Joanna Torode

Year of Call: 2006

Joanna’s principal areas of practice are commercial wrongdoing; insolvency and public law, including  judicial review and human rights.

Joanna provides advice and advocacy services in all areas of commercial and financial wrongdoing. Recent cases have included allegations of money-laundering; drugs importation and benefit fraud. In addition to this, Joanna has particular expertise in related areas of quasi-criminal litigation, such as, restraint, confiscation of assets and mutual legal assistance (MLA), in which she advises both private clients and the UK authorities.

Insolvency

Joanna has acted and advised in high profile, complex, domestic and multi-jurisdictional insolvency proceedings. Joanna has particular experience of public examinations, applications for orders for the delivery up of potentially personal and/or privileged material, and applications to suspend the period of automatic discharge.

Regulatory offences

Joanna is instructed to act on behalf of the prosecution and defence in a wide range of regulatory matters, including trade mark offences and directors disqualification proceedings. Most recently, Joanna has been instructed by the London Borough of Haringey in their flag-ship prosecution of a defendant and his corporate vehicle for breaches of planning regulations.

Public Law, including judicial review and human rights

Joanna is well versed in human rights law and has been instructed by the Ministry of Defence in a number of high profile judicial reviews arising out of the detention of Iraqi nationals by UK forces in Iraq.

Joanna is currently acting for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in an on-going judicial review arising out of an allegation of attempted rape at the British Embassy in Baghdad.

Other areas of interest

In addition to the above, Joanna is regularly instructed in complex, document heavy cases and to give specific advice to Government Agencies on the disclosure of contentious categories of material such as sensitive documents, issues of public interest immunity and legal professional privilege.

Joanna is an accredited mediator who can also be instructed to advise and represent parties to mediations. Joanna is qualified to accept instructions on a direct access basis.

Notable Cases

• L&B v L
  Counsel for the defendant in relation to a civil claim for the return of £38 million allegedly obtained by fraud in breach of trust. The basis of the allegation was that funds handed over as part of a share sale agreement had been misappropriated by the defendant. Worldwide freezing order discharged and claim struck out.

• Nicholas Levene (In Bankruptcy)
  On-going high profile insolvency proceedings.

• R v B
  Instructed to act on behalf a London Borough in on-going confiscation proceedings following a successful prosecution for trade mark offences, including related matters of restraint and MLA.

• R (O.A.O. Sanaa Al-Jaf “Um Haider”) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
  Politically sensitive judicial review concerning the scope of Article 1 ECHR and breaches of Articles 3 and 8.

• R (O.A.O. Kammash and others) v Secretary of State for Defence
  Judicial review proceedings concerning the scope of Article 1 ECHR and breaches of Articles 3 and 5.

• Kingdom of God v The United Kingdom
  Counsel for the defendant in proceedings before the Chancery Division. Successful applications to strike out the claimant’s claim and for a civil restraint order to be made against the claimant.

Additional information:

Joanna was classed as outstanding on the Bar Vocational Course and awarded a Major Scholarship by the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. She also received the Dickinson Dees Prize for the ‘Most Outstanding Student’ on the CPE Law Course and graduated with First Class Honours in Politics.

Joanna is security cleared.