Kiran Panesar is a second-generation Sikh born in Walthamstow and settled in West London. Her workplace is predominantly in Southall with clients spread across England and Wales. She is an accredited Senior Advisor and Supervisor in Immigration, Asylum and Human Rights Law awarded by the Law Society.
Kiran has 30 years’ experience in this field in which she has had the privilege of working at the same legal firm - Sriharans Solicitors. She has conducted thousands of cases in Immigration and Human Rights Appeals ranging from the Immigration Tribunal, High Court, Court of Appeal, House of Lords and in the European Court of Human Rights.
She also has the additional responsibilities of being Practice Manager of the firm and Compliance Officer for Finance and Administration (COFA) authorised by the Law Society. She is multilingual with fluency in Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu.
1 Which place, or city or country do you most feel at home in?
I am most homely in London and greatly appreciate the multiculturalism and diversity that is abundant around the city.
2 What are your proudest achievements?
"I consider it a proud achievement every time an application or appeal conducted by me is successful. Winning such cases makes me feel proud that I can provide a new lease of life for my clients.
I am proud of having the conduct of a particular case in the Court of Appeal which was a reported case under JD Congo and Others, where I represented WN (Gambia) in which guidance was given on how the “compelling reason” limb of the second tier appeals test was to be applied. I am also proud to have been a part of preparation of the reported case of Sivakumaran and Others in the house of Lords in 1987."
3 What inspires you?
I am inspired by the challenges of winning Asylum, human rights and Immigration cases, which is driven by my passion for changing lives and the satisfaction of providing life and safety to people as well as reuniting families and getting the blessings, praise and gratitude from the young and senior people from various ethnicities and nationalities.
4 What has been biggest obstacle in your career?
As a legal professional, the biggest obstacle has been the change of culture in legal aid system which prevents access to justice due to a severe cut in legal aid for various groups of people. I try to do pro bono work as much as possible with the support of my firm, but a lot of clients still go unrepresented.
5 Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date?
The biggest influence is my mentor and senior partner of the firm Mr A Sriharan, who has been a celebrated Human Rights Lawyer for the last 30 years and served as a President of the Middx Law Society. He has always pushed me to excel and encouraged me to believe in my own abilities. He has supported me throughout my career in which he has acted as a role model and inspiration to me through his guidance, motivation and emotional support for which I will forever be grateful for. His leadership qualities have developed me into the strong individual that I am today and taught me how to remain motivated in tough times when I most needed words of encouragement.
6 What is the best aspect about your current role?
I have three roles in my firm; acting mainly as a supervisor and caseworker in immigration and asylum law, Practice Management and Financial Management. The best aspect of my role is conducting cases in asylum and immigration and achieving positive outcomes.
7 And the worst?
The worst aspect about my current role is not being able to represent vulnerable or deserving clients who have been deprived of appeal rights and have no access to legal aid or justice
8 What are your long term goals?
My long-term goals are to continue working in this challenging area of law and do more legal work to serve the community.
9 If you were Prime Minister, what one aspect would you change?
I would like to change the immigration laws - not to be a hostile environment but to be humane, Firm and Fair to reflect the British values and way of life.
10 If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why.
“Mahatma Gandhi – who believed in ‘ahimsa’ to achieving justice and harmony, which is lacking in the world today. He was a man of incredible self-discipline and strength of will. I would love to learn from his conscious, productive and positive thinking.”
