Fahrid Chishty

Profile

A charming and persuasive advocate, Fahrid is impressive and accomplished beyond his years.

Popular with professional and lay clients, Fahrid practises across Chambers’ core specialisms, with a particular emphasis on Serious and Organised Crime, Fraud and Financial Crime and Public International Law.

In addition to a busy Court practice, Fahrid has developed an extensive advisory practice and has been instructed by members of foreign royalty, politicians and business magnates.

He combines his work in Chambers with a special legal advisory portfolio at the Embassy of Qatar, providing regular written opinions on matters of diplomatic, treaty and international economic law.

He is SC-cleared and speaks fluent Urdu and Punjabi and elementary French and Farsi.

Expertise

Defence Crime

Fahrid has established himself as a robust defence barrister with experience across the full spectrum of criminal law. He is routinely instructed to advise and represent clients at all stages of criminal investigation and prosecution. His practice encompasses private and public instructions and spans serious and organised crime, drugs offences, terrorism, human trafficking and modern slavery and business crime. He appears regularly in the Magistrates’ and Crown Courts and was recently led by silk in a high-profile matter before the Old Bailey that attracted international attention.

R v Al-Thani [2021] – Central Criminal Court – Fahrid was instructed as Junior Defence Counsel and led by Simon Csoka KC in a case involving a Qatari royal family member charged with a single count of causing death by dangerous driving.

Following detailed written and oral submissions on sentence, the Common Sergeant imposed a Suspended Sentence and financial penalty in lieu of immediate custody: see Evening Standard and Daily Mail.

As well as the below, Fahrid is routinely instructed in cases involving serious and organised crime, including bribery and corruption.

Terrorism – See expertise tab below

Human Trafficking & Modern Slavery – See expertise tab below

Serious and Organised Crime

Fahrid is routinely instructed in cases involving serious and organised crime, including bribery and corruption.

Operation Iron [2022] – Birmingham Crown Court – Fahrid is instructed as junior Defence Counsel for Defendant charged with counts of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice and conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.

R v R & Others [2021] – Birmingham Crown Court – Fahrid represented a Defendant charged with theft of a vehicle used to commit theft of the Portland Tiara, worn by the Duchess of Portland at the Coronation of Edward VII and Queen Alexander in 1902 and worth £3.5 million, from the Harley Gallery and Foundation in November 2018.

The heist was widely reported in national and local media; see: tatler.com and birminghammail.co.uk

Drug Offences

Fahrid is regularly instructed to appear in matters relating to alleged drug production/cultivation and illicit importation, trade, trafficking and misuse. He has experience representing a broad range of clients in production and supply cases across the country and in both the Magistrates’ and Crown Courts. His experience spans cases involving county lines, organised crime, human trafficking and vulnerable defendants.

The heist was widely reported in national and local media; see: Tatler and Birmingham Mail

Human Trafficking & Modern Slavery

R v OP [2021] – Kingston Crown Court – Fahrid represented a Defendant charged with drug offences contrary to the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 who was suspected to have been trafficked into the United Kingdom by an Organised Crime Group (OCG).

R v JM [2022] – Highbury and Islington Magistrates’ Court – Fahrid is instructed in proceedings being prosecuted under the Theft Act 1968 against a highly vulnerable Defendant suspected to be the victim of modern slavery and referred to the SCA for an NRM decision.

Terrorism

R v JB [2021] – Westminster Magistrates’ Court (Special Jurisdiction of the Chief Magistrate) – Fahrid represented a Defendant charged with a Section 18(1) offence contrary to Schedule 20 to the Terrorism Act 2000 in connection with his wilful refusal to provide information to Special Branch officers during a search on entry to the UK at the Port of Dover. Fahrid submitted lengthy written representations on sentence and the Court was persuaded to impose a financial penalty.

Business Crime

Fahrid regularly appears in business crime proceedings, including proceedings pursuant to the Fraud Act 2006 and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. He is also instructed to advise corporations on sanctions and regulatory compliance. He is presently acting on behalf of the Defendant in R v H [2021], a fraud by misrepresentation matter relating to the misuse of medical documents during the second Covid-19 lockdown.

Operation Grapevine [2022] – Southwark Crown Court – Fahrid was led by Jonathan Page defending a multi-handed money laundering conspiracy valued at £13.7 million. See https://www.law360.com/articles/1486318/jury-convicts-some-for-13-7m-ponzi-fraud-trial.

Civil Litigation

Fahrid is a specialist in Account Freezing & Asset Forfeiture – See expertise tab below

Account Freezing & Asset Forfeiture

R v TD [2021] – Lavender Hill Magistrates’ Court – Fahrid represented an accounting professional alleged to have received funds into his personal bank account that constituted recoverable property pursuant to Section 289 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. Following advice from Fahrid, representations were made by instructing solicitors to the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and the charge was withdrawn. The client recovered his cash in full.

R v TD [2022] – Westminster Magistrates’ Court – Fahrid is instructed in contested asset forfeiture proceedings brought by the Metropolitan Police Service against a former employee of a diplomatic mission in London. The matter relates to an alleged conspiracy to defraud the medical wing of the mission and false accounting.

Regulatory

Fahrid is a specialist in Professional Discipline – See expertise tab below

Professional Discipline

Fahrid has an emerging regulatory law practice. He has experience of Police Misconduct Proceedings and is currently assisting in a pro bono capacity with a case before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS).

International Law

Fahrid has a burgeoning international law practice. Many of the domestic cases he is instructed in have an international dimension, whether in relation to organised crime, drug trafficking, modern slavery or financial sanctions. He has assisted senior Queen’s Counsel in preparing a death row appeal before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court of Appeal. Separately, Fahrid has carved out a successful niche advisory practice working with embassies, international organisations and foreign governments, in particular in relation to diplomatic law and immunities, human rights, treaty compliance, institutional reform and transparency and accountability.

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

ZA & MN v AN et al [2022] – Fahrid was instructed in on behalf of a non-litigant third-party in an international child abduction case involving vulnerable persons.

Re NA [2022] – Fahrid and Felicity Gerry KC advised an overseas HNWI seeking civil injunctions in an international domestic violence case having an England & Wales nexus.

Re HD [2022] – Fahrid provided pro-bono advice to a former Afghan government official facing persecution from the Taliban on seeking refugee status in the UK pursuant to the HMG ARAP scheme.

Re HG & AE [2022] – Fahrid advised a luxury services consultancy company 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.