Michael Edwards

Practice Areas

• Cross-border children

• Private law

• Public inquiries / inquests

• Judicial / immigration

• Arbitration

• Validity of marriage

• Sports law

Career

Cross-border children

Specialist in child abduction, leave to remove and jurisdictional disputes. He regularly appears in the High Court and has appeared in many of the leading cases in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court (see full case list via the link above).

As a member of the Attorney General’s B Panel, Michael regularly advises government departments on international family law / immigration issues.

Private law

Appears regularly in leave to remove applications (domestic and international), cases involving allegations of domestic and sexual abuse and parental alienation.

Michael also sits as an arbitrator and regularly hears private law cases.

Public inquiries / inquests

Michael is head of the public inquiries / inquests team at 4PB.

Currently instructed by the MOD in the Independent Inquiry relating to Afghanistan, investigating alleged war crimes committed by British forces in Afghanistan.

Other experience:

• IICSA - investigation into sexual abuse allegations against Lord Janner

• Ellie Butler inquest

• Inquests on behalf of the Government Legal Department

Judicial / immigration

Michael sits as a Deputy District Judge on the South Eastern Circuit. In 2022, Michael was appointed to a 3-member judicial panel to review the asylum claims of Sri Lankan Tamils present on British Indian Ocean Territory.

Validity of marriage

Acted for the wife in the Court of Appeal in the leading case on validity of marriage, Akhter v Khan [2020] EWCA Civ 122.

Represents and advises the King’s Proctor on the regulation of divorce case in England and Wales

Sports law

Advises regulatory bodies on child protection in sport and sits on judicial panels for The FA, British Swimming and Swim England.

Professional Memberships

FLBA

ALC

Resolution

British Association for Sport and Law

Publications

Co-Editor of International Family Law, the leading journal on international family justice.

Work Highlights

Appointments

2016-21: Attorney General’s C Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown (the only family practitioner appointed to the C Panel)

2018: Special Advocate (this enables him to appear in the most serious cases involving issues of national security).

2021 onwards: Attorney General’s B Panel of Junior Counsel to the Crown.

2021: Deputy District Judge, South Eastern Circuit

2022: The FA Judicial Appeal Panel

2022: Child Law Arbitrator

Education