Tayab Ali

Tayab Ali is an internationally recognised and highly respected solicitor advocate. He is one of the UK’s leading criminal and international law specialists. As Head of both the General Crime & Extradition team and the International Law team at Bindmans LLP, he brings over two decades of experience defending clients in some of the most high-profile and politically sensitive cases in the UK and internationally.

His clients include high-net-worth individuals, public figures, human rights defenders, journalists, politicians, special interest groups and political activists. He has advised and represented senior elected officials of international legal and political institutions. He is widely regarded as the go-to lawyer for high-profile individuals facing complex, politically charged allegations that threaten their reputations.

Tayab is widely recognised for his fearless defence of civil liberties and his strategic litigation work across domestic and international courts. His practice spans serious criminal defence, complex public international law cases, politically motivated prosecutions, national security, and international crimes including war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Tayab’s tenacity and creative legal thinking have earned him a reputation as a formidable lawyer, with Chambers and Partners describing him as “an irresistible force” and a “once in a generation solicitor” and the Legal 500 praising his strategic brilliance with a “great tactical mind”.

He has a particular expertise in defending individuals accused of terrorism, fraud, serious organised crime, and politically charged offences. He is considered a leading expert on Universal Jurisdiction.

In the international sphere, Tayab leads ground-breaking legal work on behalf of victims of war crimes and grave human rights violations. He spearheads global legal efforts to hold powerful actors accountable, including work before the International Criminal Court (ICC), European and domestic courts, and international human rights mechanisms.

Tayab has acted in cases before the UK Supreme Court, the European Court of Human Rights, and advised governments, diplomats, NGOs, and international bodies on matters of international law.

During recent geopolitical unrest he has been consulted by or briefed over 40 states, from head of state and cabinet ministers to ambassadors and special advisors, on legal strategy and geopolitical developments in the Middle East. He regularly meets ambassadors and government advisors to brief on developments in international law.

He is a prominent legal commentator, and has appeared on platforms such as BBC, LBC, Channel 4 News, Sky News, Al Jazeera as well as international media platforms. Tayab is also a powerful public advocate, known for his unapologetic defence of the principles of justice, the rule of law and his commitment to exposing and challenging structural injustice.

Tayab received a Commendation as Lawyer of the Year at the 2023 Modern Law Awards and has twice been named The Times Lawyer of the Week. He is ranked in Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 across multiple disciplines, including crime, civil liberties, international law, and financial crime.

As a result of his unique expertise, he has been retained by clients to represent them in a wide variety of cases. Here are a few examples of Tayab’s recent work:

Political, Diplomatic and International Law

Tayab has advised widely on international criminal law and brought cases before the International Criminal Court and other international bodies including the United Nations and African Union.

His international law clients have included political and religious groups from across the globe and include Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, and Jain groups.

Tayab has a unique practice in advising political groups both in the UK and abroad.

Following the Egyptian coup in 2013 Tayab was retained by the Egyptian Freedom and Justice Party to advise the political party on how best to respond to massive human rights violations being committed by the military.

In addition to Egypt, he has advised political groups across the globe including in the UK, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia and Palestine.

Tayab has represented the interests of hundreds of people sentenced to death in Egyptian mass trials. This included making oral submissions in Gambia to the Commissioners of the African Commission of Human and Peoples’ rights.

Tayab established and led an international legal team which brought the violations to the attention of States and international political and legal institutions. The work included complaints to the United Nations and International Criminal Court. The work led to the British police investigating members of the coup government for international crimes.

In 2015 Tayab represented the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood in the then Prime Minister’s review of the organisation’s international activities. He was also retained by the group to provide evidence to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee’s Inquiry into Political Islam.

General Crime (UK) (Private)

Tayab represents a limited number of clients on a private basis where they are accused of general criminal acts.

His clients regularly include professional people accused of a variety of criminal offences including murder, fraud, manslaughter, rape, assault, sex offences, theft, and public order offences.

Fraud, Financial Crime and Regulation

Tayab regularly represents clients accused of fraud, money laundering and financial crime, including in an international or multi-jurisdictional context. His clients have included individuals, business directors, companies, charities, trustees and professionals.

He is currently advising a client and his company with regards to high level government related VAT and corporation tax fraud.

Tayab regularly advises clients that are subject to UK, US and UN sanctions regimes.

National Security

Tayab has also acted and advised clients on National Security cases. His recent clients have included a member of a UK government Department in an investigation involving leaks from the Government’s National Security Council.

Tayab’s clients have included the former Investigative Editor of WikiLeaks Sarah Harrison, Bitcoin entrepreneur Amir Taaki and US Crypto-anarchist and gun rights activist Cody Wilson.

Tayab has also advised and represented clients on matters related to national security and official secrets including former members of the UK special forces, security services and other government agencies.

Terrorism

Tayab is one of the country’s leading authorities on counter-terrorism law, having acted in numerous high-profile prosecutions over the last two decades. He was the lead solicitor in the Supreme Court case, R v Gul, which defined “terrorism” in the context of military attacks by non-State armed groups in a non-international armed conflict.

He also acted for Sally Lane and John Letts who were prosecuted for funding terrorism when they sent money to their son in Syria. The case involved pre-trial clarification of law, which included a Supreme Court case ruling on the test in terrorism funding cases and a Court of Appeal case which ruled on whether duress of circumstances was available as a defence in terrorist funding cases.

Drugs offences

Tayab has been retained by defendants accused of their part in large scale drugs conspiracies often relating to organised criminal networks.

Drugs – Medicinal Necessity 

Tayab has successfully represented Lesley Gibson who was prosecuted for the cultivation of cannabis. Lesley and her husband Mark were acquitted in Carlisle Crown Court after the Crown Prosecution Service were persuaded that to continue to prosecute Lesley could not be in the public interest.

You can read more about Lesley’s case here 

The Telegraph

The Times & The Times – Lawyer of the Week