Dr Imranali Panjwani has lived, studied and worked in the UK, Middle East, East-Africa and Australia as an academic, lawyer, chaplain and community worker. He has written 200+ country experts reports for asylum seekers under the instructions of UK and international law firms. His reports have been commented upon by judges and lawyers and draw upon his diverse legal, cultural and religious experiences.
For his access to justice work in immigration and asylum he received the national Spirit in the Community award at the GG2 Leadership & Diversity Awards in 2025 and Highly Commended Access to Justice award at the UK Diversity Legal Awards in 2021.
Qualifications:
- LLB in Law, University of Sheffield
- PGDip in the Legal Practice Course (LPC), University of Law
- Seminary Training in Islamic Studies & Arabic, Al-Mahdi Institute
- PGDip in Academic Practice, King’s College London
- PhD in Theology & Religious Studies, King’s College London (Title: ‘The role of the self in the Islamic-Western human rights discourse’)
- Post-Doctoral Research & Persian Language Studies: The Research Institute of Al-Mustafa International University (Jami'at al-Mustafa), Mashhad, Iran
Research expertise:
Islamic Law, Western Law, Human Rights, Migration & Trafficking, Scriptural Interpretation, Access to Justice, Decolonisation, Minority Communities
Areas of expertise in country expert reports:
- Overall country profiles with respect to internal relocation, healthcare, employment and safety
- Ethnic and religious groups such as Shi’a and Sunni
- Political, social and cultural movements e.g Muslim Brotherhood
- Terrorism and the role of militias
- Human rights: conflicts between secular and religious law, gender, religious and sexual discrimination, freedom of expression and political thought
- FGM
- Human dignity
- Women’s rights, relationships and honour-killings
- Human trafficking: men, women and children
- Multiculturalism, integration, relocation
- Islamic law and theology
- Muslim sects and diaspora
200+ country expert reports for UK and international law firms.
Country expert reports submitted to the UK Immigration & Asylum Tribunal and commented upon by judges (sample list):
- ‘Country Expert Report on Nigeria’ submitted to the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber). Case Number: UI-2022-006531, 9 July 2024
- 'Country Expert Report on Saudi Arabia' submitted to the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) Appeal Number: PA/04774/2019, 11 March 2020
- 'Country Expert Report on India' submitted to the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) Appeal Number: HU/14446/2016, 29 April 2019
Tribunal remarks (selected list):
Report on Iraq in relation to apostasy and honour-killings:
v “The Appellant provided an expert report. I have carefully considered this report. It is written by Dr. Imranali Panjwani...taking into account his qualifications and experience, I find that his evidence can be relied on” (para 23).
v “I find the evidence cited by Dr. Panjwani corroborates the Appellant’s claim and is consistent with his claim to fear both his family and his girlfriend’s family” (para 31)
v “I find that there is force in Dr. Panjwani’s argument, and I attach weight to this” (para 38).
— First-tier Tribunal (Immigration & Asylum Chamber), 10th July 2019
Testimonials from law firms (selected list):
Report on Iraq: “Dr Imranali Panjwani’s report in relation to honour crimes/killings against males, and apostasy in Iraq, proved to be invaluable at the Appeal. Dr Imranali was knowledgeable about relevant recent immigration case law and the CPIN on Iraq. I would recommend his professional expertise without hesitation.”
— (IMK Solicitors, Milton Keynes)
Report on Saudi Arabia: “Dr. Imranali Panjwani provided us with an instant quote and was easy and friendly to deal with. The expert report was detailed and correctly applied to the client’s situation. There was detailed country evidence and this was synthesised to the client’s case. Dr. Imranali Panjwani has been a pleasure to work and easy to instruct.”
— (Halliday Reeves, Middlesbrough)
Report on Morocco: “My client was granted refugee status on the basis of particular social group - street child. Thank you very much for the report it had an important impact on the case.”
— (Katani & Co, Glasgow)
Edited books
Panjwani, S & Panjwani, I (ed). ‘The Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheries of East Africa: Their Quest for a New Socio-religious Identity (1860 – 1960)’ (Birmingham: Sun Behind the Clouds Publications, 2023). For a review of this book, see Professor Liyakat Takim’s review here: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0048721X.2024.2348892
Panjwani, I (ed)., The Shi’a of Samarra: The Heritage & Politics of a Community in Iraq (London: Bloomsbury 2012)
Journal articles (selected list)
Panjwani, I., ‘The importance of incorporating religious, cultural and linguistic evidence in UK immigration procedures: an analysis of the semiotic codes of asylum seekers’, International Journal for the Semiotics of Law – Special Issue: Subjectivities & Religion (Springer), (2024), 37:1.
Panjwani, I., ‘Where law, politics, scripture and theology intersect: an exegetical examination of 49:13 in the Qur’an in light of India’s right-wing legislation and policies against Muslims’,The Round Table (Taylor & Francis), (2023), 112:5, 481-494.
Panjwani, I., ‘The ignored heritage of Western law: the historical and contemporary role of Islamic law in shaping law schools’, The Law Teacher (Taylor & Francis), (2020), 54:4, 562-577.
Chapters (selected list)
Panjwani, I. (2020) 'From Fair Hearing to Fair Tech Hearing: Access to Justice in Immigration & Asylum Cases'. In: Chishti, S., Adams Bhatti, S. A., Datoo, A. and Indjic, D., The LegalTech Book. New Jersey: Wiley, pp.193-196.
Panjwani, I. (2019) 'From Theory to Practice: The Role of the Subject in the Derivation of Rulings and Its Potential in Creating a System of Case Law for the Operation of Shīʿī Law’ in Bhojani,'. In: Bohlander, A., de Rooij, L. and Bohlander, M. (2019) Contemporary Discussions in Shi‘i Legal Theory. Leiden: Brill.
Entries
Panjwani, I. (2019) 'Bahrain'. In Merskin, D. (Ed)., The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Mass Media & Society(Los Angeles: Sage Publications).
Submissions to the UK Parliament
Greenfields, M., Dagilyte, E., Gillin, N., Radley, C., Panjwani, I., Paraskevopoulou, A., Caddick, N. and Smith, D. (2022) 'Submission to the Justice and Home Affairs Committee Committee's Enquiry in Family Migration', 7.2: The Afghan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme (ARCS), 15 September 2022.
Recent presentations and conferences
‘Human Trafficking of Young Albanian Males to the UK’, EUROCRIM conference, The American College of Greece, Athens, 3-6 September 2025
- ‘A Lacuna in Shi’i Legal Theory: Human Experience’, Al-Mahdi Institute, Birmingham, 17-18 July 2025
- ‘Creative ways to discuss race, gender, identity and politics in the classroom’, ARU Engage Conference, 24 June 2025
- ‘Was the Imami socio-political model ever conceived as a ‘minority’?’, Communal Organization and Coexistence in Shiʿism and Ibadism, International Symposium, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland, 12-14 June 2025
- ‘An evaluation of Qaidat al-Firash (the rule of the wedlock) in Islamic & English law’, Al-Mahdi Institute, Birmingham, 6-7 July 2023
- ‘Interpreting history and human struggle: the migration of the Khoja Shi’a Ithna Asheries from India to East-Africa’, AHSS Research Conference, ARU Cambridge, 22nd June 2023
- ‘The importance of religious, cultural and linguistic evidence in immigration and asylum cases’, 23rd International Roundtable for the Semiotics of Law held at Pontificia Università Antonianum, Rome, 25th May 2023
- ‘The Need for a Language Database: How Asylum Seekers become Passive Participants in Formulating their Identities in a Democratic Society’, Participation through Language: Actors, Practices, Ideologies, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, 25th – 26 March 2021
- Interview with Dr. Imranali Panjwani upon receiving the national Spirit in the Community award at the GG2 Leadership & Diversity Awards 2025, 11 March 2025
- ‘Legal scholar Panjwani wins GG2 Award for championing asylum seekers & community justice’, The Muslim News, 12 June 2025
- ‘Case for diversity is proven and essential for collective prosperity’, Eastern Eye, 11 March 2025
- Interview with Chelmsford Community Radio on the Afghanistan Crisis, August 2021.
- ‘Breaking barriers through our shared history: Islam's role in the English Enlightenment’, ARU Interfaith Week, 12 November 2020:
- Islamic centre donates Anzac cash after Sydney Council denied $5000 grant for Dawn Service, The Daily Telegraph, 24 March 2017.
- You are doing what ISIL wants Hanson slammed over latest Islam 'disease' comments', SBS News, 24 March 2017.
- World Islamic Symposium - Exploring the Meaning & Application of Human Dignity in Islam', Imam Hasan Centre, Sydney, Hills News, 21 July 2016.
Media experience
Dr Imranali Panjwani has appeared in online, local and international news. Some of his recent press coverage includes:
- Interview with Dr. Imranali Panjwani upon receiving the national Spirit in the Community award at the GG2 Leadership & Diversity Awards 2025, 11 March 2025
- ‘Legal scholar Panjwani wins GG2 Award for championing asylum seekers & community justice’, The Muslim News, 12 June 2025
- ‘Case for diversity is proven and essential for collective prosperity’, Eastern Eye, 11 March 2025
- Interview with Chelmsford Community Radio on the Afghanistan Crisis, August 2021.
- ‘Breaking barriers through our shared history: Islam's role in the English Enlightenment’, ARU Interfaith Week, 12 November 2020:
- Islamic centre donates Anzac cash after Sydney Council denied $5000 grant for Dawn Service, The Daily Telegraph, 24 March 2017.
- You are doing what ISIL wants Hanson slammed over latest Islam 'disease' comments', SBS News, 24 March 2017.
- World Islamic Symposium - Exploring the Meaning & Application of Human Dignity in Islam', Imam Hasan Centre, Sydney, Hills News, 21 July 2016.