Anthony Metzer QC

Anthony Metzer QC is Head of Chambers of Goldsmith Chambers, a leading multi-disciplinary set, and has a door tenancy at Exchange Chambers. He has been a fee-paid Immigration Judge since 2002 and he sits regularly. His wide practice includes civil, in particular claimant actions against the police and public authorities; criminal; immigration; and inquests law. He specialises in cases which have a human rights and civil liberties dimension. He acted in a number of the leading Caribbean death row Privy Council appeals including the landmark case of Pratt and Morgan [1994]2 AC 1 which determined that all persons on death row for over five years cannot be executed as that would be unconstitutional which has resulted in hundreds of convicts being reprieved.

He is widely regarded as a leading silk in actions against the police and has a growing practice in appellate immigration work and recently appeared as leading counsel in a reference before the ECJ, namely Banger (Unmarried Partner of British National : South Africa) [2017] UKUT 125 (IAC) (30 March 2017).

He has a number of leading reported cases in the Court of Appeal relating to false imprisonment / unlawful detention, including Walker v Commissioner of the Police of the Metropolis [2014] EWCA Civ 897, Buckley v Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police & Ollivierre & Ors v Chief Constable of Thames Valley Police & Another (2010 / 2011) Oxford County Court; CLCC; Court of Appeal [2009] EWCA Civ 356, Ryder-Large v King (2010) [2008] EWHC 3404 (QB). More recently, he has acted as leading counsel in immigration cases which concern issues of unlawful detention, including KE (Nigeria) v SSHD [2017] EWCA Civ 1382 and RK (Burundi) v SSHD (2014) (Court of Appeal).

Anthony is particularly interested in Immigration detention and has been facilitating, and participating in, the debate on reform of indefinite detention.