Priya Solanki

She has a particular interest in and experience of cases involving gender violence, mental health issues and vulnerable clients.

She is ranked in Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners as a leading junior. The directories state:

• “Her advocacy style is clear and easy to follow even in the most complex cases.” “An excellent barrister. She’s very thorough and knowledgeable.”
• “She is always up to speed with the latest legal developments and is very good at assisting with the strategy of cases … Her drafting is strong …She is reliable and extremely thorough.”
• “She has a passion for this area of work, particularly in working for vulnerable survivors of domestic violence and trafficking.”
• “She is very knowledgeable in presenting appeals.”
• “She is tactically astute, good under pressure and very persuasive in court.”
• She has a sharp mind and demonstrates excellent client care.”

She has been involved in several notable cases, including, for example:

• QH v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWHC 2691 (Admin) – A successful interim relief accommodation challenge for a highly vulnerable single mother and victim of trafficking.
• Secretary of State for the Home Department v Said & Ors [2018] EWCA Civ 627 – Acted for the Applicants in this complex claim successfully challenging (a) manifestly excessive delay, (b) the rationality of a grant of limited leave as opposed to indefinite leave, and (c) the lawfulness of a deportation order made several years after an offence. The Court of Appeal gave important guidance on delay and damages claims.
• AM (Iran) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 2706 – Acted for AM as junior counsel before the Court of Appeal (CA) and on remittal. The SSHD argued at the CA that AM could delete his Twitter account to prevent risk on return. On remittal it was importantly found that Twitter could be scraped in a manner that it was found Facebook could not be in XX (PJAK – sur place activities – Facebook) Iran CG [2022] UKUT 23 (IAC).
• Yilmaz & Anor v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWCA Civ 300 – Acted for the Applicant in a challenge to the SSHD’s refusal to return him to the UK in a s94B claim where his Tribunal appeal was not heard 5 years after removal and where the SSHD breached her duty of candour.
• R (on the application of SSA (Ethiopia)) v SSHD 2021-LON- 001894 – Acted for the Applicant in this JR which determined (i) the extent to which an Applicant’s asylum claim needs to be based on a fear of trafficking to be eligible for Art14 ECAT leave as per EOG & Anor v SSHD [2022] EWCA Civ 307 and, (ii) found the Discretionary Leave for Victims of Modern Slavery Policy Ver. 5 was unlawful.

And has authored two books:

• 2023: ‘The Law in Relation to Migrant Victims of Domestic Violence’.
• 2021: ‘A Practical Guide to Challenging Sham Marriage Allegations in Immigration Law.
  https://www.waterstones.com/author/priya-solanki/5076792

In August 2021,  she was appointed an Independent Funding Adjudicator for the Legal Aid Agency (LAA). In January 2022, Priya was selected as the Co-Chair of the Legal Aid Review Panel.

In 2024 Priya was appointed as a Deputy Upper Tribunal Judge, Immigration and Asylum Chamber.

Priya also enjoys delivering legal training and has trained on a range of topics for many organisations.