Uría Menéndez received the award for Best Pro Bono initiative on 27 June 2024. This was the ninth edition of the Expansión Jurídico Awards organised by the leading business and legal publication.
The award-winning case sought to protect the lives of Afghan nationals and their families who worked with the Spanish authorities and armed forces in Afghanistan and are at serious risk of persecution by the Taliban. The team of 17 lawyers led by José Alberto Navarro focused on strategic litigation and establishing precedents to secure a legal route for them to travel to Spain to apply for asylum. The Spanish administration and courts had denied them access to Spain on numerous occasions, but this was finally rectified by a precedent-setting Supreme Court judgment that held that Afghan nationals and their families have the right to urgent relocation to Spain to escape the dangers they face, including through the adoption of precautionary measures.
This judgment is not only hugely important for Afghan collaborators, but it also opens the door to creating safe routes to Spain for refugees from elsewhere whose physical safety is in danger.
Deputy director of Expansión Manuel del Pozo presented the award to Belén Adell, an Uría Menéndez associate and Professor Uría Foundation volunteer, who accepted the award on behalf of the team.
