R (LR) v Coventry City Council [2025] EWHC 20 (Admin)
Led by Ranjiv Khubber.
Serena Sekhon specialises in public law and human rights. Her busy practice encompasses areas including judicial review, community care, inquests, prison and police law and education.
Serena’s work includes:
She undertakes a mix of led and unled work.
Current and recent cases include:
Serena is particularly experienced in judicial review cases relating to asylum support. She advises at all stages of the claim process and regularly secures settlements and interim relief for clients.
Serena is strongly committed to access to justice and is willing to consider instructions pro bono where appropriate.
Serena has undertaken courses in Peacebuilding in Colombia at Universidad de los Andes in 2017, and in international criminal justice in the context of mass atrocities in 2023 (Geoffrey Nice Foundation Masterclass, Dubrovnik). To attend the latter, she was awarded a scholarship by the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple.
Prior to coming to the Bar, Serena graduated from the University of Bristol with a first class degree in history. She undertook her legal studies with a total of five scholarships.
Serena has volunteered at organisations including Southall Black Sisters (a charity providing advice to and advocacy for survivors of domestic violence) and at HMP Brixton as a Vocalise mentor.
Serena sits on No5 Chambers’ Equality and Diversity Committee and was previously a member of the Bar Council’s Young Barristers’ Committee. She regularly participates in outreach events with her Inn of Court and judges mooting competitions.
She is a voluntary member of the Sikh Human Rights Group.
Serena has a busy and rapidly growing inquests practice. Her experience includes Article 2 inquests with and without a jury, as well as non-Article 2 inquests. She provides advice and representation at all stages of the inquest process, including in relation to post-inquest civil claims.
Some recent and current inquest instructions include:
Serena is a member of the INQUEST Lawyers’ Group, and is willing to consider instructions on a pro bono basis where appropriate.
Serena is a public law specialist.
She welcomes instructions across a wide range of public law matters.
Serena’s community care practice is focused around judicial review claims.
She is very frequently instructed on behalf of asylum seekers and refused asylum seekers in relation to various asylum support and accommodation decisions. See, for example, R (OA) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 2227 (Admin).
Serena has secured a number of settlements in asylum support cases, as well as positive interim relief decisions from the Administrative Court. Her cases have included challenges to failures to provide suitable asylum support accommodation (including in a disability/care needs context), challenges to the amount of financial subsistence support received by clients, challenges to location/dispersal decisions, and challenges to failures to implement asylum decisions/issue a BRP.
Serena advises and represents clients at all stages of the judicial review process, including pre-issue advice on prospects and preparing the claim, as well as drafting urgent applications for interim relief.
Serena is able to bring a multidisciplinary approach to community care cases; e.g. in R (OA) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] EWHC 2227 (Admin) Serena was able to apply her knowledge of special educational needs and disability (from education law) to the asylum support context.
Serena is a volunteer with the Asylum Support Appeals Project. As a duty scheme advocate, she represents clients pro bono in the Asylum Support Tribunal.
Serena was recently led by Ranjiv Khubber in an urgent judicial review and policy challenge relating to section 17 Children Act support for a family with no recourse to public funds (NRPF).
Serena’s prison law experience includes:
Prior to commencing pupillage, Serena was a volunteer caseworker at Intervene, a specialist legal charity providing advice and representation to prisoners.
Serena has experience in inquests involving criticisms of the police and prison staff.
During pupillage, Serena assisted with civil actions against the police.
Serena accepts instructions in a range of education law matters. She has extensive experience with school admission appeals, as well as regularly appearing in the First Tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability).
She welcomes instructions relating to judicial review in the context of education.
Serena has experience in the First-tier Tribunal (Mental Health), representing individuals who are detained under the Mental Health Act.
Led by Ranjiv Khubber.
Inquest, representing Christopher’s mother, led by Michael Mansfield KC. Christopher died aged 13 after drowning in the River Cynon in Wales. After a two-week inquest, the Coroner found that Christopher was deliberately pushed into the water by a 14 year old boy. The Coroner also issued a Prevention of Future Deaths Report to the Coal Authority about the prevailing absence of a water safety policy with specific steps to protect members of the public.
Representing a pregnant asylum seeker, OA, housed for over a year in “temporary” hotel accommodation with her two children including a son with significant care and access needs. The High Court had previously granted permission to proceed with judicial review and ordered that the Secretary of State provide suitable accommodation within 9 days, which the Secretary of State failed to do, leading to the judgment cited above
In LR v Coventry City Council [2025] EWHC 20 (Admin), the High Court quashed the section 17 Children Act 1989 assessment of a vulnerable family…
On Tuesday 15 October, a jury sitting at South London Coroner’s Court in Croydon returned conclusions that Chenise Gregory, 29, was unlawfully killed and that…
“Serena was brilliant. Really impressive. Worked very hard, communicative, good with the clients and advocacy was great. Written submissions were also excellent. She…was committed all the way.”
Solicitor – inquest
In LR v Coventry City Council [2025] EWHC 20 (Admin), the High Court quashed the section 17 Children Act 1989 assessment of a vulnerable family…
On Tuesday 15 October, a jury sitting at South London Coroner’s Court in Croydon returned conclusions that Chenise Gregory, 29, was unlawfully killed and that…
