11th February 2025
High Court delivers landmark police vetting judgment
In a landmark judgment the High Court allowed a claim that the process being used for 100s of officers for removal of...
Rosa Bennathan practices primarily in criminal, public and regulatory law.
Her recent general crime instructions include cases of alleged terrorist offences, rape, and attempted murder.
She is on the Serious Fraud Office C panel of trial counsel and is presently instructed in two Serious Fraud Office prosecutions, one for the prosecution and one for the defence. She is also defending in a case of alleged multi-million dollar corruption prosecuted by the National Crime Agency (led in all three by Simon Farrell KC).
She acts in Judicial Review claims relating to the criminal law and police law. Recently, she appeared for the Claimant in R (Di Maria) v Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis (led by Kevin Baumber), a test case in which the High Court ruled that the Defendant’s had unlawfully deprived the Claimant of his police vetting status.
Outside of court, she has an advisory practice with a particular focus on sanctions, national security, and the delivery of aid in conflict zones.
Before coming to the bar, she worked in organisations aimed at addressing violence against women, including the Centre for Women’s Justice. There, she worked on strategic litigation focused on the criminal justice system.
She provides pro bono legal advice as a member of the Centre for Women’s Justice Legal Reference Panel, and mentors aspiring Black, Asian and minority ethnic women lawyers through the Centre for Women’s Justice mentoring scheme. She is the equality and diversity officer of the International Bar Association’s War Crimes Committee.
R v S (2025)
Led by Guy Ladenburg. Representing a man accused of two counts of attempted murder and other offences (on-going).
R v G (2025)
Led by Simon Farrell KC. Acting for the defence in the High Court in a case stated arising from the first ever SFO application to have a Defendant found in breach of a Deferred Prosecution Agreement.
R v C (2025)
Acting for the defence in the Court of Appeal. The Defendant has been given permission to appeal his conviction for possession of cannabis. The appeal concerns the defences available to police officers in respect of the possession of proscribed drugs (on-going).
R v B (2025)
Represented a police officer accused of intentional suffocation and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The Defendant was acquitted.
R v H (2024)
Led by Matthew Butt KC. Represented a Police Sergeant accused of rape, voyeurism, perverting the course of justice, and other offences. The Defendant was acquitted.
R v P (2024)
Acted for the defence in the Court of Appeal in a case concerning the proper approach to assessing harm in relation to breaches of Sexual Harm Prevention Orders.
PC U (2025)
Acting for the Appropriate Authority in an Accelerated Misconduct Hearing following the officer’s conviction for assault (on-going).
PC K (2025)
Representing a police officer accused of assaulting a trainer on an Officer Safety Training course (on-going).
PS H (2024)
Represented a police officer accused of using a racial slur about a colleague. The panel accepted the officer’s account of the language used and that there had been no racist intent. The officer received a final written warning.
PC F (2023)
Represented a police officer at an Accelerated Misconduct Hearing. The officer had accepted a criminal caution for a Data Protection offence involving the unlawful sharing of information about a criminal investigation. The officer received a final written warning.
Inquest into the death of P (2025)
Representing a care provider in relation to the death of a resident in one of their facilities (on-going).
R (M) v Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis & Ors (2025)
Led by Kevin Baumber. Represented an Officer whose vetting was removed in a claim challenging the lawfulness of the MPS & College of Policing’s policies on police vetting. The Court found that the Defendant had acted unlawfully.
Inquest into the death of S (2023)
Represented a police force in an inquest following the death of a woman at her home. The death was found to be an accidental death resulting from drug and alcohol toxicity.
Rosa is regularly instructed to advise companies and individuals in relation to the UK sanctions regime. She also has an advisory practice with a focus on police powers and matters concerning national security and international jurisdiction.
I, Rosa Bennathan, am a data controller and can be contacted at 3 Raymond Buildings, Gray’s Inn, London WC1R 5BH or by telephone on 020 7400 6400 or by email at rosa.bennathan@3rblaw.com. My Data Protection Policy can be found here.
All personal data that I process is for the purposes of providing legal services, conducting conflict-checks, marketing, defending potential complaints, legal proceedings or fee disputes, keeping anti-money laundering records, training other barristers and pupils and when providing work-shadowing opportunities, and/or exercising a right to a lien. The types of data I process vary upon the nature of the legal matter in relation to which I am engaged to advise, but can include names, contact details, biographic details and ‘special category personal data’ (such as details of racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, health, sex life and criminal convictions and proceedings).
Depending upon the circumstances of the case, the legal bases upon which I process personal data are (i) the performance of a contract to which the data subject is a party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract, (ii) the processing is necessary to comply with legal obligations to which I am subject, or (iii) the processing is necessary for the legitimate interests set out above, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subjects which require protection of personal data, in particular where the data subject is a child. When I rely on (iii) legitimate interests, my ‘Legitimate Interests Assessment’ can be found here. When I process data which has not been obtained directly from the data subject (e.g. personal data contained in evidential materials), it will have been supplied to me as part of my instructions in circumstances covered by legal professional privilege.
Depending upon the circumstances of the case, I may share the personal data with:
I retain personal data for no longer than 7 years after the case has come to an end or as otherwise required by law.
I do not intend to transfer data to any country which is not either within the European Union, or otherwise permitted by UK data protection legislation.
Under the UK GDPR, data subjects whose personal data I process have the right to request from me access to, and rectification or erasure of, their personal data, the right to the restriction of processing concerning them, the right to object to processing as well as the right to data portability. Data subjects also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk).
In cases where there is a contract between me and the data subject, the provision of personal data is a contractual requirement and the data subject is obliged to provide the personal data in order that I can supply legal services. A failure to provide such data may mean that I will not be able to provide those legal services.
30.09.2022
| Address | 3 Raymond Buildings, Gray’s Inn, London WC1R 5BH |
|---|---|
| DX | 237 LDE |
| Opening hours | 08:30 – 18:30 |
| Telephone | +44 (0)20 7400 6400 |
|---|---|
| clerks@3rblaw.com | |
| Senior clerk | Rosa Bennathan |
