Sylvia Cullen joined Three Raymond Buildings following successful completion of her pupillage. She is developing a practice across Chamber’s main areas of expertise, with a particular interest in Crime, Public Law, Regulatory Matters and Professional Discipline.

Legal Expertise

Crime overview

Sylvia regularly prosecutes and defends in criminal matters in the Youth, Magistrates and Crown Courts. Her cases are varied and have included sexual offences, assaults against the person, drug possession and driving offences.

She is instructed to prosecute by the Crown Prosecution Service and Transport for London.

During Pupillage she assisted with a wide range of drafting including unduly lenient sentence advices, defence statements, sentencing notes, appellant and respondent’s notices and skeleton arguments as well as research relating to matters of national security.

In November 2025, Sylvia completed the ICCA ‘Children in Conflict with the Law’ training.

Civil and quasi-criminal matters overview

Sylvia is frequently instructed by the Metropolitan Police Service to advise on and appear in applications for civil preventative orders, including Sexual Risk Orders, Sexual Harm Prevention Orders and Closure Orders.

She also acts as independent Counsel in LPP reviews for multiple Police Forces, including for Counter Terror Police.

Public law, inquests and inquiries overview

Sylvia recently assisted Hugh Davies KC at the Nottingham inquiry.

During pupillage, Sylvia gained experience assisting on a number of judicial review cases. Her drafting experience includes pre-action correspondence and summary grounds of defence.

Sylvia has assisted with work on multiple inquests, including Article 2 inquests. This involved drafting submissions to the Coroner for Prevention of Future Deaths Reports.

Extradition overview

Sylvia regularly appears in extradition matters at Westminster Magistrates Court.

During Pupillage Sylvia gained experience assisting with cases appearing before the High Court and assisted with drafting sufficiency advices for the Crown Prosecution Service.

Other work overview

Sylvia has recently been assisting the Chief Justice of the British Indian Ocean Territory in the ongoing case of R v His Majesty’s Commissioner for the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Young Fraud Lawyers Association

  • University of Law, BPC (High Distinction) (2025)
  • University of Law, Law Conversion (Masters) (High Distinction) (2024
  • University of York, Social and Political Sciences BA (First Class) (2023)

Crown Prosecution Service (General Crime) Level 1

Awards and Scholarships

  • Major Scholarship (BPC), Inner Temple
  • Major Scholarship (GDL), Inner Temple
  • University of York Department Prize for the best Undergraduate Dissertation
  • ‘Academic excellence’ scholarship, University of York

Before coming to the Bar Sylvia performed and taught as a classical and musical theatre singer. She was a member of and coach for Team England at the Dance World Cup 2023-2025, recieving multiple World Titles. In 2026 she attended Global Dance Open as a coach for Team England, receiving silver and bronze medals.

She runs The Voice Associates, an auditioned programme of intensive singing coaching for talented children and young people hoping to pursue a professional career in the performing arts.

Sylvia is a trustee and musical director for Sing Inside, a charity that delivers singing workshops inside prisons.

I, Sylvia Cullen, 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 sylvia.cullen@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 that 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:

  1. my Chambers, which supplies professional and administrative support to my practice;
  2. Courts and other tribunals to whom documents are presented;
  3. my lay and professional clients;
  4. potential witnesses, in particular experts, and friends or family of the data subject;
  5. solicitors, barristers, pupils, mini pupils and other legal representatives;
  6. ombudsmen and regulatory authorities;
  7. current, past or prospective employers;
  8. education and examining bodies;
  9. business associates, professional advisers and trade bodies.

I retain personal data for no longer than seven 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, ‘white listed’ by the EU or otherwise permitted by EU law (e.g. to the USA under the provisions of the ‘Privacy Shield’).

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.  Three Raymond Buildings has a data protection complaints procedure which applies to chambers and its barristers.  You can find a copy of our procedure here.

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 the legal services.

Rev 2.2 – 01.10.2026

Data Protection Policy

Legitimate Interests Assessment