Fahrid A.A. Chishty
(Member)
Guernica 37

Called 2019

Qualified to accept Public Access instructions

 

Introduction

Fahrid is a barrister specialising in criminal, regulatory, public and international law. He is an accomplished junior defence advocate, having represented members of foreign royalty, politicians, and business magnates in English criminal proceedings. He has been instructed as Counsel in several, high-profile matters ranging from homicide, terrorism and narcotics through to sanctions, fraud, and bribery and corruption offences. 

 

In addition to his core specialisms in crime, Fahrid is developing a promising, public law practice. He is a member of the Attorney-General’s JJ Scheme, having recently served as Counsel to the Government Legal Department (GLD) in relation to a major, statutory Public Inquiry. 

 

Internationally, he specialises in Public International Law (PIL), International Criminal Law (ICL), International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Diplomatic Law. He is Standing Junior Counsel to a Diplomatic Mission to the Court of St. James, regularly advising on the application and interpretation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 1961, the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964 and related foreign relations treaties and instruments.

 

Between October – December 2023, Fahrid will be a visiting Pegasus Scholar at the Supreme Court of Pakistan, where he is tasked with designing and delivering a programme of criminal justice reform. 

 

Recent cases

 

Criminal Defence 

 

• OG v R [2023] – Isleworth Crown Court – instructed as Junior Counsel on behalf of a Defendant charged with four counts of sexual offending.  

• NA v R [2023] – Southwark Crown Court – instructed as Junior Counsel on behalf of a Defendant charged with four counts of sexual offending against an emergency worker. 

• Operation Iago [2023] – Reading Crown Court – represented a Defendant charged with two counts of Assisting Offenders in connection with a gangland murder in Slough in 2022. Secured unanimous acquittals.

• Operation Grapevine [2022] – Southwark Crown Court – represented a Defendant charged with conspiracy to money launder in connection with a Ponzi Scheme valued at £13.7 million. 

• R v AT [2021] – Central Criminal Court – represented a member of royalty from a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) country charged with causing death by careless driving. 

• R v R & Others [2021] – Birmingham Crown Court – represented a Defendant charged with predicate offences in connection with the theft of the Duchess of Portland’s Tiara from the Harley Gallery and Foundation in November 2018. Secured a Suspended Sentence in lieu of immediate custody.

• R v OP [2021] – Kingston Crown Court – represented a Defendant charged with drugs trafficking offences. Successfully pleaded Section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015.

• R v JB [2021] – Westminster Magistrates’ Court (Special Jurisdiction of the Chief Magistrate) – represented a Defendant charged with a Section 18(1) Terrorism Act 2000 offence in connection with his wilful refusal to provide information to Special Branch officers during a search on entry to the UK. 

 

International Law:

 

• Re HGM [2022] – advised a diplomatic mission on the parameters of disclosure under Articles 5 and 37 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations 1963.

• Re FK [2022] – advised a diplomatic mission on the scope and interpretation of ‘inviolability’ vis-à-vis the private residential premises of agents pursuant to the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1961 and the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987.

• ZA & MN v AN et al [2022] – represented a State acting as a non-litigant third-party in an international child abduction case involving vulnerable persons.

• Re AB [2022] – advised consular officials on the inviolability of diplomatic bags under Article 27 of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations 196.

• Re NA [2022] – advised a foreign HNWI seeking civil injunctions in an international domestic violence case having an England & Wales nexus.

• Re HD [2022] – provided pro-bono legal advice to a former Afghan government counter-terror official facing persecution from the Taliban in connection with his portfolio under the Ghani administration. 

• In the matter of HG [2022] – advised a London-based luxury services corporation on international sanctions compliance in the context of a dispute with a major credit card network over the scope and interpretation of its Global Network Rules.

 

Previous Work Experience

 

Whilst studying for the Bar, Fahrid acquired experience in Central Government. As a Civil Service Fast Streamer, he worked as a Policy Adviser, and later an Assistant Investigator, within two Whitehall departments. He represented Her Majesty’s Government at pre-negotiation roundtables with an East Asian country in 2018 and advised on the replication of trade dispute resolution mechanisms post-Brexit. He later was assigned to the biggest bribery and corruption investigation in UK history, where he assisted in carrying out an extensive disclosure review and ensuring compliance with the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 regime.

 

Education & Training

 

• Bar Professional Training Course (The City Law School, 2017-2019) – Very Competent (75%)

• LLB Politics, Philosophy and Law (King’s College, London, 2013-2017) – First Class Honours

• Associateship of King’s College (King’s College, London, 2013-2016) – ranked first in year.

 

Scholarships & Prizes

 

• Pegasus Scholarship, Inner Temple, 2023

• Ann Felicity Goddard Scholarship, Gray’s Inn, 2020 

• The City Law School BPTC Scholarship, 2017-2019 

• Wilfred Watson Award, Gray’s Inn, 2017-2019 

• Hebe Plunkett Award, Gray’s Inn, 2017-2019 

• Leathes Prize, King’s College London, 2016 

• Dickson Poon Undergraduate Scholarship, King’s College London, 2013-2017 

• Council of Independent Education Award (CIFE) for Humanities and English, 2013 

 

Membership

 

• Criminal Bar Association (CBA)

• Young Fraud Lawyers Association (YFLA)

• Defence Extradition Lawyers Forum (DELF)

• Association of Regulatory & Disciplinary Lawyers (ARDL)

• Advocate (formerly the Bar Pro Bono Unit) 

• Attorney-General’s Junior Junior (JJ) Scheme 

• The Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn

 

Publications

 

• “What’s the law on the Koh-i-Noor?”, with Professor Felicity Gerry KC, Eastern Eye, 24 March 2023

 

• “Floods, Drugs and Cultural Patrimony: Tackling Antiquities Trafficking in Pakistan”, Dawn: Prism, 2 February 2023

 

• “Crimes Against Cultural Heritage in Ukraine”, Counsel Magazine, January 2023

 

• “Why practitioners should be keeping an eye on International Art Law”, with Professor Felicity Gerry KC, Financial Review, 1 December 2022

 

• “Is Cultural Desecration Racial Discrimination in International Law? Implications of the Order Indicating Provisional Measures in Armenia v Azerbaijan [2021]”, Cambridge International Law Journal (CILJ), March 2022.

 

• “Reconfiguring the War Prerogative: How Executive-Legislative Tensions will Continue to Determine, and Obscure, the Legal Basis on which Armed Forces are Deployed to Overseas Conflicts under the UK Constitution”, The King’s Student Law Review and Strife Journal: Joint Edition, Issue I, December 2018. Cited by Cohn, Prof Margit in “A Theory of the Executive Branch: Tension and Legality”, Oxford University Press, 2021. 

 

Languages

 

• Urdu (fluent)

• Punjabi (proficient)

• French (working)

• Farsi/Dari Persian (basic)

• Fus’ha/Classical Arabic (reading only)