Joseph Sinclair

Joseph is developing a busy practice in all areas of Chambers’ work and is regularly instructed to defend in the Crown and Magistrates’ courts.  He is increasingly instructed to defend allegations of serious drug, firearms and violence offences in the youth court, which often raise issues of gang affiliation, county lines, and modern slavery.

Joseph has advised those regulated by Social Work England, the Health and Care Professions Council and the General Medical Council. He has advised a third party in multi-million POCA proceedings which raise gender-based discrimination issues. Joseph uses his significant public, commercial and human rights law experience he gained prior to coming to the bar to take novel angles to difficult procedural and legal issues.

Before coming to the Bar, Joseph worked with a leading anti-corruption charity where he gained experience in financial crime proceedings and asset recovery, with a focus on freezing orders brought under the Criminal Finances Act 2017. As an immigration caseworker, he developed an expertise in nationality fraud and advising on issues of diplomatic law. He has significant public law drafting experience before the tribunals, Administrative Court, Court of Appeal, and the Privy Council.

As an associate researcher at an anti-corruption charity, Joseph gained experience in bribery proceedings, asset recovery, sanctions and mutual legal assistance, with a focus on freezing orders brought in under the Criminal Finances Act 2017. Before coming to the Bar, he was a specialist caseworker at a firm of immigration solicitors working on citizenship deprivation proceedings, complex appeals and advising on points of diplomatic law. At the Home Office, Joseph specialised in judicial review claims concerning allegations of tax and document fraud. As a barrister’s assistant, he has drafted grounds of judicial review for claims before the Upper Tribunal and High Court, and grounds of appeal to the Court of Appeal. He has also provided research assistance in criminal and commercial matters before the Privy Council.

As a member of ALBA, Joseph was invited to assist in preparing its response to the government’s proposed changes to judicial review. He has also been asked to comment in the press on asset recovery cases in the UK, and has written articles on account freezing orders, whistleblowers, and legal drafting for a specialist immigration publication.

Joseph holds an LL.B (Hons) in Law & Sociology from Cardiff University and an MA with distinction in Corruption and Governance from the University of Sussex. He was awarded the Jules Thorn scholarship by Middle Temple to study a joint LLM BPTC. As part of his LLM, he represented clients in private child proceedings before the family courts. He was a director of Vocalise, the prison debating initiative run by Gray’s Inn, and is currently a trustee of the refugee charity, RLS.