Background
Ifẹ Thompson is a globally renowned Movement Lawyer and community organiser committed to pro-bono work. She is recognised for her expertise in the intersection of law, racial justice, language justice, digital rights, and human rights.
She specialises in all areas of criminal defence, family law and human rights law with particular expertise in youth matters, Racially aggravated offences, assault emergency workers, s.45 Modern slavery defences and cases to do with vulnerable defendants. She is also one of the leading practitioners on the use of racial trauma and linguistic experts in criminal defence cases and highlighting the issue of anti-Blackness and racial discrimination within criminal matters.
She has worked as an expert for the International Legal Foundation and the Public Defender’s Office in Rio de Janeiro to contribute to the drafting of an international declaration addressing discrimination in the criminal justice system. Drawing on her experience with the United Nations and her legal practice, she contributed to sections on critical issues such as language injustice, racial profiling, the use of facial recognition technology, digital rights and data protection, and the criminalization of rap music in trials.
She has also examined the use of the Communications Act to target radical Black voices on platforms like Twitter/X, further demonstrating her commitment to advocating for justice and equity in international human rights law.
She was also a 2023 Legal Aid Lawyer on the Year finalist in the category of ‘Legal Aid New Comer’.
Areas of Practice:
Criminal Defence
Ife deals with youth, magistrates and Crown Court matters. She has particular expertise defending vulnerable defendants, including those with severe and complex mental health issues and drug addiction, and is often found making successful applications for adjournments to assess her client’s fitness to plead or fitness to stand trial. She has also represented victims of trafficking and child criminal exploitation. Her background in international human rights law, youth work and her work as a cultural and Black-British English independent researcher makes her qualified to advise on these matters within a criminal context and raise legal arguments on language injustice. She has also dealt with Crown Court appeals.
She is regularly instructed in cases involving allegations of assaults on emergency workers cases in the Crown Court, in which she is able to contextualise her client’s experience and ensure it is at the heart of the case, as well as successfully bringing up issues like racial trauma. One such case in which she relied on a racial trauma expert led to the prosecution offering no evidence against her youth client: the case was covered by LAG.
Ife is also interested in challenges against the use of police powers at protests and protecting protesters’ rights within a criminal context. Ife is the founding Director of Black Protest Legal Support, an organisation formed to monitor police misconduct at BLM protests in 2020, where she trained legal observers, provided legal assistance and drafted legal advice ‘bust cards’ that were handed out directly to activists. She has been invited to many seminars to discuss her work on protest and human rights including the DFF Fund, Reb Law Conference and the Law Centre conference.
Inquiries
Ife accepts instructions on inquiries and is currently instructed as junior counsel for The COVID-19 Airborne Transmission Alliance (CATA), a core participant in Module 3 of the COVID-19 Inquiry. As lead disclosure junior, she reviews and summarises substantial disclosure materials for senior counsel and has drafted witness questions, including those for the former First Minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf.
Ife Thompson is currently involved in the Peoples Tribunal on Police Killings, which will have its first intervention on 4-5 April 2025. Ife is supporting in developing its international legal initiative with a focus on a 10-year plan of actions.
Family Law
S and N (Domestic Violence), 2024 – successfully applied on behalf of the applicant for a without notice non-molestation order. Hearing raised issues of a sensitive nature
K and Z, Private children, Final Hearing, 2023– Upon hearing submissions from Ife, the Judge granted a child arrangement order in terms favourable to the applicant.
Pro-bono
Ife is committed to pro bono work, community organising and movement lawyering.
In November 2024, Ife was invited as an expert by the International Legal Foundation and the Public Defender’s Office in Rio de Janeiro to contribute to the drafting of an international declaration addressing discrimination in the criminal justice system. Drawing on her experience with the United Nations and her legal practice, she contributed to sections on critical issues such as language injustice, racial profiling, the use of facial recognition technology, digital rights and data protection, and the criminalization of rap music in trials.
She has also examined the use of the Communications Act to target radical Black voices on platforms like Twitter/X, further demonstrating her commitment to advocating for justice and equity in international human rights law.
She actively supported those affected by the Windrush scandal by volunteering at Windrush Legal Clinic. She was also a part of the Sarah Reed Campaign and the BME Lawyers for Grenfell group.
During her BPTC studies, she volunteered as a East London Family Court duty advocate through the University of Law Legal Clinic. She represented clients on matters involving child arrangements orders, specific issue and prohibited steps applications as well as a number of non-molestation orders, and drafted court orders following hearings. Ife was also a FRU volunteer advocate for social security appeals, drafting written submissions for tribunal hearings.
As a community organiser, she has set up two organisations, BLAM UK and Black Protest Legal Support (BPLS) UK. BLAM is an educational and advocacy not-for-profit that teaches Black history in schools and Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) across London.
BLAM has partnered with the Equal Rights Trust to bring about a legal challenge to the UK government for failing in its legal obligations under ICERD by not including Black history and anti-racism on the national curriculum. BLAM also provides free education law advocates to parents and YOTs across London.
Ife founded Black Protest Legal Support UK in May 2020 in the wake of the global Black Lives Matter protests to ensure BLM protesters in the UK could have access to pro bono legal support and representation, whilst ensuring their civil liberties were protected on the ground by lawyers acting as legal observers. BPLS gathered 100 barristers and lawyers on the ground for the first two of the largest protest dates in June 2020. BPLS legal observers held the police to account during the unlawful use of section 50 of the Police Reform Act within kettles. Ife continues to volunteer as a legal observer and contributes to drafting bust cards explaining protesters’ rights. Black Protest Legal Support jointly released a guide, available here, with the Howard League on how lawyers can make Black lives matter in the criminal justice system. Ife drafted the forward and worked extensively on the sections in regard to racial trauma, disproportionality in school exclusions and international best practice in relation to systemic racism as a mitigating factor in sentencing hearings.
Civil orders
Ife is also well versed in defending applications for Criminal Behaviour Orders and ensuring her clients’ human rights are upheld. This has led to many wide-reaching conditions being removed from the order. She has also represented high profile drill rappers challenging alleged breaches of their criminal behaviour orders. She has also successfully resisted disproportionate terms in Sexual Risk Orders and Criminal Behaviour Orders.
NOTABLE CASES
R V LK (Wood Green Crown Court) November 2024
Represented a defendant, an elderly Rastafari, Black man who pleaded guilty to assault emergency worker. Ife from the onset invited the court to sentence him a conditional discharge noting in oral submissions concerns as to institutional racism and racial trauma as part of the sentencing exercise. The Judge sentenced her client to a conditional discharge.
R v CFD ( Isleworth Crown court ) October 2024
Represented a defendant in a racially aggravated harassment case, which was dismissed at Isleworth Crown Court, following a successful application to dismiss. Due to the detailed nature of ife’s skeleton argument, the Judge was able to address the defence’s points solely through my written submission. The argument raised concerns regarding police (mis)conduct and failure to follow due procedure.
R V XC (Isleworth Crown Court) November 2023
Successfully defended West London Drill Rapper ZK, in which the Crown offered no evidence in the case. On day two, the trial was adjourned when Ife raised serious concerns as to Identification Evidence from the YouTube music videos and the disclosure failings. These issues led to her serving an abuse of process skeleton argument on the Crown. Instructed by MTC Solicitors.
R V L (Isleworth Crown Court) June 2023
Defending in a PWTIS Case Ife raised data protection law and digital rights legal arguments on law enforcement’s ability to seize and extract mobile phone data. This legal argument was made on day three of the trial and resulted in the Judge discharging the jury and relisting the matter to explore the important legal points I raised.
R v LZ (Crown Court) 2023
Ife secured a low-end custodial sentence for a young adult client who pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply class A drugs. The client had recent previous convictions for possession with intent to supply class A drugs.
Ife successfully made submissions as to where the client fell on the guidelines and the judge treated LZ as having played a lesser role. Ife also made submissions to the court on the need for her client’s experience of racial discrimination at the hands of the police to be a factor accounted for in her client’s personal mitigation. In addition, she highlighted her client’s young age and how their prior periods in custody had hindered their access to a support network within their crucial development years. The judge agreed with Ife’s submission that her client’s experience of racial discrimination should be treated as mitigation, stating that her emphasis on the effects (systemic and interpersonal) of racial discrimination on her client as a young Black man had greatly helped the sentencing exercise and noting that the sentence would have not been on the lower end of the custodial scale if not for Ife’s submissions.
R v K (Crown Court) 2023
The Crown offered no evidence in an assault emergency worker case after Ife successfully resisted attempts by the Crown to proceed with a PTPH in spite of them not having fully reviewed the evidence. Ife alerted the court to the issues that the previous judge had noted, including the high levels of police aggression throughout the incident and the actions of the complainant police officer that had yet to be reviewed by the Crown. She further highlighted to the court the police’s failure to secure all of the evidence as part of their investigative duty and served on the Crown CCTV footage the defendant had secured, which supported their innocence. On viewing this CCTV, the Crown evidence offered no evidence.
R v Z (Youth Court) 2022
Ife successfully applied to vacate a guilty plea and set down a trial with a racial trauma expert listed to demonstrate in her client’s state of mind at time of the arrest. Ife then drafted detailed representations to the Crown, which were read on the day of trial. The Crown offered no evidence shortly afterwards.
R v W (Magistrates court) 2022
Ife drafted a skeleton argument focusing on breaches of PACE in the ID procedures used to identify her client. The CPS reviewed the skeleton argument and immediately offered no evidence to the charge in light of the breaches .
R v L (Magistrates Court) 2022
Successfully raised issue of language injustice in closing speech as Crown sought to rely on a non-Jamaican patois speaker’s wrong interpretation of a word used by the defendant. Client was found not guilty.
R v X (Youth Court) 2022
Youth client was spared a mandatory custodial sentence for possession of a knife after the judge read Ife’s sentencing note, which detailed her client’s adverse life circumstances and set out submissions on the harm a custodial sentence would have on his health and life outcomes. Ife also highlighted the issue of racial disparity in the youth custodial estate. The judge noted that Ife’s written submissions were extremely helpful.
R V Z (2024)- Ife obtained a suspended sentence for an Insulate Britain protestor charged with public nuisance.
R v L (2024): Ife secured a bail amendment in front of a District Judge to restrict police bail conditions that disproportionately infringed on the human rights of a Free Palestine activist.
R V W, Kingston Crown Court (2023), Crown offered no evidence against a Protestor at the Sarah Everard Vigil once lengthy representations were written highlighting the concerns about police violence and disclosure issues.
R V L, Inner London Crown Court (2023) Crown offered no evidence in trespass and obstructing electricity charge against client from squatting community. Ife successfully resisted an application for from the Crown an adjournment.
R v C (2023), Instructed on case involving Black UK activist in which human rights points were raised and an AAVE Linguist instructed.
2024 – Currently being instructed to defend a Free Palestine protestor on assault against an emergency worker charges.
R V LZ – Bromley Youth Court 2024 – Crown offered no evidence to racially aggravated charges against Black child who used the AAVE ( African American Vernacular English) terms “Nigga” and “Cracka”. Defence instructed an AAVE linguists and wrote length representation as to the importance of respecting and honouring Black Language speakers rights. The crown on the day of trial offered no evidence.
R v X, Wimbledon Magistrates Court 2023 – Defending on a case where the client was charged with calling a prospective Tory MP Candidate a “coon” on Twitter. The defence included complex human rights points on freedom of expression and Black political thought.
2024 – Currently being instructed on the N-Word Trial that has already gained media attention.
Mr Kushal Sood, SHU Law, Solicitor
Ms Thompson is an outstanding legal aid barrister who explores every possible avenue for her clients. She is willing to challenge cases in bold but necessary ways, and achieves great outcomes as a result. She is a specialist in racial justice. Many of her cases have an intersect of racial injustice & police misconduct, and she has adapted her practice to use the law in creative ways to actively challenge these matters.
Antonia Charles, MTC Solicitors
Her bravery in highlighting to members of the judiciary issues like the over-policing of Black boys, and the trauma that results, cannot be overstated. She has pioneered and managed the improbable feat of securing discontinued prosecutions in such cases. I am in awe of her fearlessness coupled with her ability as an advocate to convey widely neglected arguments about anti-blackness and over-policing.
Danielle Horton, Wheldon Law
Ms Thompson has a personal charm. She has a very calming and positive nature.
Ms Christina Saunders, United Nations Working Group of Experts on People of African Decent Secretary
She is an all-rounded excellent barrister, I am always amazed by her work and professionalism
Ghisalne Sandoval, Hodge Jones & Allen
Ms Thompson is an outstanding legal aid barrister who explores every possible avenue for her clients. She is willing to challenge cases in bold but necessary ways, and achieves great outcomes as a result. She is a specialist in racial justice. Many of her cases have an intersect of racial injustice & police misconduct, and she has adapted her practice to use the law in creative ways to actively challenge these matters
Publications
A Racial Justice Approach to Mitigation in criminal sentences – Cambridge Journal of the Law, Politics and Art (December 2023)
Discriminatory Denial of the Right to Peaceful Assembly – Oxford Human Rights Blog (October 2021)Article
The Mangrove 9 and the Radical Lawyering Tradition – Verso Books ( October 2020) Article
Black Lives Matter UK: For Lasting Change, We Need ‘Movement Lawyers’ – Eachother (August 2020) Article
Ife’s international acclaim recently led to an invitation from the Digital Freedom Fund to speak at a prestigious event in Berlin. At the heart of Ife’s talk was the exploration of building effective movements against digital policing, delving into critical questions that shape our understanding of this complex issue. You can watch the livestream of her session here, where she passionately advocates for a more just and liberated digital future.
Ife is a frequent television and radio commentator who offers incisive insights on the criminal legal system, courtroom injustices and anti-Blackness.
Lecture for the University of Law: ‘Black Lives Matter and International Human Rights’
Air Jordan’s Real Talks: a Celebration of Black British History and Culture
National Education Conference on developing an anti-racist Pedagogy
Oxford University on the UK’s BLM Protests Middle Temple’s Black Lives Matter event
A talk at Leigh Day on the legacy of lawyers supporting protesters and the law around protesting in light of the coronavirus restrictions.
Guest curator at the London Metropolitan Archives, where she curated a project using historical Black-British archival through audiovisual primary sources.
City Hall keynote speaker on the link between school exclusions (Timpson Review) and the criminal justice system
Pro- bono
Ife is committed to pro bono work, community organising and movement lawyering.
In November 2024, Ife was invited as an expert by the International Legal Foundation and the Public Defender’s Office in Rio de Janeiro to contribute to the drafting of an international declaration addressing discrimination in the criminal justice system. Drawing on her experience with the United Nations and her legal practice, she contributed to sections on critical issues such as language injustice, racial profiling, the use of facial recognition technology, digital rights and data protection, and the criminalization of rap music in trials.
She has also examined the use of the Communications Act to target radical Black voices on platforms like Twitter/X, further demonstrating her commitment to advocating for justice and equity in international human rights law.
She actively supported those affected by the Windrush scandal by volunteering at Windrush Legal Clinic. She was also a part of the Sarah Reed Campaign and the BME Lawyers for Grenfell group.
During her BPTC studies, she volunteered as a East London Family Court duty advocate through the University of Law Legal Clinic. She represented clients on matters involving child arrangements orders, specific issue and prohibited steps applications as well as a number of non-molestation orders, and drafted court orders following hearings. Ife was also a FRU volunteer advocate for social security appeals, drafting written submissions for tribunal hearings.
As a community organiser, she has set up two organisations, BLAM UK and Black Protest Legal Support (BPLS) UK. BLAM is an educational and advocacy not-for-profit that teaches Black history in schools and Youth Offending Teams (YOTs) across London.
BLAM has partnered with the Equal Rights Trust to bring about a legal challenge to the UK government for failing in its legal obligations under ICERD by not including Black history and anti-racism on the national curriculum. BLAM also provides free education law advocates to parents and YOTs across London.
Ife founded Black Protest Legal Support UK in May 2020 in the wake of the global Black Lives Matter protests to ensure BLM protesters in the UK could have access to pro bono legal support and representation, whilst ensuring their civil liberties were protected on the ground by lawyers acting as legal observers. BPLS gathered 100 barristers and lawyers on the ground for the first two of the largest protest dates in June 2020. BPLS legal observers held the police to account during the unlawful use of section 50 of the Police Reform Act within kettles. Ife continues to volunteer as a legal observer and contributes to drafting bust cards explaining protesters’ rights. Black Protest Legal Support jointly released a guide, available here, with the Howard League on how lawyers can make Black lives matter in the criminal justice system. Ife drafted the forward and worked extensively on the sections in regard to racial trauma, disproportionality in school exclusions and international best practice in relation to systemic racism as a mitigating factor in sentencing hearings.