Megan Millar

Megan has experience of a wide variety of criminal work and regularly appears in the Crown Court and magistrates’ court. She is instructed in a number of Crown Court trials on behalf of the prosecution and defence, including witness intimidation, theft, and offensive weapons. Megan is also instructed as second led junior counsel by the CPS Appeals & Review Unit in a referral by the Criminal Cases Review Commission to the Court of Appeal for an appeal against conviction.

In addition to Crown Court work, Megan prosecutes and defends in the magistrates’ court and the Youth Court. She has experience of dealing with multiple day trials involving complex factual and evidential issues. In the Youth Court, she has prosecuted cases involving multiple youth defendants charged with assault and robbery offences. She has also secured a number of acquittals for clients, including a client charged with possession of a bladed article in circumstances where he was in fear of an imminent attack.

Megan has defended clients charged with road traffic offences, including failure to provide a specimen and drink driving, and has experience of dealing with technical legal issues in this area. She has also successfully run exceptional hardship arguments in circumstances where a client faces disqualification from driving. She accepts private instructions in this area.

Megan has experience of a range of public law matters and is particularly interested in cases involving a criminal law element. She is a member of the Government Legal Department’s “Junior Junior” scheme and has been instructed by the GLD to assist in judicial review proceedings and habeas corpus applications. She has advised on the Secretary of State’s disclosure obligations in proceedings concerning the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy. She also recently assisted in judicial review proceedings concerning the Secretary of State for Justice’s responsibilities towards victims of modern slavery in prison.

Megan has an interest in public inquiries and is currently junior counsel to the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry.

Megan takes pro bono instructions from Advocate, particularly those with a public law element. She recently advised and drafted the grounds for judicial review of a decision by the police to take no further action in respect of an allegation of rape.

Megan has an LL.M. in public international law and human rights. Before coming to the Bar, she worked at the European Court of Human Rights and the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute. As a result, she has a comprehensive understanding of human rights law, both at the domestic and international level, and can provide legal advice on politically sensitive issues. She recently assisted in advising a foreign prosecuting authority in relation to a prospective prosecution with wide-ranging human rights implications and the availability of public law defences during the trial process should the prosecution proceed.

Megan has a particular interest in extradition law. She has experience representing surrendered and requested persons in preliminary hearings and assisting in the preparation of extradition cases, including an extradition appeal in the High Court. She also contributed to updating the extradition chapter of Stone’s Justices’ Manual in relation to the post-Brexit extradition arrangements between the UK and the EU.

In 2019, Megan was the Policy Officer at Law Centre NI, where she coordinated policy responses on access to justice issues. She helped convene the Cliff Edge Coalition, a group of over one hundred organisations advocating for welfare reform and developed an understanding of administrative law and devolution issues.

In 2018, Megan was a legal intern at Media Defence, where she assisted with a constitutional challenge to the Kenyan Penal Code before the East African Court of Justice in relation to the crime of sedition. She also worked at the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute where she spent the majority of her time researching the persecution of the legal profession in Turkey.

In 2016, Megan volunteered at Texas Defender Services where she worked on death penalty cases. This included conducting research and compiling social histories for mitigation proceedings.

• LL.M., University of Melbourne (first class)
• MA, Law , Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge (first class)
• BPTC, City, University of London

“Case comment: In the matter of an application by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission for Judicial Review (Northern Ireland) [2018] UKSC 27” The Young Human Rights Lawyer Journal (2018).

• Pegasus Scholar, Inner Temple (2021)
• Prince of Wales Scholarship, Gray’s Inn (2019)
• David Karmel European Scholarship, Gray’s Inn (2018)
• Ormond Scholarship, University of Melbourne (2017)
• The Frank Galbally Memorial Award for International Criminal Law, University of Melbourne (2017)
• 1912 Senior Scholarship, Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge (2016)
• Whitlock Prize, Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge (2016)

• Young Legal Aid Lawyers
• Women in Criminal Law
• Defence Extradition Lawyers’ Forum
• Extradition Lawyers’ Association

To view Megan Millar’s Privacy Notice, please click here.