Helen is currently doing pupillage at Garden Court North Chambers, based in Manchester, a leading set dealing with public law and human rights.

Helen read Law at the University of Bristol and spent a year abroad studying international law at the University of Helsinki before completing a Master’s degree in International Law at the University of Glasgow. Prior to completing the Bar Course at UWE, Helen worked as a civil litigation paralegal at two national solicitors’ firms.

Her work experience also includes five years working for NGOs in the refugee sector prior to pupillage including as a Children’s Adviser at the Refugee Council and as a Service Coordinator at the International Family Tracing service of the British Red Cross. She also spent time volunteering at a grassroots NGO in Greece.

As part of her application for the ICLR Pupillage Award, she wrote about the case of R v Bow Street Metropolitan Stipendiary Magistrate, Ex p Pinochet Ugarte (No 3) [2000] 1 AC 147; [1999] 2 WLR 827; [1999] 2 All ER 97, HL(E) , which she argued was

“one of the most influential cases of the past century in England and Wales. There is often a focus on the impact that international law can have upon domestic jurisprudence, but rarely much consideration of the impact that domestic jurisprudence can have upon the international legal sphere. Pinochet is one such example, and I think it remains an important reminder that the decisions of our domestic courts may echo far beyond the confines of this jurisdiction.”

In response to the award, she said:

“I am so grateful for the stability that winning the ICLR Award offers, having left the relative security of a third-sector career for pupillage at the self-employed Bar. After years of working and studying towards this goal, it gives me the freedom to pursue a practice in publicly funded areas of law. The Award has also given me a confidence boost ahead of my second Six and encouraged me that I am capable of the challenge to come. The Award will allow me to focus on this challenge and take up any opportunities that arise, without the added pressure of financial concerns.”

There will be a formal award presentation ceremony with the award judges, led by Mr Justice Roth, in the new year.