Aamer Anwar is a criminal defence lawyer and human rights campaigner who has instructed on some of Scotland’s most high profile cases.
For over three decades Aamer has been a tireless advocate of civil liberties, with a career dedicated to defending the human rights of the vulnerable. He has built a reputation for securing acquittals against the odds and his experience and judgement repeatedly stands out from his peers.
Brought up in Liverpool, Aamer came to Scotland in 1986 to study mechanical engineering at Glasgow University. He graduated from Social Sciences with an MA (Hons) in 1994. In 2007, he founded the award winning criminal law firm, Aamer Anwar & Co.
In 1995 he made legal history in a successful civil action against the Police for a racist attack on himself in 1991 whilst a student at Glasgow University, when he was told ‘this is what happens to black boys with big mouths’ as his teeth were smashed out. He went to study law at Strathclyde University School of Law. In 2017 he became the Rector of the University of Glasgow.
Aamer is best known for campaigning for justice for murdered waiter Surjit Singh Chhokar which led two judicial inquiries, a change in the law and an unrelenting 18 year campaign which finally helped secure a conviction in October 2016.
In 2016 Aamer won ‘Solicitor of the Year’ in the Herald’s Law Awards of Scotland 2016, followed by the Lawyer of the Year in 2017 at the Legal Awards of Scotland. At the Lloyds TSB Jewel Awards, he received the Professional Excellence Award as a ‘recognition of his outstanding achievements and the huge impact his work has had UK wide’.
He has acted as a legal adviser to the Scottish Campaign against Criminalising of Communities, the Stop the War Coalition, the Miscarriages of Justice Organisation and is a Trustee of TIE, an LGBT Inclusive Education charity. Aamer is a regular and respected commentator on the news as well as writing on a wide range of issues including criminal law, civil liberties and terrorism.