Sapna Malik

Practice Areas

Sapna has over 20 years’ experience, specialising in bringing international claims with a human rights dimension, often raising novel points of law.

In October 2019 she won the Law Society’s Excellence Award for Human Rights Solicitor of the Year – the judges found that she had “proven herself to be a model for young lawyers, fighting fearlessly against huge odds” and were “impressed by her outstanding dedication, commitment and perseverance.”

Sapna’s recent cases resulted in 3 Supreme Court judgments in 2017 concerning the constitutional role of the courts and the impact of international law on the UK’s operations abroad.

Her case of Belhaj & Anor v Jack Straw & Ors concluded in May 2018 with an unreserved apology from the British Prime Minister to her clients for the UK’s role in their unlawful rendition to Libya in 2004.

Sapna represented the Iraqi claimants in the 2017 landmark High Court judgment of Alseran & Ors v MoD. Her clients were found to have been subjected to breaches of the Geneva Conventions and/or the Human Rights Act 1998 by British forces in Iraq.

Career

Trained Leigh Day; qualified 1998; partner 2005.