Christopher Greenwood

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Christopher Greenwood CMG QC (b. 1955) is a barrister and professor of international law at the London School of Economics. He has regularly appeared as counsel before the English courts, the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights.

Greenwood studied law at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge, where he was awarded a BA (Law) (First Class Hons) in 1976, LLB (International Law) (First Class Hons) in 1977, and MA in 1981. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1978 and was appointed Queen's Counsel in 1999. In 2002 he was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to international law.

Professor Greenwood is well known for the November 2002 legal opinion tendered to the British government, entitled "The Legality of Using Force Against Iraq".[1] The legal opinion, which he signed in his capacity as a law professor, concluded that the invasion by Britain, the United States and allied powers was sanctioned by the UN Security Council. Professor Greenwood has also acted as counsel for the government of the United Kingdom in relation to a number of cases in both domestic and international courts: the Ojdanic case in the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia; Federal Republic of Yugoslavia v. United Kingdom in the International Court of Justice; the General Assembly request to the ICJ for an advisory opinion on the Palestinian wall (UK observations on admissibility); R (on the application of the European Roma Rights Centre and others) v. Immigration Officer at Prague Airport and others; and R (on the application of Abbasi and Mubanga) v. the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and others.[2]

Notable appearances include:

  • Libya v. United Kingdom (Aerial Incident at Lockerbie) ICJ Reps., 1992, p. 3; ICJ Reps. 1998, p. 3 (continuing)
  • Case concerning Legality of Use of Force (Yugoslavia v. United Kingdom) ICJ Reps, 1999 (continuing)
  • R. v. Bow Street Magistrates, ex parte Pinochet (No. 1) [2000] 1 AC 147, [1998] 3 WLR 1456 and (No. 3) [2001] 1 AC 147, [1999] 2 WLR 827 [1999] 1 WLR 188 (Court of Appeal)

The Globe and Mail reported on August 31, 2007 that Greenwood had been hired by the Canadian Department of National Defence for an opinion on the responsibility Canada had for captives apprehended Afghanistan.[3]

According to Greenwood international treaty obligations no longer apply if Canada is in Afghanistan under a United Nations mandate.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Christopher Greenwood, CMG, QC (Monday, March 21, 2005). The legality of using force against Iraq. Retrieved on 2007-09-01.
  2. ^ Lords Hansard - Written Answers Monday, 21 March 2005 (Monday, March 21, 2005). Retrieved on 2007-09-01.
  3. ^ a b Bruce Cheadle. "Academic hired to argue detainees' rights case", Globe and Mail, August 31, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-01. 

[edit] External links

 This biographical article relating to law is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.