Kirsty was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2011. She was the first female Chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales between 2012-2018. She was elected a Bencher of Gray’s Inn in 2016.
Kirsty practises in criminal, international and public law, is a qualified mediator and acts in conflict resolution. In addition to practising in the highest courts at national and international level, Kirsty is an experienced trainer, facilitator and conference speaker in international human rights around the world, holding consultancies to the United Nations and UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She is a Visiting Professor in International Law at Goldsmiths University of London.
Kirsty is appointed to panels to advise governments on human rights law. In 2014, she led BHRC’s recommendation of the introduction of female genital mutilation protection orders to the Home Affairs Committee Inquiry. She then advised cross-party parliamentarians on the Bill. In 2020 and 2021 Kirsty gave expert evidence to the House of Lords Constitution Committee and Parliament’s Joint Select Committee on Human Rights on Covid-19 and emergency powers.
In 2020 Kirsty gave the inaugural Heilbron Lecture “Love, Law and Government in the time of Coronavirus”. In 2018 Kirsty won the First 100 Years Inspirational Woman in Law Barrister of the Year Award and the Bar Council’s Advocate’s pro bono International Barrister of the Year Award.
