Background
Niaz A Shah is a Professor in Law at the University of Hull teaching and researching human rights law; refugee law; Islamic law; public law and administrative law. He has worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) dealing with asylum cases and refugees. He has worked with / advised numerous governments and intergovernmental organisations such as the United Nations; European Union and the Commonwealth on their projects dealing with human rights; the rule of law and women’s human rights. Professor Shah has also worked at the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), New York dealing with the first batch of cases before the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).
Selected Cases
Supreme Court
Court of Appeal
- R (Mehmood) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2015] EWCA Civ 744; [2016] 1 WLR 461
- The Secretary of State for the Home Department v Mandibaya [2017] EWCA Civ 1002 (17 July 2017) (instructed by the Bar Pro Bono Unit).
The High Court of Justice: Administrative Court
- R (Tawinder Singh) v SSHD [2015] EWHC 3633 (Admin)
- R (Shabaz Ali) v SSHD [2014] EWHC 3967 (Admin)
Expert witness / reports
Professor Shah is a recognised expert on Pakistan and Afghanistan and regularly appears as expert witness before courts in the UK. Leading reported cases include:
- The Secretary of State for the Home Department v Hashim Tariq [2021] EWCA Civ 378. The Court of Appeal at [37] said: ‘Professor Shah’s evidence on the primary question he was asked is admirably clear’.
- KA and Others (domestic violence, risk on return) [2010] UKUT 216. In KA, the Upper Tribunal at [202] said that they were assisted by an ‘eminent expert’ (para 202).
- AJ (Risk to Homosexuals) Afghanistan UKAIT [2009] 1. In AJ, the Upper Tribunal at [46] said: ‘we prefer, where there are differences [among experts], the evidence of Dr Shah’.
Publications
Professor Shah has published a large number of monographs and peer reviewed articles which are available on his staff page at the University of Hull.
Degrees:
MA (English) LLB (Peshawar, Pakistan)
International Human Rights Law Course (Nottingham University)
PhD (Queen’s University Belfast)
PGCHE (Hull University)