Hauwa Shehu

Hauwa is a barrister with over 12 years of criminal and civil litigation experience, domestically in the UK and internationally, spanning both the public and private sectors.

Having started her legal career in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Hauwa gained a breadth of experience prosecuting the full range of criminal offences including serious violent and sexual assaults, domestic abuse, hate crime, youth cases and organised crime. She has extensive experience of working with vulnerable victims and witnesses, conducting front line advocacy and dealing with cases in the Magistrates, Crown and High Courts.

During this time, Hauwa also worked in the International Justice and Organised Crime Division and was appointed as the subject matter expert on Extradition.

As part of her commitment to International Justice and the fight against racial inequality, Hauwa undertook anti-death penalty work in Florida and Texas USA.

Over the years, Hauwa maintained a civil litigation practice, later moving over to the Government Legal Department as a Senior Civil Litigation Lawyer.  She most recently launched her own legal practice, enabling her to use her wide and varied experience, to better serve private clients and support marginalised communities.

Hauwa has previously led employee networks including the CPS’s Race and Muslim Networks and the Civil Service Muslim Network, the umbrella network for all Muslims and Muslim Networks across UK government. Within the Civil Service Hauwa has been nominated for and won multiple awards in recognition of her work, performance and service.

Hauwa is passionate about diversity and inclusion, working with young people and local communities. She supports her local Madrasa (Islamic school) and regularly appears as a speaker on issues impacting minority groups. As a recipient of an Aziz Foundation Scholarship, Hauwa is completing a part-time LLM with Birkbeck, University of London. She is also a proud mother of three energetic young boys who keep her motivated to fight for a better future for our global society.