Jacqueline McKenzie (lawyer)

Born in England of Grenadian and Jamaican parentage, McKenzie lived between 1975 and 1981 in Grenada, where she attended St Joseph's Convent and the Institute for Further Education. She studied journalism and media at the University of the Arts London, and read law at West London University (LLB Law), as well as earning postgraduate degrees in International Relations, Human Rights and Documentary Research, at the University of Kent and the University of the Arts London. In addition to being admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in 2008, McKenzie was called as a barrister to the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court of Grenada in 2011.{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/windrush-lessons-learned-review-information/windrush-lessons-learned-review-independent-advisory-group-membership-list-and-biographies|title=Guidance – Windrush Lessons Learned Review: Independent Advisory Group membership list and biographies|date=19 March 2020|website=gov.uk|publisher=Home Office|access-date=5 December 2020}}

In 1981 McKenzie was employed as a Treasury clerk in the Ministry of Finance, Grenada, then between 1983 and 1985 she worked as a civil servant in the British Department of Health and Social Security, and from 1986 to 2005 she held various positions connected with community relations, including as a race equality officer in the Hackney Council, studying at night school for a law degree.

She became a solicitor practising with Birnberg Peirce and Partners (2005–2010) – the company started by Benedict Birnberg and continued by Gareth Peirce – and has since specialised in civil liberties, immigration and asylum law. In 2010, she established her own firm, McKenzie Beute and Pope (MBP), in Streatham, south London.{{cite web|url=http://mckenziebeuteandpope.com/|title=Our People|publisher=McKenzie Beute and Pope: Immigration and Asylum Law Practice|access-date=5 December 2020}}

During a 2012–2014 sabbatical, McKenzie was chief executive of the female prisoners welfare association, Hibiscus Initiatives, heading a team of professionals doing advocacy and support work with ex-offenders.

She has lectured in equalities, law and international relations at Queen Mary University of London, and Schiller International University, and she is a board member and trustee of several community organisations and policy groups "committed to defending and promoting human rights and championing the causes of those deemed marginalised". McKenzie also provides training in immigration law and policy, including for the CARICOM Diplomatic Corp of High Commissioners in the UK.{{cite web|url=http://diversitylegalawards.org/mckenzie-beute-pope-bsn-small-law-firm-of-the-year-winner-2019/|title=Jacqueline McKenzie – McKenzie Beute & Pope – Category: BSN Small Law Firm of the Year|website=UK Diversity Legal Awards|access-date=5 December 2020}}

In 2015, she founded the Organisation for Migration Advice and Research, which assists people who cannot afford legal services, and undertakes research and policy work.

In 2021, McKenzie joined human rights law firm Leigh Day as a partner.{{cite web|url=https://www.leighday.co.uk/media/nhrbwtbs/quest-for-regulatory-equality-september-2021-final65.pdf|title=The Quest for Regulatory Equality|first=Gideon|last= Habel|author2=Emma Walker|publisher=Leigh Day|page=31|date=September 2021|access-date=22 July 2022}}{{cite web|url=https://www.leighday.co.uk/about-us/our-people/partners/jacqueline-mckenzie/|title=Jacqueline McKenzie {{!}} Partner|publisher=Leigh Day|access-date=22 July 2022}}

For years before the harsh effects of the government's hostile environment policy gained national media attention, McKenzie had been helping Caribbean-born Britons and other migrants to prove their right to stay in the UK, where they had come to live decades earlier but had been provided no official documentation.{{cite news|url=https://eachother.org.uk/windrush-generation-lawyers-justice-compensation/|title=Windrush Lawyers: 'The Government Is Placing Boulders In The Way Of Justice'|first= Ella|last=Braidwood|website=EachOther|date=6 August 2020|access-date=11 December 2020}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/mar/10/it-felt-like-intentional-torture-the-windrush-victims-who-are-still-homeless-two-years-on|title='I have been dehumanised': the Windrush victim sleeping rough at Heathrow airport|newspaper=The Guardian|date=10 March 2020}}{{cite podcast|url=https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/windrush-generation-jess-gillam-waiving-your-right/id130950322?i=1000492497177|title=The Windrush generation, Jess Gillam, Waiving your right to anonymity|work=Woman's Hour|publisher=BBC Radio Four|date=25 September 2020|access-date=11 December 2020}} Her work since 2018 has become increasingly focused on compensation claims linked to the Windrush scandal,{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/windrush-scandal-home-office-compensation-sajid-javid-commons-a8850596.html|title=Home Office condemned over decision to exclude scores of Windrush victims from compensation scheme launch|first=May|last=Bulman|newspaper=The Independent|date=3 April 2019}} and she has represented more than 200 of those wrongly classified by the government as illegal immigrants, whereas "They felt they were moving from one part of the Commonwealth to another!"{{cite web|url=https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/claudia-jones-made-a-way-out-of-no-way|title=Claudia Jones made a way out of no way|first=Lynne|last=Walsh|newspaper=Morning Star|access-date=5 December 2020}} As Amelia Gentleman noted in The Guardian, "McKenzie has become one of the most high-profile, vocal campaigners on behalf of Windrush victims. She was aware of the looming Windrush scandal long before it got its name, and her frustration over the continued delays to justice is fuelled by a memory of the years she spent trying and failing to get officials to pay attention."

McKenzie was a member of the independent advisory group that delivered the Windrush Lessons Learned Review,{{cite web|url=https://www.voice-online.co.uk/news/uk-news/2019/06/22/the-eight-windrush-descendants-to-watch/|title=The Eight Windrush Descendants To Watch|newspaper=The Voice|date=22 June 2019|access-date=7 December 2020}} a report published in March 2020 based on an enquiry into the government's handling of the scandal, which concluded that what had happened had been "foreseeable and avoidable", and that immigration regulations had been tightened "with complete disregard for the Windrush generation".{{Cite book|last=Williams |first=Wendy |date=March 2020 |title=Windrush Lessons Learned Review |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/873667/6.5577_HO_Windrush_Lessons_Learned_Review.pdf }} The report prompted an official apology from the Home Secretary, Priti Patel.{{Cite news|title=Windrush report condemns Home Office 'ignorance and thoughtlessness' |date=19 March 2020 |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/mar/19/windrush-report-condemns-home-office-ignorance-and-thoughtlessness |first=Amelia|last= Gentleman|author2= Owen Bowcott|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319115241/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/mar/19/windrush-report-condemns-home-office-ignorance-and-thoughtlessness |archive-date=19 March 2020 |url-status=live }} McKenzie has said: "For this lessons-learned review to be meaningful, the recommendations that deal with culture and operations are one thing — but we've got to take a look at the laws ... that are racist in their design."{{cite news|url=https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/we-owe-more-than-thanks-to-migrants|title=We owe more than thanks to migrants|first=Bethany|last=Rielly|newspaper=Morning Star|date=22 June 2020}}

McKenzie has highlighted the "indefinite pause on justice" caused by the coronavirus emergency{{cite news|url=https://www.swlondoner.co.uk/news/26032020-coronavirus-presses-pause-on-windrush-justice/|title=Coronavirus 'shutting down' Windrush justice system – says lawyer to scandal victims|work=SW Londoner|first=Anna|last=Cooban|date=26 March 2020|access-date=11 December 2020}} and the need to stop wrongful deportation flights.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47123841|title=Windrush row over criminal deportation flight to Jamaica|first=Shamaan|last=Freeman-Powell|publisher=BBC News|date=6 February 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://liberationorg.co.uk/comment-analysis/the-windrush-scandal-revisited/|title=The Windrush Scandal Revisited|first=Jacqueline|last=McKenzie|website=Liberation|date=7 October 2020|access-date=11 December 2020}}{{cite news|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/27/activists-black-celebrities-call-on-uk-to-halt-deportation-plane|title=Activists, Black celebrities call on UK to halt deportation plane|first= Aina|last=Khan|publisher=Al Jazeera|date=27 November 2020}}{{cite news|url=https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/national/18933014.deportation-flights-seriously-undermining-work-windrush-compensation-scheme/|title=Deportation flights 'seriously undermining' work on Windrush compensation scheme|author=Press Association|author-link=Press Association|newspaper=Telegraph & Argus|date=9 December 2020}}

In 2020, McKenzie Beute and Pope was chosen by the Black Solicitors Network (BSN) as "Small Law Firm of the Year".

McKenzie was recognised for her work fighting for justice after the Windrush Scandal in the annual Powerlist, ranking at number seven in the Top 10 of the Powerlist 2021, compiling the most influential people of African, African American and African Caribbean heritage in the UK.{{cite web |title=Lewis Hamilton named most influential black person in UK |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-54973608 |website=BBC News |access-date=19 January 2021 |date=17 November 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://www.powerful-media.co.uk/powerlist|title=Powerful Media Virtual Black Excellence Awards 2020 – Powerlist 2021 Top 10|publisher=Powerful Media|access-date=5 December 2020}}{{cite news|url=https://www.voice-online.co.uk/news/2020/11/17/lewis-hamilton-named-the-most-influential-black-person-in-britain-by-the-powerlist-2021/|title=Lewis Hamilton named the most influential black person in Britain by The Powerlist 2021|newspaper=The Voice|date=17 November 2020|access-date=5 December 2020}}{{cite news|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/stormzy-leads-most-influential-black-23021349|title=Stormzy leads most influential Black celebrities in UK's 2021 Powerlist|first=Lucy|last=Needham|newspaper=The Mirror|date=17 November 2020}} At Powerful Media's Virtual Black Excellence Awards in November 2020, McKenzie was presented with the #Powerlist2021 Humanitarian Award for her work seeking justice for those affected by the Windrush scandal.{{cite web|url=https://vimeo.com/480491011|title=Powerful Media – Black Excellence Awards 2020|publisher=Michael Eboda|date=17 November 2020|access-date=5 December 2020}} (At 45:20)

She was named at number 10 on the Powerlist 2022 of most influential black Britons.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/15/jacky-wright-and-marcus-rashford-in-top-10-most-powerful-black-britons|title=Jacky Wright and Marcus Rashford in Top 10 most powerful black Britons|first=Aamna|last=Mohdin|newspaper=The Guardian|date=15 October 2021}}

• Benedict Birnberg
• Ian Macdonald QC

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXvfY2e9OOE "Jacqueline Mckenzie"], 2 March 2019.
• [http://mckenziebeuteandpope.com/ Official website]
• [https://twitter.com/JacquiMckenzie6?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Jacqueline (Jacqui) Mckenzie on Twitter]

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Category:21st-century English lawyers

Category:21st-century Grenadian lawyers

Category:Academics of Queen Mary University of London

Category:Alumni of the University of Kent

Category:Alumni of the University of the Arts London

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Category:Black British lawyers

Category:21st-century Black British people

Category:21st-century British lawyers

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Category:English people of Grenadian descent

Category:English people of Jamaican descent

Category:Human rights lawyers

Category:Living people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:21st-century British women lawyers