Rabah Kherbane

Practice Areas

Rabah practises in all areas of public law, terrorism and homicide cases, sanctions, criminal appeals, public international law, asset recovery, and media cases. He is a specialist in terrorism and national security issues across these areas of practice.

Work Highlights

Rabah’s previous cases include:

• Terrorism and homicide: The Gray’s Inn Bomb plot; the kidnap and torture-killing of a celebrity Turkish DJ in London; several high-profile and complex joint enterprise murder cases including shootings and stabbings. Rabah previously assisted in the representation of two Guantanamo Bay detainees.

• Public Law: SIAC challenge to deprivation of nationality of a UK citizen on basis of allegation of people trafficking; judicial review of refusal to allow transfer of prison sentence for UK national convicted of terrorism offences in Italy; judicial review of unlawful police caution issued to political protestor; a successful out of hours application for a writ of habeus corpus.

• Sanctions: Challenge in Norway Supreme Court to alleged breach of EU sanctions regulations by a Russian businessman; advice on compliance for overseas company handling multi-million-pound cryptocurrency transactions; de-listing petition before the UN for alleged membership of proscribed organisation.

• Criminal appeals: Court of Appeal judgment taking the law “one step further” on the right to a fair trial and permissible judicial comment.

• Public international law: Proceedings before UN bodies to challenge arbitrary detention of a former Prime Minister of a Gulf State; submissions on behalf of intervenor in overseas proceedings on whether extradition to HMP Wandsworth complies with international human rights obligations; legal advice on universal jurisdiction for torture and war crimes in Syria. Rabah previously assisted in the Ramstein airbase case on Germany’s positive obligation to protect life when allowing its territory to be used to facilitate US drone strikes.

• Financial crime and asset recovery: Complex account freezing orders including terrorist account freezing orders engaging public interest immunity; restraint and civil recovery proceedings linked to multi-jurisdictional criminal investigations.

• Media: Advice on reporting that may engage Official Secrets Act.