Geoffrey Robertson QC

Overview

Geoffrey Robertson QC is founder and the joint head of Doughty Street Chambers. He is a 'distinguished jurist' member of the United Nations Justice Council, having served as the first President of the Special Court in Sierra Leone.

He has argued many landmark cases in media, constitutional and criminal law in the European Court of Human Rights, the House of Lords, the Privy Council and Commonwealth courts. He has recently appeared in the Court of Final Appeal for Hong Kong, the Supreme Court of Malaysia, the Fiji Court of Appeal, the High Court of Australia and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

What the directories say

Geoffrey has been included in both the Chambers and Partners directory and Legal 500 for many years. "Geoffrey Robertson QC epitomises the set, having appeared in landmark civil liberties cases over the years. Clients have full confidence in him as he is 'a vastly experienced individual with a glittering track record.'"

Notable Cases

He has appeared before Old Bailey juries in some of the most celebrated trials including Oz, Gay News, The ABC Trial, "The Romans in Britain", the Brighton bombing, and at Appellate level in leading cases on abuse of process and identification and expert evidence. He led for the Defence in the Matrix Churchill trial and for The Guardian in the Hamilton / Greer libel action, and at appellate level in Re F (the first case to define "terrorism") and Jameel v Wall Street Journal, where the House of Lords endorsed a public interest defence for investigative journalism. In 2007 he conducted the groundbreaking indigenous rights case which stopped the National History Museum from experimenting on Aboriginal skulls. At the European Court, Geoffrey Robertson argued Goodwin v UK (which established the right of journalists to protect their sources); Bowman v UK, which forced changes to election law, and the Hauschildt case - the court's first finding against Denmark. In the ICTY he represented Washington Post reporter Jonathan Randall in the case that established testamentary privilege for war correspondents. As a UN Appeal judge he has delivered internationally important decisions on the illegality of conscripting child soldiers and the invalidity of amnesties for war crimes. He was The Times "Lawyer of the Week" in 2008 for his conduct of a case on behalf of Salman Rushdie. He argued the first contested case in Britain's new Supreme Court on behalf oif major UK and US newspapers and broadcasters, achieving a ruling that has led to greater transparency in the administration of justice (In re Guardian v Ors 2010 UKSC 1). He appeared on behalf of the New York Times and The Washington Post in the Bin Mohamed case, successfully resisting the Foreign Secretary's attempt to suppress evidence of CIA torture.

Publications

Geoffrey Robertson is the author of Crimes Against Humanity: The Struggle for Global Justice (3rd edition, 2006); Media Law (with Andrew Nicol QC, 5th edition, 2007); Freedom, the Individual and the Law (8th edition, 1993); and a memoir, The Justice Game (1999) which sold over 150,000 copies. In 2007 he wrote the Verso tract Geoffrey Robertson presents: The Levellers and the Putney Debates and in 2008 The Statute of Liberty (Random House). His book, The Tyrannicide Brief, tells the dramatic story of how Cromwell's lawyers challenged the monarchy. It won a "Silver Gavel" award from the American Bar Association for its literary and educational excellence.

In 2009, Mr Robertson's report Was there an Armenian Genocide? was widely covered in the media and led to changes in the Foriegn Office's approach to this subject. The report of his enquiry into the 1988 prison massacres in Iran was published in June 2010. To view report click here.

Geoffrey Robertson's other published works include Reluctant Judas (1976), Obscenity (1979), People Against the Press (1983), Does Dracula Have Aids? (1989) and Geoffrey Robertson's Hypotheticals. His play, The Trials of Oz, won a BAFTA "Best Play" nomination for 1991, and he was the recipient of a 1993 Freedom of Information Award.

Memberships

He is a Recorder, a Master of the Middle Temple, Council Member of Justice, Trustee of the Capital Cases Trust and a Visiting Professor in Human Rights Law at Queen Mary College, University of London. He holds BA, LLB (Hons) and BCL degrees, and has been awarded honorary doctorates by the University of Sydney and Brunel University.

He was made a Bencher of the Middle Temple in 1997.

Other

He has conducted a number of missions on behalf of Amnesty International to South Africa and Vietnam, and led the 1992 Bar Council / Law Society Human Rights mission to Malawi. In 1990 he served as counsel to the Royal Commission investigating trafficking in arms and mercenaries to the Columbian drugs cartels.

Email address for Geoffrey Robertson's legal researcher and assistant, Judy Rollinson: j.rollinson@doughtystreet.co.uk

Year of Call

1973

Queen's Counsel

1988

Education

BA, LLB, BCL, Rhodes Scholar

Email Address

g.robertson@doughtystreet.co.uk

Click for contact details

Specialist Teams

Team leader :

• International Criminal Law

Member :

• Criminal Law
• Extradition
• Human Rights
• International Criminal Law
• International Law Group
• Media and Defamation
• Public and Administrative Law