Our work covers all areas of family law, with particular expertise in the following areas:
Call: 2001 / Silk: 2017
'Edward Devereux knows the law, the courts and the judges backwards. He produces masterclasses of peerless advocacy and creates magic as an advocate in the courtroom.'
Chambers UK Bar 2025
Edward was called to the Bar in 2001 and was appointed a KC in 2017. He was the youngest specialist family barrister to be appointed a KC in the last twenty years. He is widely regarded to be one of the leading barristers of his generation.
He has been described as –
“a titan” (Chambers UK Guide to the Legal Profession (2020))
“one of the most impressive advocates at the family bar” (The Legal 500 (2021))
“one of the heavyweights of family law, a phenomenal advocate…terrifying to the other side when he cross-examines” (Chambers UK Guide to the Legal Profession (2020))
“a walking encyclopaedia on international children law” (Chambers UK Guide to the Legal Profession (2022))
“A master of strategy, incredibly intelligent, and his advocacy is simply superb. No one can touch him” (The Legal 500 2022))
“Intellectually creative, always alive to appeal points and an excellent advocate” (Spear’s 500, 2022)
“Has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the law” (The Legal 500 2020)
“He has a compelling style of advocacy, which is delivered with sheer eloquence” (The Legal 500 2018)
Edward acted for Rocco Ritchie in disputes between his mother Madonna and his father Guy Ritchie (see Madonna Ciccone v Guy Ritchie and Rocco Ritchie [2016] 4 WLR 60 and Madonna Ciccone v Guy Ritchie and Rocco Ritchie (No 2) [2016] 1 WLR 3545), for the parents of Archie Battersbee in their efforts seeking to resist the application of a NHS Trust to withdraw life sustaining treatment from their son, Archie (see Barts Health NHS Trust v Dance and others, Court of Appeal, 6 July 2022, 25 July 2022 and 1 August 2022), and for the family of AH, who was said to be “the most complex Covid patient in the world”, who were also seeking to resist an application to withdraw life sustaining treatment from AH (see In re AH [2022] 1 WLR 2437).
Edward has a wide-ranging practice in family law. Many of the cases in which Edward has argued (whether at trial or appellate level) have significantly changed the law in the UK or around the world.
Amongst many other significant cases, Edward represented one of the parties in the landmark alternative dispute resolution case of AI v MT (Alternative Dispute Resolution) [2013] 2 FLR 371; represented the applicant before the Court of Appeal in a case that concerned one of the largest ever reported monetary awards in the UK involving an unmarried couple (see In re A (A Child) (Financial Provision: Wealthy Parent) [2015] 3 WLR 48); led the legal team for the father before the UK Supreme Court in the recent case of G v G (Secretary of State for the Home Department and others intervening) [2021] 2 FLR 536; was the principal author of an Amicus Brief for Reunite Child Abduction Centre in the matter of Monasky v Taglieri (No. 18-935) before the United States Supreme Court; and has acted for the UK government in a number of domestic and international cases (see, for example, Regina (GA and others) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2021] 1 WLR 5966, H v R and another (No 2) (Attorney General for England and Wales intervening) [2021] 3 WLR 1175, Hampshire County Council v CE and another (Child and Family Agency and another intervening) [2019] 1 WLR 2019 (before the Court of Justice of the European Union).
Over the course of his career, he has appeared before, or presented submissions to, a large number of different national and international courts including the UK Supreme Court (on eleven occasions), the House of Lords, the Court of Justice of the European Union (on a number of occasions acting for the UK government), the European Court of Human Rights and the United States Supreme Court. He has appeared in over 80 cases reported in the Family Law Reports.
Edward was an author and editor of the foremost book on the conflict of laws, Dicey, Morris and Collins, The Conflict of Laws (to which he contributed to the supplement to the fifteenth edition). He also, with His Honour Judge Hess and His Honour Judge Dancey, authored the Standard Family Orders Handbook, vol. 2, Children and Other Orders (2018) and wrote the chapter on child abduction for Child Case Management Practice (editors Lord Justice Ryder and Ian Goldrein KC).
In 2015, Edward won Junior Family Barrister of the Year at the Chambers and Partners Bar Awards. In 2014, he was shortlisted for International Family Lawyer of the Year at the Family Law Awards. Edward was one of the barristers profiled in Family Law Advocacy How Barristers Help the Victims of Family Failure, Mavis Maclean and John Eekelaar (2009, Hart Publishing). Edward has given many lectures on family law over the last twenty years to a wide range of different audiences.
A full list of his reported cases can be found here.
To instruct Edward or for more information…
Call: 020 7353 6961
Email: clerks@harcourtchambers.co.uk
For many years, Edward has been regarded as one of the leading barristers in the country practising in international family law. The Chambers UK Guide to the Legal Profession has described him as “a leading expert in the international movement of children” and has said of him that “he has been involved in landmark cases that have shaped the country’s laws…his extensive knowledge of EU law is impeccable. He has a great strategic mind…”
Edward has appeared in many of the most important international family law cases in the UK in recent years.
He principally practises in the following areas:
Second judgment in a case concerning two children who had come across the channel in a small boat without their parents.
First judgment in case concerning two children who had come across channel in small boat without parents.
First judgment in case concerning two children who had come across channel in small boat without parents.
This case involved a dispute between father and mother regarding the custody and welfare of their child and financial matters pertaining to their former family home.
Judgment in care proceedings concerning four children subject to an undetermined asylum application, considering issue of jurisdiction.
Successfully secured the return of a young child from Zambia, over 18 months after she was retained there by her mother.
Successfully appealed a decision of the High Court concerning the jurisdiction of the courts in relation to a child wrongfully retained in Zambia. The case provides important clarification about habitual residence and the need to avoid over-simplification of the test, while also making clear for the purposes of the Family Law Act 1986 that it is the substance of the orders sought, not the form of the application, that matters. The case has been remitted for re-hearing on the issue of habitual residence at the date of the application.
Successfully resisted application to appeal.
Application by father for permission to appeal against stay of Schedule 1 CA application, pending conclusion of litigation between the parties in Russia.
Successfully represented the father who sought his children’s summary return to Dubai.
Edward represents all parties (including parents, grandparents, and the children themselves) in disputes relating to children. Such disputes include matters relating to whom a child should live, how much time a child should spend with a parent and under what conditions they should spend such time, and whether a child should travel abroad either permanently or on a temporary basis. Often the cases with which Edward deals have complex facts and/or medical evidence, physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse, or allegations that one party has alienated the child from, or is negatively influencing the child against, the other party. Edward has a particular specialism in representing, or questioning, children in court (see, for example, the leading case on Judges meeting with children: In Re KP (Abduction: Rights of Custody) [2014] 1 WLR 4326 (Court of Appeal)).
Fact-finding in long-running private law proceedings.
Represented the first respondent mother, Katy Ashworth, a children’s television presenter, at a finding of fact hearing before Arbuthnot J. The Court found the vast majority of the 46 allegations of coercive and controlling behaviour by the father against the mother and others proved. The Court published the judgment as it was in the public interest to have this substantial fact finding judgment in the public domain and it did so in a largely unanonymised form to assist the mother to put the record straight as the long running dispute between the parties was the subject of distorted coverage online.
Jurisdiction in a children’s case.
Permanent relocation.
Temporary relocation.
Recognition of a foreign order.
Recognition of a foreign order.
Guidance for Judges meeting with children.
Divorce jurisdiction.
For many years, Edward has undertaken heavy-weight public law cases involving serious injuries to children, and/or disputed medical evidence, and/or complex facts. He acts for local authorities, parents, grandparents, family members accused of serious allegations and children. In 2019, he acted in a lengthy trial lasting about three months which concerned allegations involving endemic sexual abuse within a family and a community in the North East of England. Often he is brought in to argue cases on appeal – whether before the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court – involving difficult issues of law.
Care proceedings concerning four boys. Ordered that they be returned to Austria, where they lived until May 2023.
How long can a care order last for.
Was the permanent removal a child from a mother justified.
Adoption and transfer of proceedings abroad.
Interim care order.
Should a care order or another order be made to facilitate the placement of a child abroad.
Court of Protection and Medical Treatment
Edward acts in a range of different matters before the Court of Protection including matters concerning the assessment of capacity, the deprivation of liberty, and the international abduction of vulnerable adults.
'His demeanour and performances mark him out as an aristocrat of the Bar. He's a gentleman and the person to call for international work.'
Chambers UK Bar 2025
'Edward Devereux is a true specialist in international family law who has an excellent depth of knowledge and almost unparalleled experience.'
Chambers UK Bar 2025
‘Edward has a phenomenal practice in international children's law cases.'
The Legal 500 UK Bar 2025
"Edward exudes confidence and you believe everything he says. He has the ability to represent his client in a way that's very measured; he's not aggressive, but rather, calm and reassuring."
Chambers UK Bar 2024
‘He is intellectually creative, always alive to appeal points and an excellent advocate in international children law.’
Spears Top Recommended 2024, Family Law Barristers
"Edward pays good attention to detail and his advocacy is very smooth. He is very good with the client."
Chambers UK Bar 2024
Harcourt Chambers is proud to announce that several of our barristers have been recognised in the Doyle’s Guide 2025, reinforcing our reputation as a leading family law set.
In this…
In Re K (Children) (Application for return orders: Concurrent asylum claims) [2025] EWHC 450 (Fam) and Re K (Children) (No 2) (Application for return orders: best interests decisions) [2025] EWHC 451 (Fam) the High Court…
Following the earlier reported decisions where Edward Devereux KC and Prof Rob George represented the father in the successful Court of Appeal challenge, the re-hearing and the fact finding in…