Judge Michelle Brewer

Judge Brewer was appointed to the judiciary of England and Wales in February 2020. Prior to her appointment, she was a member of one the UK’s leading human rights chambers. During her 20-year practice at the Bar, she was a recognised specialist in the field of human trafficking. Judge Brewer was lead counsel in VCL v UK (final judgment 5 July 2021), her legal team was successful in establishing that the non-punishment principle fell within the scope of Article 4 ECHR protection. Her other significant cases include the Supreme Court case of Hounga v Allen (2014), which established the principle that the right to reparation for victims trumped public policy barring victims who were working illegally. In practice she advised various bodies and responded to government consultations around the legal protections afforded to victims of trafficking and specifically the interplay between business and human rights. Judge Brewer is co-editor and author of the leading practitioner’s text; ‘Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery Law and Practice’, Bloomsbury Professional which is currently in its 2nd edition. Both as a barrister and a judge she has been invited by the UN, OSCE and the Council of Europe as well as by the Cypriot Supreme Court judiciary to provide keynote addresses and workshops on human trafficking. She is a judicial training facilitator in the UK and provides training to judges within her own jurisdiction.