Carolina Bracken

Carolina is a criminal barrister at 5 Paper Buildings. Her practice encompasses a broad variety of criminal and quasi-criminal cases, including professional disciplinary and regulatory matters. Carolina often prosecutes on behalf of Local Authorities in environmental, planning, and health and safety cases, with a particular emphasis on consumer and trading standards prosecutions. As she is often instructed to advise pre-charge, she understands the powers available to investigators, and the particular sensitivities of the investigation process. In addition, Carolina often represents professional clients in disciplinary proceedings following the linked criminal prosecution. An unusually significant part of her practice involves confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, and she frequently deploys her knowledge of property law and trusts when representing third party interveners. In confiscation proceedings, she has acted for defendants involved in one of the largest heroin seizures, and the largest mortgage fraud investigation, in England and Wales. Prior to coming to the Bar, Carolina worked for the Crown Prosecution Service, and for a Westminster-based think tank conducting research into criminal justice policy with a focus on education in prison.