Public International Law

Barristers here are highly adept at acting before a range of international courts and arbitral institutions including the ICC and ICSID. They have been active in standout cases including an arbitration in which a USD6 billion award was made against Pakistan.

Current members have wide range experience across all areas of public international law.  They are experienced in advising states, corporations and international organizations on their rights and obligations on the international plane. They appear regularly before international courts and tribunals and in public international law matters in the English courts.

3VB’s eminence in public international law synergises with its reputation in arbitration more generally.  Its members have developed an investment treaty practice that is second to none at the English Bar and are used to acting for investors and states alike.  Recent highlights include a large team of 3VB Barristers acting in Nova Group Investments B.V. v Romania, the ICSID claim against the government of Romania arising out of the expropriation of an insurance company in 2014/2015, in excess of USD350 million; acting for the Russian Federation in the USD50 billion Yukos Universal & Ors v Russian Federation case in the English courts; involvement in coordinating Pakistan’s global strategy in resisting enforcement of the USD6 billion ICSID award in Tethyan Copper Company v Pakistan; and acting for Morocco defending a USD400 million claim in Carlyle Group & Ors v Morocco in the first ever ICSID case under the US–Morocco Free Trade Agreement.

3VB is also committed to leadership within the public international law space.  Its members have been appointed to the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators, the Attorney-General’s Public International Law Panel and the IBA’s Investment Treaty Arbitration Sub-Committee. They frequently publish, lecture, teach and present on public international law topics in forums worldwide.