Nora Nanayakkara

    • Overview

      Nora joined chambers in September 2024, her pupil supervisor is Fraser Coxhill.

      Experience

      Called in 2024, Nora came to the Bar following a career in corporate governance and professional regulation.  She is developing a busy criminal practice as a trial advocate.

      Before starting pupillage, Nora chaired Fitness to Practise panels at the General Dental Council and General Osteopathic Council and was a member of the Regulatory Board at ACCA. Alongside this, Nora served as a non-executive director with expertise in corporate governance and risk management on the Boards of public and private organisations. Most recently, she was appointed to the Board of the UK Statistics Authority, where she chaired the Audit & Risk Committee and developed a particular interest in crime statistics.

      Previous non-executive appointments included the Intellectual Property Office, National Police Chiefs’ Council, Nominet and Doctors’ and Dentists’ Pay Review Body. Nora also volunteered as a caseworker at Advocate and as publicity officer for the Gray’s Inn Student Association, where she hosted the popular podcast Raising the Bar. She is a co-opted member of the Law and Statistics Committee of the Royal Statistical Society.

      Education

      • Bar Vocational Studies: Inns of Court College of Advocacy (ICCA)
      • Graduate Diploma in Law: University of Law
      • Diploma Legal Medicine: Faculty of Forensic & Legal Medicine, Royal College of Physicians
      • Masters Business Administration: University of Cologne
      • BA (Hons) European Studies and German: University College Cork

      Scholarships and Awards

      • David Karmel scholarship, Gray’s Inn
      • Baroness Hale of Richmond scholarship, Gray’s Inn
      • Kingsland Cup 2024 moot competition award winner

      Memberships

      • The Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn 
      • Criminal Bar Association (CBA)
      • Women in Criminal Law (WICL)
      • Association of Regulatory and Disciplinary Lawyers (ARDL)
      • Young Fraud Lawyers’ Association (YFLA)
      • London Irish Lawyers’ Association (LILA)

      Languages

      • German

      News

      Articles

      • Nora Nanayakkara - QEB Hollis Whiteman Pupil Publishes Article in Counsel Magazine

        Pupil at QEB Hollis Whiteman, Nora Nanayakkara, has contributed an article to the September 2025 issue of Counsel Magazine entitled “Pupillage Special: Feel the Fear and Advocate Anyway”.In the piece, Nora reflects on her experiences during pu...

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    • Corporate and Financial Crime

      Nora has represented clients in proceeds of crime proceedings. During pupillage, she undertook research on the scope of POCA restraint orders and contributed to a webinar on corporate criminal offending.

      Nora’s previous career in corporate governance and risk management included appointments to the Board of the UK Statistics Authority, where she chaired the Audit & Risk Committee, the Intellectual Property Office (the UK’s register of trademarks, copyright and designs) and Nominet (the .uk domain name registry).

       

    • Crime

      Nora is regularly instructed in the Crown Court, Magistrates’ Court and Youth Court.  She has experience in allegations ranging from violent and sexual offences to drugs and dishonesty offences.

      Nora has also represented clients in trademark infringement and planning enforcement matters. 

      Often instructed to represent clients charged with road traffic offences, she has advanced technical arguments including special reasons and exceptional hardship to help clients retain their driving licences, including on appeal to the Crown Court.

      She is sought after for her forensic preparation, persuasive advocacy and client care.  She has undertaken specific training to represent children and young people and to conduct the cross-examination of vulnerable witnesses.

    • Regulatory

      Before retraining as a criminal barrister, Nora was a Lay Chair at the General Dental Council (GDC), and General Osteopathic Council (GOsC) and served on the Regulatory Board at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). 

      Having chaired hundreds of fitness to practise hearings, she understands how regulators present their cases and knows first-hand how panels approach their decision-making in interim and substantive fitness to practise cases.

      Nora continues to grow her regulatory practice and apply these insights in the representation of professionals facing regulatory proceedings.