Zara Brawley

Called to the Bar:2017

  • Overview

    Zara Brawley continues to work in some of the most interesting and challenging cases chambers has to offer both independently and as a valuable team player.

    Corporate and Financial Crime

    Zara has experience of both defending and prosecuting in cases brought by the CPS, as well as large-scale investigations conducted by numerous UK and international prosecution agencies.

    Crime

    Zara regularly acts for the defence and prosecution, on both a private and publicly-funded basis. She is a dedicated and persuasive advocate, with an interest across the full spectrum of criminal law.

    Regulatory

    Zara has presented and defended cases across various regulators, both when instructed in her own right and when assisting more senior counsel in more complex matters.

    Public Law

    With experience of oral advocacy and the provision of written advice, Zara is keen to develop a practice encompassing Judicial Review, Public Inquiries, and Inquests.

    Private Prosecutions

    Zara is rapidly developing a practice in Private Prosecution, providing junior support to some of the leaders in the field.

    Appointments

    • Public Access qualified
    • CPS External Advocates Panel – Grade 3
    • Approved NMC Counsel
    • Advocacy and the Vulnerable accredited

    Professional Memberships

    • Gray’s Inn
    • Young Fraud Lawyers Association
    • Criminal Bar Association

    Education

    • BPTC – City, University of London
    • GDL – City, University of London
    • BA (Hons) European Social and Political Studies – University College London

    Scholarships and Prizes

    • Gerald Moody BPTC Scholarship (Gray’s Inn)
    • City Law School Postgraduate Scholarship (City, University of London)
    • Cheng Tien-His Prize for Public International Law (UCL)
    • Sessional Prizes for German and European Social and Political Studies (UCL)

    Languages

    • French
    • German

       

     

    Privacy Notice

    Recent Cases

    News

  • Corporate and Financial Crime

    Broad and varied experience in Corporate and Financial Crime, Zara has worked alone and in large teams creatively collaborating on complex and multi-jurisdictional cases.

    Overview

    Zara has experience of the full spectrum of financial crime, defending and prosecuting in cases brought by the CPS, as well as large-scale investigations conducted by numerous UK and international prosecution agencies.

    Experience

    Zara's practice in Corporate and Financial Crime continues to develop apace.  Her experience has straddled both the prosecution and defence of individuals, high-net worth individuals and corporates, often significant in size and national and international reputation.  She has enjoyed building cases alone as well as working in collabortion with others on large HMRC, NCA, FCA, SFO and foreign prosecutor and regulator investigations.

    Zara has experience of allegations of fraud, bribery and corruption, forfeiture proceedings, account freezing orders, internal investigations.  Much of her work is high-profile including her recent work in the defence of former G4S senior manager charged with a multi-million pound fraud in proceedings brought by the SFO, and in her representation of a former Serco senior manager charged with fraud and false accounting in proceedings brought by the SFO concerning the operation of electronic tagging contracts with the Ministry of Justice.

    Zara is currently instructed by the FCA in an ongoing criminal investigation into fraudulent activity by an investment fund.  She is also part of the defence team of a former senior manager of a multi-national corporation who faces a fraud prosecution overseas.  She has secured an acquittal at trial for an individual charged with the possession of articles for use in fraud. Zara also has experience of confiscation proceedings in both the Magistrates’ and Crown Court.

    Before joining Chambers, Zara worked as a paralegal in the Funds team of the US law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP.

    Notable cases

    • R v Richard Morris -&- others (2020): Defence team of former G4S senior manager charged with a multi-million pound fraud in proceedings brought by the SFO concerning the operation of electronic tagging contracts with the Ministry of Justice.
    • Project A (2020): Assisted  with the defence of a large financial institutions under investigation by both the FCA and by a US regulator and a review-based role assisting a UK-based bank subject to an ongoing FCA investigation.
    • HMRC Project H (2020): Assisting a former executive facing an HMRC investigation into money laundering. The HMRC investigation arose out of a multinational criminal investigation into the client's former employer.
    • Project T (2020): Assisted with the defence of a high-profile overseas business-person facing investigations by the FCA and the SFO into false accounting and other financial wrongdoing, an investigation by the Takeover Panel, and parallel civil proceedings both in the High Court and in multiple other jurisdictions.
    • R v M and one other (2020): Representing a former Serco senior manager charged with fraud and false accounting in proceedings brought by the SFO concerning the operation of electronic tagging contracts with the Ministry of Justice. 4 weeks into trial the SFO offered no evidence and accepted liability for defence costs.
    • R v B (2019): Assisting a former senior executive of a large multinational company under investigation by the SFO in respect of allegations of bribery and corruption.
    • Project C (2019): Assisting a former senior manager of a large multinational company facing prosecution on charges of fraud and financial misconduct in a European jurisdiction.
    • FCA Operation H (2019):  Junior counsel acting for the FCA in an investigation into a multimillion pound investment fund fraud.
    • R v A (2018): Secured an acquittal for a defendant charged with the possession of articles for use in fraud (13 lost/stolen bank cards).
    • R v G (2018): Agreed a confiscation order for £62 on behalf of a client whose benefit figure had been assessed at £105,000.

    Recent Cases

    News

    • Webinar "The Serco Trial: What Went Wrong?" available to download

      QEB Hollis Whiteman, Hickman & Rose and Peters & Peters hosted a webinar - The Serco Trial: What Went Wrong?In the webinar, the defence lawyers in the Serco prosecution considered the factors which led to the collapse of the case. Adrian Darbishire Q

      Read more

  • Crime

    Zara regularly acts for the defence and prosecution, on both a private and publicly-funded basis. She is a dedicated and persuasive advocate, with an interest across the full spectrum of criminal law.

    Experience

    Zara is quickly developing a varied practice in the Crown Court, Youth Court and Magistrates’ Courts.

    She has secured acquittals for clients charged with offences including burglary, possession of a bladed article, assault ABH, harassment and driving matters. She has on multiple occasions secured the dismissal of charges after a successful submission of no case to answer.

    Zara prosecutes for the CPS in trial and appeal matters in the Magistrates’ Courts and Crown Court. She has also acted as noting junior to Senior Treasury Counsel throughout a murder and robbery trial at the Central Criminal Court.

    During pupillage, and later as a tenant, Zara assisted Selva Ramasamy QC in the defence of a police dog handler charged under the Dangerous Dogs Act after his police dog seriously injured a runner in training for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Unbeknownst to the handler, the dog had been deemed unfit for service by its previous police force. The case involved a number of significant and novel legal challenges and led to the Court of Appeal Criminal Division creating new authority in two areas of law (see [2019] EWCA Crim 17). Selva and Zara went on to secure a stay of the prosecution as an abuse of process.

    Before joining Chambers as a pupil, Zara spent a year at the Malawi Human Rights Commission, leading the implementation of High Court re-sentencing hearings for 170 prisoners previously sentenced to the mandatory death penalty. To date, the project has secured the immediate release of nearly 140 people. Zara also spent two years at the charity Reprieve, acting as a caseworker for individuals facing the death penalty in Pakistan, the USA and Sub-Saharan Africa.

    Through her background in human rights, Zara has a particular interest in and knowledge of issues relating to mental health and intellectual disability, and their application in criminal proceedings.

    Zara is CPS Grade 3 and is accredited to act in cases involving vulnerable witnesses.

    Zara is Public Access qualified.

    Notable cases:

    • R v A (2019): after a three-day trial, secured an acquittal for Mr A, who had been charged with assault ABH after knocking a man’s front teeth out with a punch. The jury accepted that he was acting in pre-emptive defence of another.
    • R v M (2019): secured a suspended sentence for a client who had pleaded guilty to perverting the course of justice, despite the sentencing judge having previously described an immediate custodial sentence as “inevitable”.
    • R v J (2019): client acquitted in the face of evidence from two police officers that he had been in possession of a lock knife.
    • R v G (2018): client received an absolute discharge after pleading guilty to possessing an offensive weapon (a police-style ‘flick’ baton).

    Recent Cases

  • Regulatory

    Zara has presented and defended cases across various regulators, both when instructed in her own right and when assisting more senior counsel in more complex matters.

    Experience

    Healthcare
    Zara has acted for the Nursing and Midwifery Council in a number of regulatory matters.

    She has assisted in the defence of a doctor, being represented via Public Access, in General Medical Council misconduct proceedings. She has also observed proceedings before the General Chiropractic Council.

    Police Discipline
    During pupillage, Zara assisted Susannah Stevens with the representation of a Special Constable who faced gross misconduct proceedings brought by the Metropolitan Police. She helped to secure a stay of proceedings on the basis of cause of action estoppel.

    In addition, Zara has experience of advising and representing individuals in relation to appealing against firearms licensing decisions.

  • Private Prosecutions

    Zara is quickly gaining experience in private prosecutions and is particularly interested in developing a practice in this field.

    Experience

    Zara is currently instructed in a prosecution brought by an intellectual property organisation against an individual alleged to have been involved in the use and supply of unauthorised satellite television decoders.

    This builds upon experience she gained during pupillage whereby she assisted with the preparation of a private prosecution for conspiracy to defraud successfully brought by the Football Association Premier League.

  • Inquests, Inquiries and Public Law

    With experience of oral advocacy and the provision of written advice, Zara is keen to develop a practice encompassing Judicial Review, Public Inquiries, and Inquests.

    Experience

    During pupillage, Zara assisted in the representation of a nurse at the inquest of a young woman who committed suicide whilst an in-patient on a psychiatric ward. (BBC News report: here).

    Zara has assisted with advising on the merits of pursuing judicial review of a decision by the CPS to prosecute and has conducted research into various issues under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. She observed part of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.

    Prior to joining chambers, Zara was closely involved with bringing an application for judicial review against the Foreign & Commonwealth Office on behalf of a British national unlawfully detained overseas.