Qualified MHFA trainer, accepting instruction for individual or co-delivery to groups of 8-15.

Hospital based• Provided client-led independent advocacy.• Qualified Level 3 in Independent Advocacy (Independent Mental Health Advocate).• Supported patients before Mental Health Tribunals.Court / community based• Advocated for vulnerable people in the County and Family Courts in housing, family and social security cases, e.g. tenancy disputes, child contact cases, Personal Independent Payment Tribunals.• Conducted complaints/appeals, e.g. before the Independent Police Complaints Commission and Criminal Cases Review Commission.

• Translated legal reports into press releases and advocacy outputs, e.g. petition to the European Commission to cease funding the construction of psychiatric institutions in Romania.• Supported investigatory project work on issues of detention, e.g. monitoring use of cage beds in Czech psychiatric institutions.• Supported empirical/desk research for reports on disability specific human rights issues in Moldova, Kenya and Uganda.• Represented MDAC and its beneficiary groups at conferences and seminars, including the OSCE 2014 Meeting on Torture, Vienna.• Compiled bundles for lawyers offering pro bono support.• Established student representative advocates in the U.K. and linked with universities and other NGOs, growing MDAC’s academic and practical support network.

Returned for several spells between June 2008 and December 2013, in-between studies.

• Drafted submissions on admissibility and merit for cases before ECtHR, e.g. case against the Czech Republic on Article 8 (forced medication, interference with correspondence) and Article 5 (deprivation of liberty).• Constructed advice on the potential for success in novel cases, e.g. recommended litigation in cases of educational segregation of children with learning disabilities in Belgium by making lateral comparisons to successful ethnic discrimination cases for segregated Roma children.• Drafted concise case summaries for a public database.• Provided research support for experienced international lawyers in on-going cases around Europe, e.g. scope for using ECtHR Rule 39 (interim measures) to request release of a man detained in a psychiatric institution.