Karim Khalil QC

Karim Khalil practises mainly in London and the South East. He has defended or prosecuted most of the high profile and high value matters to arise on circuit in recent years. He has an associate Tenancy in Leeds and Newcastle to more easily accommodate the requests for his expertise across the country. He also advises and represents those involved in cases involving issues of foreign jurisdiction and/or cross-border matters.

Karim was called to the Bar in 1984, became one of the youngest Assistant Recorders/Recorders, and took Silk in 2003 prior to prosecuting Ian Huntley & Maxine Carr (the Soham murders). His advice and advocacy is sought across diverse fields, including murder, serious fraud (including Inland Revenue, Customs & Excise and MTIC), health & safety, drug trafficking and sexual offences. He has a particular interest in medico-legal, science-based and baby-shaking cases.

More recently he has become closely involved in matters with a more international dimension, including defending against requests for the extradition of ‘convicted gang murderers’.

His close association with the University of Cambridge enables him to draw on significant expertise. This has helped to make him a leading Silk in the cross examination of scientific experts in many fields (including pathology, neuropathology, genetics, palynology {plant based analysis} and mineralogy). University academics also assist him with cases requiring detailed consideration of cases with an international dimension.

Karim Khalil successfully resisted criminal proceedings on behalf of one of the government scientists in the Porton Down investigation.

He has been involved in many trials involving Police informants and is known for the careful and sensitive handling of such cases. Karim Khalil has made prisoner representations to the Discretionary Lifer Panel and he appears regularly in the Court of Appeal, often superseding original trial Counsel. He represented Richard Jan on his appeals against conviction and sentence for a campaign of petrol bombings (said to be one of the most dangerous men in the UK) and he represented the successful appellant in the House of Lords in R v Wang (Judge’s direction to convict, unlawful).

He writes the chapter on confiscation law in “Fraud: Law Practice & Procedure” published by LexisNexis and is instructed in cases involving significant confiscation proceedings.

He has appeared in the VAT Tribunal on behalf of those appealing against refusals by HM Customs to repay VAT following assertions of VAT/MTIC fraud.

Karim Khalil was the keynote speaker at the inaugural conference for SIOs on the electronic presentation of evidence in court. Karim Khalil is a member of the British Academy of Forensic Sciences to whom he presented the keynote speech on “The Science of the Soham Murders”.

In recognition of his work and burgeoning profile in the area, Karim was awarded Financial Regulation Lawyer of the year in 2015 by corporate livewire magazine.

Areas of practice:

·    Professional Discipline

·    Criminal Law

·    Proceeds of Crime

·    Public Law

·    Extradition

·    Direct Access

·    Regulatory Prosecutions

·    Consumer Law

·    Military Law

·    Appeals

·    Fraud and Financial Regulation

·    Bribery & Money Laundering

Criminal Law Practice:

At the heart of Drystone Chambers’ practice is a dedicated team of specialist advocates who defend and prosecute in trials of serious, complex and high profile criminal cases.

From the provision of initial Advice during investigations, through to advocacy at Court, we ensure our clients are given the best representation at every stage. Members of the team practice in all Courts; from the Magistrates’ Court to the Supreme Court and provide truly national coverage. As well as our base in London we have a strong links with court centres in the North West, South West, East Anglia, Lincolnshire and across the South East of England.We have acted in many landmark cases of recent years, including:

·    The 21/7 terrorist trial

·    The “Soham murders”

·    SFO and FCA prosecutions

·    Damilola Taylor murder

·    The Ahmed ‘honour killing’ murder

·    The first ever non-jury Crown Court trial

·    The Oxford sexual grooming trial

·    Largest ever mortgage fraud

·    Millennium Dome robbery

·    Largest ever cocaine importation

·    First large-scale servitude case

Drystone Chambers have a deserved reputation for their legal knowledge, advocacy and client care and have over 20 of our barristers listed in Chambers UK, this is reflected in what the directories say about us. We have taken arguments at trial and on appeal that have changed the course of the criminal law on issues including:

·    Recklessness and arson

·    serious sexual offences

·    bad character

·    joint enterprise and murder/manslaughter

·    gross negligence manslaughter

·    confiscation

·    public interest immunity

·    reverse burdens of proof

·    inferences from silence

·    autrefois convict

·    abuse of process

·    kidnapping

·    the admissibility of expert evidence, including lip-reading and facial mapping

We regularly lecture on current topics in the criminal law. Recent lectures have included joint enterprise, recklessness and handling vulnerable witnesses. Many teach Advocacy and are accredited Advocacy trainers.