Adam Riley

Adam’s expertise in public law matters is informed by his background working in civil liberties, social security and immigration matters across a range of contexts, and his experience working in social policy before coming to the bar. He is a member of the Attorney General’s ‘Junior Junior’ Panel of counsel.

During pupillage, he assisted local Senior Counsel in a range of constitutional matters before the courts in Trinidad and Tobago, including:

• Assisting in a constitutional challenge to the automatic denial of bail to persons charged with murder before the Court of Appeal;
• Assisting in a constitutional challenge to the Covid-19 regulations closing the border to all persons, including citizens, which involved consideration of the application of a range of domestic and international human rights instruments before the High Court;
• Assisting in a constitutional challenge to guidelines issued pursuant to local Covid-19 regulations purporting to institute criminal offences regulating the functioning of religious establishments before the Court of Appeal;
• Assisting in a constitutional challenge to the lawfulness of the arrest of persons detained further to the Covid-19 Regulations before the Court of Appeal.

He has additionally assisted in government work responding to constitutional challenges in the commonwealth Caribbean before the Privy Council. Notable highlights include:

• Betaudier (Appellant) v Attornery General of Trinidad and Tobago (Respondent) (Trinidad and Tobago) [2021] UKPC 7 – assisting Tom Poole Q.C. for the Respondent (as a pupil) concerning the lawfulness of the appellant’s arrest and detention;
• Duncan and Jokhan (Appellants) v Attorngey General of Trinidad and Tobago (Respondent) (Trinidad and Tobago) [2021] UKPC 17 – assisting Tom Poole Q.C. for the Respondent (as a pupil) concerning whether there was a violation of the appellants’ rights under section 4(a) of the Constitution not to be deprived of liberty and security of the person except by due process of law.