Silvia joined our Public Law and Human Rights team as an Associate in September 2024.
Silvia has over 11 years PQE expertise in administrative, civil liberties and human rights law. She specialises in bringing judicial review challenges against public authorities on behalf of victims of trafficking, children, detained individuals and NGOs.
She has developed a particular interest and expertise in acting for victims of trafficking, particularly children and young adults who are at risk of being re-trafficked and are not receiving sufficient protection and financial support. Silvia also acts on behalf of individuals seeking recognition and protection by the State as victims of trafficking and modern slavery.
In addition, Silvia deals with public and private law claims against detaining authorities seeking remedies for her clients who have been unlawfully detained. She has obtained damages for many such clients.
Silvia also has experience of representing unaccompanied asylum seeking minors in age disputes in the Upper Tribunal (Immigration & asylum Chamber).
In 2019 Silvia acted on behalf of Child Redress International in the Independent Inquiry into Child and Sexual Abuse (IICSA) in the Children Outside the UK Investigation; a case study that looked at the adequacy of the civil framework for the prevention of and notification to foreign authorities of foreign travel by individuals known to the UK authorities as posing a risk to children.
In 2020 – 2021 Silvia acted on behalf of a whistle-blower in the IICSA case study looking at institutional responses to widespread child sexual abuse at children’s homes in Lambeth.
Education and career
- Silvia graduated from Queen Mary, University of London in 2009 with an LLB in English and European Law
- She obtained a Certificate in French and European Law from the Université Paris-II Panthéon-Assas
- Silvia completed her Legal Practice Course at the College of Law part-time in 2011.
- She trained in the international and group claims department at a law firm in London. On qualification she moved to a legal aid law firm in London, where she gained expertise in public law and judicial review. She then moved to another law firm in London, where she worked for 9 years and continued to develop her expertise in public law and civil claims.
Recognition
In 2017 and 2018 Silvia was nominated for two national awards (Junior Lawyer of the Year at the Law Society Excellence Awards 2017 and Children’s Rights Lawyer at the Legal Aid Lawyer of the Year Awards 2018). In 2018 she received the ECPAT UK Children’s Champion Award. She was nominated for this award again in 2023.
Silvia is ranked in the Legal 500 and in Chambers and Partners.
- “Silvia is a brilliant lawyer, particularly strong on trafficking and working with unaccompanied asylum seeking children.”
- “Silvia is able to see big strategic cases and human right challenges while always having an absolute grip of the needs of the client.” (Chambers and Partners 2025, Administrative and Public Law)
- “She is able to deal with big strategic cases, and human right challenges, while always having an absolute grip on the need of the client.” (Chambers and Partners 2025, Civil Liberties and Human Rights)
- “I’d single out Silvia as being really good. She is great with clients, very knowledgeable and an expert in her field.”
- “Silvia has brought the biggest trafficking cases on policy issues; she is able to see big strategic cases and human rights challenges while always having an absolute grip of the need of the client.”
- “Silvia works on a lot of human trafficking litigation. She advises companies in social responsibility and immigration work in that space.”
- “Silvia is a brilliant lawyer, and is particularly strong on trafficking and working with unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.” (Chambers and Partners 2025, DEI Champion – UK Wide)
- “She has such good networks in the NGO sector, which makes her ideal for bringing policy challenges”. “A really excellent lawyer with an incredibly formidable reputation” (Chambers and Partners 2022, Administrative and Public Law)
- “Silvia Nicolaou Garcia is particularly experienced in representing vulnerable individuals who have been victims of trafficking or child abuse”. “She is an absolute star”. “Silvia Nicolaou Garcia is recognised as a go-to on trafficking and child abuse”. “She is very diligent, strategic and attentive” (Chambers and Partners 2022, Civil Liberties and Human Rights).
- “The team is committed to assisting the most vulnerable in complex cases…the team is focused on achieving the best result for clients and also working in a collaborative way with other solicitors and NGO’s in order to have a bigger impact” (Legal 500, Administrative and Public Law).
- “Associate Silvia Nicolaou Garcia really gets the crossover between human rights and public law according to commentators. She regularly works with trafficked individuals and vulnerable adults. She has some of the best qualities you can find in a solicitor notes a source, explaining: She’s so sensitive to the issues and has a great demeanour and manner with vulnerable children” (Chambers and Partners 2021, Administrative and Public Law).
- “Silvia Nicolaou Garcia is well regarded for her public law and civil liberties practice. She is particularly experienced in representing vulnerable individuals who have been victims of trafficking or child abuse. She is extremely committed to her clients – the preparation of evidence goes above and beyond” (Chambers and Partners 2021, Civil Liberties & Human Rights).
- “Silvia Nicolaou Garcia earns recognition for her work on behalf of vulnerable children, particularly with regard to trafficking cases. Commentators say: “She’s creative, imaginative and thorough. You want her on your side” (Chambers and Partners 2020, Civil Liberties & Human Rights).
Professional memberships
- Anti-Trafficking Legal Project (ATLEP)
- GRETA Network of Anti-Trafficking Lawyers
Experience and cases
- R (MD and EH) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWCA Civ 336. Silvia acted for MD, a victim of trafficking who challenged the Home Office’s failure to provide child trafficking support to asylum-seeking victims of trafficking and argued that the denial of support directly and indirectly discriminated against her and others like her
- R (MN) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] EWCA Civ 1746. Silvia acted for MN, who challenged the Home Office’s decision not to identify her as a victim of human trafficking. The Court of Appeal quashed the negative trafficking decision and gave detailed guidance for the government’s assessment of trafficking victims’ medical and expert evidence
- R (K & AM) v SSHD [2018] EWHC 2951 (Admin) Silvia acted for one of the co-claimants, MD. The Claimants successfully challenged the Home Office’s attempt to cut trafficking support payments for victims of trafficking who are also asylum seekers. The Home Office was ordered to make backpayments to all those affected. Backpayments were estimated to be worth around £1 million. A redress scheme was set up: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-a-subsistencerates-back-payment-victims-of-modern-slavery
- R (TDT) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2018] EWCA Civ 1395 . Silvia challenged the Home Office’s failure to protect a trafficked child from going missing when he was released from immigration detention. The judges found that the Home Office had acted in breach of her protective duty under Article 4 ECHR by releasing the Claimant from immigration detention without putting in place adequate measures to protect them from being re-trafficked
More about Silvia
In addition to her casework, Silvia provides regular training to charities and NGOs and regularly writes articles on Legal Action. In 2019 she delivered training to the Peruvian Judiciary on international law and human trafficking.
Silvia is a member of the lawyers’ network run by the Council of Europe Group of Experts against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA).
