International Law

Working for global justice.

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Tooks Chambers International Law team provides specialist advice, representation and advocacy in all areas of international law. Particular specialisms of the International Team include international human rights law and international criminal law.

Tooks is also able to offer expertise where international issues with domestic law in the context of crime, public law, employment & equality, immigration law, family law and other areas. In accordance with our commitment to assist individuals failed by the justice system, we have particular expertise in accountability and redress for breaches of human rights and universal jurisdiction for international crimes. We have further expertise in the related fields of state, sovereign and diplomatic immunity of individuals, governments and international organisations and have played a fundamental role in many of the leading cases in these areas.

The nature of our international human rights work encompasses a wide range of issues including particular examples such as the death penalty, forced disappearances, human trafficking, discrimination, human rights and armed conflict, rights of the child and property issues. The right to self-determination has played a fundamental part in our work, with members writing academically on the issue and representing national liberation movements from many different areas of the globe.

Our international criminal law work includes universal jurisdiction, crimes against humanity, war crimes, both international and internal armed conflict, the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols, gender based violence, the ad hoc international criminal tribunals and extradition. We are one of the leading chambers practising before the international criminal tribunals. In recent years, international law issues have arisen in the context of prosecutions related to protests and demonstrations. Tooks barristers have acted in many leading cases in this area and are able to offer widespread expertise where international and domestic law overlap. Members of Tooks Chambers have worked in a diverse and wide range of different countries and territories. These include Angola, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cape Verde, India, Ireland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Mozambique, Namibia, the Northern Ireland, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Trinidad & Tobago, Puerto Rico, Uganda, Ukraine, the United States, Vietnam and Zambia.

Through their work, our barristers have been admitted to practise at the bars of many diverse jurisdictions including in the United States of America, The International Criminal Court, the UN War Crimes Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and the UN War Crimes Tribunal for Rwanda. Our clients include individuals, non-governmental organisations ("NGOs"), international organisations and organisations of the United Nations. We have a wide range of international law expertise gained during the 25 years of our existence. Some examples in the fields of international criminal law, international human rights law and other international work are set out further in the experience section [link].

Further Information

Further information about individual members of our International Law team can be obtained using the links to the right. You can also contact our clerks directly:

David Smith 020 7842 7608 david.smith@tooks.co.uk
Simon Gardner 020 7842 7610 simon.gardner@tooks.co.uk

International Law Team Experience

Members of Tooks Chambers have particular experience in the fields of international human rights and international criminal law, as well as other international work such as before other international courts and tribunals. Some examples of the nature of our work are set out below.

Recent news

UN Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Appeals Tribunal Orders Retrial
The UNICTY Appeals Tribunal today ordered the retrial of the three co-defendants in the case of Prosecutor v Haradinaj et al.
21 July 2010
Bloody Sunday Report Published
Lord Saville’s report into the deaths of 13 people killed when Parachute Regiment soldiers opened fire during a civil rights march in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday, 30th January 1972, has finally been published.
16 June 2010
Belfast Jury Acquits "Raytheon 9" of Attempting to Damage Arms Factory during Gaza Conflict
9 women accused of offences related to attempted damage to an arms factory in Derry during the Israel Gaza conflict have been acquitted by a jury in Belfast Crown Court.
4 June 2010
Human Rights Workshop in Kampala, Uganda
Richard Reynolds led a four day workshop on ‘Successfully litigating human rights abuse cases involving torture’.
1 June 2010
Michael Mansfield on the Jury Panel of the Russell Tribunal
Michael Mansfield is a member of the jury panel on the Russell Tribunal inquiry into the legal ramifications of Israel's human rights and humanitarian law violations in Palestine. Part 1 was heard in Barcelona in March 2010. There are to be four more hearings, the next in London later in the year.
28 April 2010
Paul Troop Admitted to Defence Counsel List at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon
Paul Troop has been admitted to the list of counsel eligible to represent accused before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, based in the Hague. His appointment increases the number of Tooks counsel eligible to represent defendants and victims before the international criminal tribunals.
15 December 2009
Tooks Team Receives Special Recognition at 2009 Bar Pro Bono Awards
A Tooks team, consisting of Paul Troop, Jude Bunting, James Mehigan, Richard Reynolds, Fouzia Khan and Greg O’Ceallaigh, was one of three nominees to be given special recognition at the award ceremony on 7 November 2009.
12 November 2009
Sandhya Drew to Speak at Joint Meeting of UNICEF, UNHCR & UKBA
Sandhya Drew is to speak at a joint meeting between UNICEF, UNHCR and the UKBA on the best interests of the child in a migration context.
19 May 2009
Paul Troop and Jude Bunting Represent Victims of Kosovo Shooting by UN Peacekeepers
During a protest in Pristina, Kosovo on the 10 February 2007, Romanian Police acting for the UN administration governing Kosovo, UNMIK, killed two demonstrators and injured scores more. Paul Troop and Jude Bunting are acting on behalf of the victims and family members before the Human Rights Advisory Panel for Kosovo (“HRAP”).
19 March 2009
Immigration Reservation To Be Withdrawn
The BBC Today Programme has broken the story that the Government will be withdrawing their much-criticised immigration reservation to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
19 September 2008

[Image] International Law