Professor,Lord Verdirame KC

Lord Verdirame is a Professor of International Law at the Department of War Studies. He joined King’s in September 2011 as Professor of international law appointed by both the Department of War Studies and the Dickson Poon School of Law. He currently works part-time (0.1 FTE).

Before coming to King’s, he was a Lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law (2003-2011); a Junior Research Fellow at Merton College, Oxford (2000-2003); and a Research Officer at the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford (1997-98). He was Director of Studies for Public International Law at the Hague Academy of International Law (2006), Visiting Professorial Fellow at Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program (2006) and Visiting Professor at Columbia Law School (2015).

He practises as a member of the English Bar in public international law and international arbitration. He has acted as counsel in many high-profile cases before international courts and tribunals, including the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the European Court of Human Rights. He is particularly sought-after for high-value investment treaty arbitrations (under BITs, ECT or investment chapters of FTAs), ranging in value from hundreds of millions to several billions USD, and often involving matters of great national political and economic significance. He has also acted in a number of high-profile cases involving international law issues in the English courts.

Of particular relevance to his academic work at the Department of War Studies is Lord Verdirame KC”s advisory practice for governments, including the British Government. He is regularly instructed to advise on complex legal matters in very sensitive political, economic and diplomatic contexts (including diplomatic negotiations and political disputes). In this role, he has advised (current and former) heads of government, ministers and senior law officers, as well as the CEOs and boards of multinational corporations.

Lord Verdirame is a (non-party affiliated) member of the House of Lords, where he focuses on policy debates and legislative scrutiny particularly on matters within his field of expertise (international law, foreign affairs and defence, arbitration, constitutional law and the protection of fundamental liberties).

Research

• Public International Law, especially: the use of force and the laws of war; human rights and forced displacement; national security law; international organisations; international criminal law; energy, oil and the protection of foreign investment; and the settlement of international disputes.
• Philosophy of international law/relations, especially: just war; theory of the state and sovereignty; liberalism; German and British idealism.
• Interaction between law and strategy, especially in relation to the concept of lawfare, non-proliferation and counter-proliferation.

He is working on two books: one on the relationship between international law and national law; and the other (entitled “Can Liberty Last?”) on the future of political liberty. 

Publications

• With John Tasioulas he has recently authored the International Law entry for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Phillosophy
• He is the author of The UN and Human Rights: Who Guards the Guardians? (2011, CUP), Winner of the Biennial ACUNS Book Award, and of Rights in Exile (Berghahn Books, 2005), as well as numerous articles and chapters in books.
• He is working on two books: one on the relationship between international law and national law; and the other (entitled “Can Liberty Last?”) on the future of political liberty.

Teaching

• 7SSWN049 International Law and War
• 7SSWM031 Law and Conflict in International Society (Core Module for the MA in International Peace and Security)