Ramiz Gursoy was called to the bar in 1991 after having worked at an International Law Firm in Istanbul, Turkey, for 7 years. He still maintains a close contact with Law Firms in Turkey and represents a large number of clients from Turkey.

He has extensive experience in a very wide variety of criminal cases, predominantly but not exclusively defending serious multi-handed cases, ranging from large heroin importation cases to serious organised crime cases involving blackmail, extortion, conspiracy to murder. He has also extensively defended in rape and sexual assault cases.

Although he has over the recent years acted mainly as leading junior, he has also acted as a junior in drug importation cases, where the value has amounted to millions of pounds and involved cut throat defences, and in high-profile murder cases.

He has recently led in a murder case, where the accused who had been released for the afternoon from the mental wing of a hospital, pushed an innocent bystander at an Underground station in front of an incoming Train. (see R v Bala below)

Ramiz Gursoy has appeared in the appellate Courts, successfully overturning convictions and securing re-trials, including the notable case of R v Jisl (2004) EWCA Crim 696, (Arch 4-84a) (see below) which gave rise to the Case Management Guidelines. He has also regularly acted in appeals against sentence.

He  has also been involved in the international European case of Apostilides v Orams, in which he was lead by Cheri Booth QC in the High Court, Queens Bench Division, acting for a retired elderly English couple who had bought property in North Cyprus that had originally belonged to a Greek Cypriot, prior to the division of the island in 1974. This was a landmark case which involved the actions of the Greek Cypriot Court, that  had no jurisdiction in the northern part of the island under the acquis signed when Cyprus joined the EU.

Although predominantly a defence practitioner, Ramiz Gursoy also has considerable prosecution experience, ranging from robbery, grievous bodily harm, sexual assaults against children and burglary. Most recently in the case of Britton, a very unusual case of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice that attracted great media attention, whereby the defendant had made in excess of fifteen false allegations of rape, kidnap, blackmail, grievous bodily harm and burglary, apparently suffered over a six-month period.

He is fluent in Turkish and has a large Turkish client base as a result. He has close associations in Turkey and can make us of his extensive contacts and knowledge of the Turkish law and legal system.

R v Bayar, case involving importation of 120 kilograms of heroin

R v Jisl, case involving importation of 70 kilograms of heroin, representing the defendant Tekin in the Court of Appeal, whose conviction was overturned because once he had dispensed with his original legal team half way through his trial, he was ordered to defend himself the following day, despite the fact that he had no command or even understanding of the English language.

R v Gumus, a case involving triple murder as a result of the defendant pouring petrol into the hallway of a communal house.

R v Meghrabi, a six-month multi-handed trial involving money laundering in excess of £60 million.

R v Bala, a murder case. The defendant having been released for half a day from the mental wing of a hospital entered the platform of an underground station and pushed an innocent bystanding passenger in front of an oncoming train.

R v Thompson and others, a case involving the importation of cocaine with a value in excess of £5 million concealed in pineapples.

R v Baybasin and others, a case involving 14 defendants, involved in extortion, blackmail, conspiracy to arson and attempted murder inflicted on the Kurdish commercial community in North London.

R v Cavdarli The largest single importation of heroin into the UK, with a wholesale value of £45 million. The case involved the extradition of the defendant from Greece. He was acquitted and upon his release entered Turkey, where he was promptly arrested and charged with offences based upon the same facts as the UK conviction. Ramiz Gursoy travelled to Turkey and gave expert evidence before the court, to explain the trial process in the UK. The case is currently under appeal to the Turkish Supreme Court.

R v Besikcioglu, a case involving VAT evasion.

R v Sari, a mini cab driver accused of rape.

R v Britton 2008. Conviction secured for charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice based on the making of false complaints of false imprisonment, rape, blackmail and grievous bodily harm.

R v Loordu 2009. Multi-handed trial of counts of kidnapping, blackmail, false imprisonment and assault.