Harry Stratton has won permission for a judicial review claim on behalf of Lakshmi Balakrishnan, a former student at the University of Oxford.
Ms Balakrishnan is an Indian national with no significant income and limited financial resources. Despite her difficult circumstances, she won a place at Oxford to study for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy on Shakespeare. She was subsequently excluded from the DPhil program, and alleges that the University’s decision-making process was tainted, including by reason of racial discrimination. She complained to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education, which dismissed her complaint. She now brings a claim for judicial review.
Ms Balakrishnan’s claim initially failed on the basis of a failure to serve the claim form in time. Harry Stratton represented her pro bono through Advocate, and won a retrospective extension of time to serve, and permission to proceed with the claim on all grounds. The case now proceeds to trial.