was Being a Legal Officer in a Human Rights Charity: what’s involved and how to get there. We were joined by Hermione McEwen, legal officer at Freedom from Torture, to speak about her career to date and how the charity’s work has been affected by cuts to legal aid.

We had a great talk with Hermione, it was a privilege to hear from someone who has had so much experience as a lawyer and judge. Thanks to all that came and especially to Katy Moulton for organising.

Hermione suggested that the following resources would be useful for people dealing with reports from survivors of torture:

Istanbul Protocol (Hermione mentioned that the protocol contains detail that can be helpful for representatives e.g. para 172 says that most lesions heal within 6 weeks and torture is often carried out in a way to minimise detectable injuries)
http://www.refworld.org/docid/4638aca62.html

Body of Evidence: Treatment of Medico-Legal Reports for Survivors of Torture in the UK Asylum Tribunal (this is very helpful to see how Tribunals respond to medico-legal reports)
https://www.freedomfromtorture.org/document/publication/5317

Methodology employed in the preparation of Medico-legal reports
https://www.freedomfromtorture.org/document/referrals/5768

Asylum Policy Instruction on Medico-Legal reports from the Helen Bamber Foundation and the Medical Foundation Medico-Legal Report Service.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dealing-with-asylum-claims-involving-torture-or-serious-harm-allegations-process

Practice Direction of the Immigration and Asylum Chambers of the First-tier and Upper Tribunal on or after 13 November 2014, paragraph 10 (what’s expected from experts reports)
https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/publications/practice-direction-of-the-immigration-and-asylum-chambers-of-the-first-tier-and-upper-tribunal-on-or-after-13-november-2014/

Civil Procedure Rules, Part 35
https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part35