John R.W.D. Jones

John R.W.D. Jones specialises in international criminal law and extradition, as well as being a general criminal practitioner and part-time Immigration Judge.

John read Philosophy, Politics and Economics as an open exhibitioner at St. Edmund Hall, Oxford University where he gained an M.A.. He also has an M.A. in Law from City University in London and an LL.M. from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

He was called to the Bar by Lincoln's Inn in 1992 and admitted to practice at the Bar of the District of Columbia in 1999.

Criminal law and civil liberties

As a criminal practitioner, John has appeared for the prosecution and defence in Crown Court trials for serious offences, including robbery and aggravated arson. He has also defended in District and General Courts-Martial. He has practised in the fields of prisoners' rights and mental health law and is recommended in "Legal Experts 2008" in the field of Civil Liberties.

Extradition law

John is a specialist extradition practitioner and author. He publishes the Extradition Law Handbook (Oxford University Press, 2005, with Arvinder Sambei), and the Extradition Law Reports (Southside Legal Publishing, 2007). He has prosecuted and defended in a large number of extradition proceedings, representing, among others, governments and judicial authorities of France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States. In 2007, he was seconded to the Extradition Unit of the Crown Prosecution Service's Serious Crimes Division, where he was responsible for preparing extradition requests on behalf of the CPS and representing foreign states and judicial authorities in extradition proceedings in the English courts.

War crimes law

Since 1995, John has worked as an international criminal lawyer, practicing at the war crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone.

Between 1995 and 1999, he worked for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, as a law clerk and then associate legal officer to Judge Antonio Cassese, the first President of the ICTY. In 1998, John worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in Arusha, Tanzania, as an associate legal officer, where he helped draft the first judgement on genocide.

In 2003, John was the first acting Principal Defender of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL), in Freetown, Sierra Leone. In that capacity, he helped to set up the SCSL Defence Office and represented suspects and accused appearing before the SCSL - including a former Government minister, rebel (RUF) leaders and members of the AFRC junta - before assigning defence teams. He filed briefs and appeared in court on behalf of suspects, devised a legal aid system for the SCSL, and appeared on Sierra Leonean radio and television to explain the role of the Defence in international criminal trials.

Since 2001, John has been involved in international criminal defence work. He represented a Bosnian Army General, Mehmed Alagić from 2001-2003, and, from 2003 to the present, acted as co-counsel in the trial of Naser Orić - the first international trial of a commander charged with crimes committed against the besieging enemy (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3719434.stm) - before the ICTY.

John has published and lectured extensively in the field of war crimes law. He has advised governments and international organisations on war crimes issues.

John also teaches international criminal law at the London School of Economics.

Immigration and asylum law

John sits, part-time, as an Immigration Judge of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. In the past he sat as a legal member of the Immigration Appeals Tribunal and he has also sat on reconsideration applications at Field House. As an advocate, he has appeared for appellants in asylum applications.

International commercial arbitration

From 1999 to 2001, John worked for White and Case in Paris, practicing in international commercial arbitration and also lecturing, in French, at the Law Clinic of Paris (Université de Paris-I).

Notable cases

Notable cases include:

• Moulai v Director of Public Prosecutions of Creteil France [2008] EWHC 1024 (Admin)
• R (on the application of AFP Hilali) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2008] EWHC 905 (Admin)
• Wiercinski v. The 2nd Division of the Criminal Circuit in Olsztyn, Poland, [2008] EWHC 200 (Admin);
• Prosecutor of the ICTY v. Naser Orić, IT-03-68-T, Judgement, 30/06/06 (http://www.un.org/icty/oric/trialc/judgement/ori-jud060630e.pdf);
• R (on the application of Paul Massey) v. Criminal Cases Review Commission [2004] EWHC 2864 (Admin)
• Government of Lithuania v. Kalvenas [2002] EWHC 2080, Admin.

Publications

Among his publications, John has published the following books:

• International Criminal Practice (3rd edition, Transnational Publishers-Oxford University Press: 2003) by John R.W.D. Jones and Steven Powles;
• Extradition Law Handbook (Oxford University Press, 2005), co-author with Arvinder Sambei;
• The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: A Commentary (edited by Antonio Cassese, Paola Gaeta and John R.W.D. Jones) (Oxford University Press, 2002, 3 volumes);
• The Practice of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda (Transnational Publishers: Irvington-on-Hudson, NY, USA. 1st edition: 1998, 2nd edition: 2000).

Languages

John is a fluent French speaker and also proficient in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian.

last updated April 2008

Year of Call

1992

Email Address

j.jones@doughtystreet.co.uk

Specialist Teams

John R.W.D. Jones is a member of the following specialist law teams:

• Criminal Law
• Extradition
• Human Rights
• Immigration
• International Law Group