Erin Alcock

Erin is a senior associate in the human rights and public law team, specialising particularly in judicial review.

Erin has ten years’ experience supporting NGOs, campaigners and individuals with public interest and high profile cases, particularly cases with an element of public international law, information rights, or the rights of refugees and migrants.

Legal expertise

• Acting for Afghan interpreters whose UK entry visas were refused on national security grounds, and had those decisions overturned (for example, AX v SSHD and AZ v SSHD).
• Acting for the claimant in the judicial review MKA v SSD, who successfully challenged the refusal of their application for relocation under ARAP.  
• Judicial review challenges brought by Campaign Against Arms Trade against the government’s refusal to suspend licences for the sale and export of arms to Saudi Arabia.
• A reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union brought by Western Sahara Campaign UK the question of whether preferential trade tariffs could be applied to goods originating from Western Sahara, under trade agreements concluded with Morocco, and a further judicial review challenge brought by the group in relation to the UK post-Brexit trade deal with Morocco.
• An appeal brought by an environmental campaigner, supported by Global Justice Now, to the Information Tribunal arguing for disclosure of information about post-Brexit trade talks carried out by the Department of International Trade with various countries. The case was decided in the Supreme Court in 2025.
• The successful appeal brought by The Bureau of Investigative Journalists to the European Court of Human Rights about government mass surveillance, in particular where this interferers with the Article 10 rights of journalists.
• Friends of the Earth’s legal battle against proposals for a third runway at Heathrow airport, on the basis of climate change and the UK’s obligations under the Paris Agreement.
• Assisting Reprieve and their clients, who are victims of drone-strikes, at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
• The successful appeal brought by a journalist from OpenDemocracy to the Information Tribunal for information relating to the Freedom of Information Clearing House run by the Cabinet Office.
• Judicial review proceedings brought on behalf of a Chagossian woman in the Seychelles on behalf of her community in relation to their rights following their forced removal from the Chagos Islands.
• Working with local campaign group Together Against Sizewell C on their legal challenge to plans by EDF related to the development of a nuclear power facility in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the Suffolk coast.
• The successful challenge to the Immigration Exemption of the Data Protection Act, brought by Open Rights Group and the3million.
• Challenges brought by Palestinian families made refugees by the Syrian crisis to the UK resettlement schemes from which they are excluded on the basis of their Palestinian identity.
• Representing individuals affected by the MOD’s self-move policy, challenging the removal of support from ARAP-eligible Afghans evacuating Afghanistan to take up relocation offers in the UK.

Accreditations

Erin achieved Fellowship status with the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx) in August 2021 and is currently an authorised Chartered Legal Executive Litigator (Civil Litigation). In 2019 Erin was nominated for a CILEx National Award, and received “Highly Commended” in the student category. She also holds a BSc in International Relations.

Erin was part of the JUSTICE Working Group responsible for the report, Reforming the Afghanistan Resettlement Schemes: the way forward for ARAP and ACRS published in August 2023.

Erin was named a ‘key lawyer’ in the Legal 500 directory for administrative and public law for 2024 and named an ‘Associate to watch’ in the Chambers and Partners directory for administrative and public law for 2025.