Seth Levine

Seth has nearly twenty years of experience working in extradition and related areas, representing and advising governments, individuals and organisations in the UK and globally.  Seth was one of the first barristers to be seconded to the Crown Prosecution Service’s Special Crime Division as an extradition and mutual legal assistance specialist in 2006.  He appeared in many landmark cases under the 2003 Extradition Act relating to European Arrest Warrants.  

As head counsel for the UN’s peacekeeping Mission in the DRC, Seth drafted and implemented extradition arrangements for the surrender of individuals wanted for genocide and war crimes.  As specialist counsel to the Governments of Bermuda and Anguilla, Seth was responsible for conducting import and export extraditions under the 2003 Act as applied to British Overseas Territories, including numerous cases resulting from allegations on the High Seas. 

• + Learn more about Extradition & International

Seth has appeared in numerous complex and serious POCA cases domestically since the 2002 Act came into force.  Working from the British High Commission in Abuja, he was responsible for advising on capacity building to prevent, detect and prosecute illicit financial flows in Nigeria and the wider region.  In Bermuda, Seth worked as specialist counsel with responsibility for developing anti-money laundering and proceeds of crime prosecutions and ensuring regional Financial Action Task Force (FATF) compliance.  He had conduct of complex, high-profile and high-value investigations, prosecutions and asset forfeiture spanning multiple jurisdictions and sectors, including wide-ranging proceedings flowing from a $500m tax fraud in the USA.  In Anguilla, Seth acted in landmark POCA and forfeiture proceedings before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.  

• + Learn more about Asset Forfeiture, Confiscation & Civil Fraud

Seth has worked with businesses in regulated sectors in the UK, West Africa and the Caribbean. He has advised multinational companies including global cruise ship operators and insurers. He has prosecuted and defended complex business crime, often involving alleged compliance failures and breaches of fiduciary responsibilities.

• + Learn more about Business Crime & Financial Regulation

Interpol

Seth has worked with Interpol Red Notices in the UK, Europe, North America, the Caribbean, South America and Central and West Africa.  Having had conduct of extradition and mutual legal assistance cases on behalf of Governments throughout their lifespan, he has particularly keen insight into the operation of Interpol in the regions where he has worked.  

Sanctions

Seth has advised governments, international organisations and the private sector on Sanctions, from inception to compliance and enforcement, for over a decade.  He has particular expertise on counter terrorism and weapons proliferation sanctions imposed by the UN Security Council and specific sanctions brought into force under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, including the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 and the Global Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Sanctions Regulations 2026.  Seth has recently advised on the applicability of exemptions under the Russia Sanctions in respect of oil extraction and export from Kurdish Iraq.  

• + Learn more about Interpol
• + Learn more about Sanctions

As well as acting in some of the most serious and high-profile criminal cases domestically and in the various jurisdictions he has worked in, Seth has spent a considerable portion of his career providing training and capacity building in the field of criminal law and advocacy, including in West Africa and the Caribbean.  As such, he has a thoughtful and nuanced approach to the demands of different cases and tribunals.  Seth is experienced in handling sensitive cases and vulnerable clients and witnesses, as well as representing individuals where reputational concerns are paramount. 

Military law

Having spent many years working as a lawyer in active conflicts in Central and West Africa, on behalf of the United Nations, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and Adam Smith International, Seth is highly experienced in military law, particularly International Humanitarian Law (the Law of Armed Conflict) and armed forces accountability.  He acted as the British High Commission in Nigeria’s lead on legal frameworks relating to IHL, counter-terrorism, criminal justice and related areas in West Africa for a number of years.  Previously, Seth was senior counsel to the UN’s peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), responsible for all matters relating to the Mission’s status as a party to the conflict under its Security Council mandate.  Seth has provided training on IHL to UK and partner forces throughout West Africa.  Seth’s expertise in military law, combined with his experience as a criminal advocate and detailed knowledge of the Armed Forces Act 2006, makes him ideally placed to act in cases before the Service Justice System.  

• + Learn more about Criminal Defence
• + Learn more about Criminal Prosecutions - Private & Public

As counsel before UN Dispute and Appeals Tribunals in Nairobi,  Geneva and New York, Seth has acted in numerous landmark disciplinary and regulatory cases, acting for UN personnel and the Secretary-General.  In Anguilla, Seth has acted as leading counsel and advisor in disciplinary proceedings against senior police officers, prison officers and customs officials.   

• + Learn more about Professional Discipline & Regulatory

Seth has significant experience of working internationally with those displaced by armed conflict, including children and victims of conflict-related sexual violence.  He has worked with the FCDO, NGOs, the United Nations, the ICRC and other IGOs on encouraging adherence to international law, including the principle of non-refoulement under the 1951 Refugee Convention and other protections afforded by instruments such as the Palermo Protocol on human trafficking.  

• + Learn more about Immigration

Seth is an experienced public law advocate, domestically and internationally.  He has appeared in numerous cases before the Administrative Court where ECHR provisions have been in play, particularly relating to terms and conditions of detention. 

In Bermuda, Seth acted as leading counsel in the Supreme Court in a judicial review of the power of the DPP to conduct criminal proceedings against barristers in parallel to disciplinary proceedings brought by the professional regulator.  In Anguilla, Seth acted as leading counsel before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court in a judicial review of the constitutional validity of forfeiture provisions of the Customs Act. 

Working in the Caribbean, Seth developed a detailed understanding of the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), particularly in relation to obligations of flag states and vessel operators for the enforcement of criminal law.  Together with his extensive knowledge of international criminal law instruments, Seth is well-placed to advise and represent governments, organisations and individuals who are impacted by these obligations.  

• + Learn more about Judicial Review & Public Law