Ian Brownlie QC
- Called to Bar:
- 1958
- Appointed to silk:
- 1979
- Practice areas:
Ian Brownlie QC has been practising in both public international law and human rights since 1967 and has appeared in a full range of international tribunals, including the International Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice. He has also acted as an arbitrator in a number of major cases. His clients are normally states and he has worked for at least 40. He is currently involved in cases in the International Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice. He has recently been re-elected for his third five-year term to the International Law Commission, the United Nations body of 35 experts concerned with the codification of international law.
The latest editions of the two leading independent legal directories, Chambers UK 2007 and The Legal 500 2006, both recognise Ian Brownlie CBE QC as a leading silk for public international law.
Market commentators have nominated him “the most experienced of them all” - the "foremost …intellectual practitioner in the field” and “The dean” of the public international law sector.
Professional Experience
Bencher of Gray's Inn, 1988
Current Appointments, etc:
- Chichele Professor of Public International Law, University of Oxford, 1980-99, (Emeritus Professor, 1999)
- Joint Editor, British Year Book of International Law, 1973; Senior Editor 1982-2000. Chairman of Editorial Committee, British Year Book, 2000-
- DCL (Oxon), 1976
- Associé de l'Institut de Droit International, 1977-85
- Membre de l'Institut de Droit International, 1985-
- Fellow of the British Academy, 1979-
- Director of Studies, International Law Association, 1982-91
- Member, Executive Council, International Law Association, 1991-
- Delegate, University Press, Oxford, 1984-94
- Member of the Finance Committee, University Press, 1984-94
- Professorial Distinction Award, Oxford University, 1989
- Distinguished Fellow, All Souls College (Oxford) 2004.
Hague Academy of International Law
Invited to give the General Course of lectures on Public International Law in 1995 (in celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations).
Institute of International Law
Rapporteur on the topic ‘Jurisdictional Immunities of States’, 1982‑91.
Third Vice-President, Vancouver Session, 2001.
American Society of International Law
Life Member
Counsellor
Honorary Member (2004)
Domestic and International Arbitration
Ian Brownlie’s experience includes various appointments as Arbitrator or Judge.
Current and recent work
- Party-appointed Arbitrator in Wintershall AG et al v Government of Qatar Arbitration (1986-88)
- President in Occidental of Pakistan, Inc v Islamic Republic of Pakistan (1988-89)
- Party-appointed Arbitrator in Scimitar Exploration, Ltd. v People's Republic of Bangladesh (1993-94).
- Party-appointed Arbitrator in Saipem S.P.A. v Bangladesh Oil Gas and Mineral Corporation (1994-96).
- Party-appointed Arbitrator in Indus Pipeline Limited v Islamic Republic of Pakistan (1998)
- President in Compagnie Minière Internationale Or v Republic of Peru (2000 -1)
- Party-appointed Arbitrator in CME Czech Republic B.V. v The Czech Republic, (2001-04)
- Party-appointed Arbitrator in Maritime Dispute between Barbados and Trinidad (2003-06)
- Member of Panel of Arbitrators and Panel of Conciliators, International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (of the World Bank), 1990-2000.
- Judge of the European Nuclear Energy Tribunal, 1995 -2000. Elected President, 1996.
International Arbitrations
Counsel in:
- Beagle Channel case (Argentina/Chile) 1974-77
- Stichting Greenpeace Council v French State 1986-87 (Rainbow Warrior)
- Case Concerning Red Sea Islands (Eritrea/Yemen), 1996-99 (First and second phases)
- Eritrea-Ethiopia Boundary Commission, 2000-07
- Nomura v The Russian Federation, 2001
- Fraport v Republic of the Philippines, 2003-07
Public International
Current and recent work
International Court of Justice:
Counsel in:
- Gulf of Maine case (Canada v US), 1982-84
- Malta-Libya Continental Shelf case, 1982-85
- Italian Intervention Proceedings in the Malta-Libya case, 1983-84
- Nicaragua v United States, Request for Interim Measures of Protection, 1984
- Nicaragua v United States (Jurisdiction and Admissibility), 1984
- El Salvador Declaration of Intervention, 1984
- Nicaragua v United States (Merits), 1984-86
- Nicaragua v United States (Compensation), 1986-91
- Nicaragua v Costa Rica (Application of 28 July, 1986)
- Nicaragua v Honduras (Jurisdiction and Admissibility), 1986-88
- Nicaragua v Honduras (Merits), 1988-91
- Nauru v Australia (Merits), 1989-90, 92-93
- Denmark v Norway (Merits), 1988-93
- Nicaraguan Request for Permission to Intervene (El Salvador-Honduras case), 1989-90
- Nauru v Australia (Jurisdiction and Admissibility), 1990-92
- Frontier Case (El Salvador v Honduras), Nicaragua intervening, 1990-92
- Libya v United Kingdom and United States (Requests for Interim Measures), 1992
- Libya v United Kingdom and United States (Merits), 1992-2004
- Libya v United Kingdom and United States (Preliminary Objections), 1995-8
- Iran v United States (Preliminary Objections), 1994-6
- Cameroon v Nigeria (Merits), 1994-2002
- Cameroon v Nigeria (Preliminary Objections), 1995-8
- Bosnia and Herzegovina v Yugoslavia (Merits), 1995-
- Bosnia and Herzegovina v Yugoslavia (Preliminary Objections), 1995-6
- Bosnia and Herzegovina v Yugoslavia (Admissibility of Counter-claim), 1997
- Cameroon v Nigeria (Request for Interim Measures), 1996
- Botswana/Namibia (Merits), 1996-99
- Cameroon v Nigeria (Request for Interpretation of Judgment), 1998
- Congo v Uganda (Merits), 1999-2005
- Pakistan v India (Preliminary Objection), 1999-2000
- Nicaragua v Honduras (Maritime Delimitation), 1999-2007
- Case concerning the Legality of the Use of Force (Request for Interim Measures), Yugoslavia v Belgium et al., 1999
- Case concerning Legality of the Use of Force (Jurisdiction), 2004.
- Congo v Uganda (Request for Interim Measures), 2000
- Nicaragua v Colombia (Maritime Delimitation), 2001 –
- Malaysia/Singapore, 2003–08
- Costa Rica v Nicaragua, 2005 –
Mediation:
Ian Brownlie was Counsel for Chile in: Mediation by His Holiness the Pope concerning the Southern Region (Argentina/Chile), 1979-85
Head of Botswana Delegation and Co-Chairman, Joint Team of Technical Experts on the Boundary between Botswana and Namibia, 1992-5
Commission of the European Communities:
Counsel in:
Commission v IBM, 1982-84
Polypropylene case, 1984
European Court of Justice, Appeal in the Kadi case, 2005.
Iran-United States Claims Tribunal:
Counsel in several cases, including Case A/28 (United States v Iran, 1999)
International legal expert for the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, 1983-87
Public Law and Human Rights
Current and recent work
European Commission on Human Rights:
Counsel in:
Inter-State proceedings; Application 8007/77 (Cyprus v Turkey) Admissibility (1978); Merits (1983); Application 25781/94 (Cyprus v Turkey). Admissibility (1996); Merits (1996-).
Various Applications on behalf of individuals, including leading cases on jurisdiction and admissibility (e.g. Metropolitan Chrysostomos, Bishop of Kitium v Turkey; Loizidou v Turkey.)
European Court of Human Rights
Counsel in:
- Case of Loizidou v Turkey (Preliminary Objections) (1994)
- Case of Loizidou v Turkey (Merits) (1995-6)
- Case of Loizidou v Turkey (Article 50), (1996 - )
- Cyprus v Turkey (Application No. 25781/94)
- Xenides-Arestis v Turkey (application no. 46347/99)
- Demades v Turkey (no. 16219/90)
- Varnava and Others v Turkey (application nos. 16064/90, 16065/90, 16066/90, 16068/90, 16069/90, 16070/90, 16071/90, 16072/90 and 16073/90).
- Evie McTaggart v Turkey and/or Greece
Other relevant experience
Public recognition:
- Order of Bernardo O'Higgins of the Republic of Chile, 1986 (for services concerning the Beagle Channel Arbitration and the subsequent Papal Mediation).
- CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) for services to International Law, Queen's Birthday Honours, 1993.
- Commander of the Order of Merit of the Norwegian Crown, 1993 (for services in the International Court of Justice).
- Elected to the International Law Commission for a third five-year term in 2006 on the nomination of the Governments of the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and India. First elected in 1996 on the nomination of India and the United Kingdom; re-elected for a second five years in 2001, on the nomination of the United Kingdom, India, and South Africa.
- Elected Chairman of the International Law Commission in 2007.
- The Reality of International Law: Essays in Honour of Ian Brownlie, Edited by Guy S. Goodwin-Gill and Stefan Talmon, Oxford, 1999.
- Honorary Degree, University of Padua, 2001.
- Honorary Member, American Society of International Law, 2004.
- Columbia Law School, Wolfgang Friedmann Award, 2006.
Principal Publications:
- International Law and the Use of Force by States, Oxford, 1963: six reprints.
- Principles of Public International Law
1st Edition, Oxford, 1966
7th Edition: 2008
Russian edition of the second edition, 1977
Japanese edition of the third edition, 1989
Portuguese edition of the fourth edition, 1998
Chinese edition, 2003
Korean edition, 2004
(The second edition of this work received the award of the Certificate of Merit of the American Society of International Law in 1976) - African Boundaries: A Legal and Diplomatic Encyclopedia London, 1979
- System of the Law of Nations: State Responsibility Part I, Oxford, 1983
- Basic Documents in International Law
1st Edition, Oxford, 1967
6th Edition, 2008 - Basic Documents on Human Rights
1st Edition, Oxford, 1971
5th Edition, 2006 (with G. S. Goodwin-Gill) - The Rule of Law in International Affairs, Nijhoff, 1998. (Hague Academy lectures: see below).
