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Jo Sidhu

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Navjot Sidhu
Navjot Sidhu
Navjot Sidhu KC speaking at an event in parliament 2018
Born
London, England
NationalityBritish
Alma materLondon School of Economics
University of Oxford
OccupationBarrister
Years active1993–present

Navjot Sidhu KC (Punjabi: ਜੋ ਸਿਧੁ) (born in 1966 in Southall, London) is a British criminal law barrister and King's Counsel.

Career

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Sidhu has worked as a criminal law barrister since 1993.[1]

He is a past chairman of the Criminal Bar Association.

He was the chairperson for the Society of Asian lawyers, the biggest BAME lawyers’ society in the UK representing over 3,000 members[2] and since 2001 he has been the Vice chair of the Equality & Diversity Committee of the Bar Council.[3]

In 2012 Sidhu was appointed Queen's Counsel a rank awarded to about 8% of practising barristers.[4] He is one of about 100 BAME QCs in Britain of whom few have Punjabi origin.[5]

Like other successful criminal practitioners, Sidhu specialises in serious crime, typically terrorism, homicides and conspiracies involving frauds, robberies and drug trafficking.[6] He was a target of death threats and online harassment lasting 12 months in 2015. After police were unable to provide assistance due to a lack of resources, Sidhu hired a forensic computer expert to track the cyber-criminal behind the smear campaign, who was then jailed for five years.[7]

Sidhu has said that the government must do more to tackle cyber threats of this nature.[8][9]

Sidhu relinquished his practising certificate and is no longer a practising barrister in England and Wales.[10]

Awards and recognition

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In 2016, Sidhu was awarded the UK's Asian Professional of the Year Award 2016.[11]

  1. ^ "Jo Sidhu QC | Counsel for Leadership". www.counselforleadership.com. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  2. ^ "British Punjabis 9th August 2014 (p. 13)". British Punjabi Magazine. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  3. ^ "The Legal 500 > 25 Bedford Row (Chambers of Paul Mendelle QC, George Carter-Stephenson QC and Je) > London, ENGLAND > Lawyer profiles > Jo Sidhu QC". www.legal500.com. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  4. ^ Gates, James (12 March 2012). "Ealing barrister attains highest of legal honours". getwestlondon. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  5. ^ "Queen's Counsel statistics - Bar Standards Board". www.barstandardsboard.org.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  6. ^ "Fraudster jailed for stalking barrister". Kent Online. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  7. ^ "Barrister hit with death threats in revenge for his war on corruption". Evening Standard. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  8. ^ "This is why the government must do more to tackle cyber threats". Metro. 2 January 2016. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  9. ^ "Law should protect, not curtail, freedom of speech". Law Society Gazette. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  10. ^ https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/criminal-bar-firebrand-sidhu-stops-practising/5120277.article
  11. ^ ABPL. "2016". www.abplgroup.com. Retrieved 24 June 2018.