Public International Law

11KBW has extensive experience in matters of public international law. Our members advise and represent numerous governments, state entities, corporations and individuals in relation to a wide range of public international law matters.

Our members  regularly appear before international courts and tribunals, including the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, international arbitral tribunals (including under PCA, ICSID, UNCITRAL and ICC rules, and UNCLOS Annex VII tribunals), the International Criminal Court, the European Court of Human Rights, and the Court of Justice of the European Union.

11KBW members specialising in public international law hold academic positions at leading universities, including University College London, Harvard Law School, Sorbonne and University of Glasgow. They have published seminal textbooks and journal articles, and receive appointments to act as arbitrators and to carry our significant public appointments.

Representative cases include:

International Court of Justice

  • Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Advisory Opinion)
  • Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change (Advisory Opinion)
  • Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 (Guyana v Venezuela)
  • Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Gambia v Myanmar; various States intervening)
  • Land and Maritime Delimitation and Sovereignty over Islands (Gabon/Equatorial Guinea)
  • Right to Strike under ILO Convention No. 87 (Advisory Opinion)
  • Questions of Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v Italy)
  • Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v Russian Federation; various States intervening)
  • Maritime Delimitation in the Indian Ocean (Somalia v Kenya)
  • Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 (Advisory Opinion)
  • Maritime Delimitation in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean (Costa Rica v Nicaragua)
  • Alleged Violations of Sovereign Rights and Maritime Spaces in the Caribbean Sea (Nicaragua v Colombia)
  • Construction of a Road in Costa Rica along the San Juan River (Nicaragua v Costa Rica)
  • Maritime Delimitation between Nicaragua and Honduras in the Caribbean Sea (Nicaragua v Honduras)
  • Application for a Revision of the Judgment of 11 September 1992 (El Salvador v Honduras)
  • Certain Activities Carried Out by Nicaragua in the Border Area (Costa Rica v Nicaragua)
  • Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Croatia v Serbia)
  • Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v Japan: New Zealand intervening)
  • Aerial Herbicide Spraying (Ecuador v Colombia)
  • Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Georgia v Russian Federation)
  • Application of the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995 (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia v Greece)
  • Territorial and Maritime Dispute (Nicaragua v Colombia)
  • Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay (Argentina v Uruguay)
  • Dispute regarding Navigational and Related Rights (Costa Rica v Nicaragua)
  • Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v Uganda)
  • Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v Yugoslavia)
  • Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros Project (Hungary/Slovakia)
  • Legality of the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons (Advisory Opinion)
  • Request for an Examination of the Situation in Accordance with Paragraph 63 of the Courts Judgment of 20 December 1974 in the Nuclear Tests (New Zealand v France)
  • Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (Nicaragua v United States of America)

International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and arbitration under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982

  • Request for an Advisory Opinion submitted by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (ITLOS)
  • The M/T “San Padre Pio” (No. 2) Case (Switzerland/Nigeria) (ITLOS)
  • Dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Mauritius and Maldives in the Indian Ocean (Mauritius/Maldives) (ITLOS Special Chamber)
  • Dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire in the Atlantic Ocean (Ghana/Côte d’Ivoire) (ITLOS Special Chamber)
  • The “ARA Libertad” Case (Argentina vGhana), Provisional Measures (ITLOS)
  • The South China Sea Arbitration (Philippines v China) (UNCLOS Annex VII arbitration)
  • Chagos Marine Protected Area Arbitration (Mauritius v United Kingdom) (UNCLOS Annex VII arbitration)
  • Dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Bangladesh and Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal (Bangladesh/Myanmar) (ITLOS)
  • Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary Arbitration between Bangladesh and India (Bangladesh v India) (UNCLOS Annex VII arbitration)
  • Arbitration Between the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Slovenia (arbitration facilitated by the European Commission)
  • Case concerning Land Reclamation by Singapore in and around the Straits of Johor (Malaysia v Singapore), Provisional Measures (ITLOS)
  • Ireland v United Kingdom (OSPAR Arbitration)
  • The MOX Plant Case (Ireland vUnited Kingdom), Provisional Measures (ITLOS)
  • Southern Bluefin Tuna Cases (New Zealand v Japan; Australia vJapan), Provisional Measures (ITLOS)
  • The M/V “SAIGA” Case (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Guinea), Prompt Release (ITLOS)
  • Guyana v Suriname (UNCLOS Annex VII arbitration)
  • Djibouti v Eritrea (arbitration under the auspices of His Royal Highness the Emir of Qatar)

International Investment Arbitration (as counsel)

  • Philip Morris Brands Sarl et al. v Uruguay (ICSID)
  • Gruner Stucky Ltd & Bernard Gruppe ZT GmbH v Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (UNCITRAL)
  • Gosling,et  v Mauritius  (ICSID)
  • Mehta, et al. v Uruguay (PCA)
  • Italba Corp. v Uruguay (ICSID)
  • Trasta v Libya (PCA
  • DSC v Libya (PCA)
  • Etrak v Libya (ICC)
  • Dagher v Sudan (ICSID)
  • Iskander Safa and Akram Safa v Hellenic Republic (ICSID)
  • CEZ v Bulgaria (ICSID)
  • Highbury International AVV and Ramstein Trading Inc. v Venezuela (ICSID)
  • ETI Euro Telecom International N.V. v Bolivia (ICSID)
  • C.I. Power Group L.C. v Ecuador (ICSID)
  • Shell Brands International AG and Shell Nicaragua S.A. v Nicaragua (ICSID)
  • Philippines v Westinghouse Electric Corporation (ICC)
  • Green Mining Company v Republic of Guyana (ICC)
  • Tradex Hellas SA v Republic of Albania (ICSID)
  • Mexico v Metalclad (ICSID)
  • Salini Costruttori v Jordan (ICSID)
  • Siemens v Argentina (ICSID)
  • Vivendi and Others v Argentina (ICSID)
  • Azurix v Argentina (ICSID)
  • Gemplus v Mexico (ICSID)
  • Talsud v Mexico (ICSID)