The Faculty is delighted that Sir Christopher Greenwood, alumnus, former lecturer, and Honorary Fellow of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, has received an Ordinary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) for his services to international justice in The Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2018. The annual list recognises the achievements of a wide range of extraordinary people across the UK.
Sir Christopher was a Judge of the International Court of Justice from 2009 to 2018. Prior to his election, he was Professor of International Law at the London School of Economics and a practising barrister at Essex Court Chambers who regularly argues cases about international law before international and English courts. Educated at Wellingborough School and Magdalene College, Cambridge, he obtained degrees in Law and International Law with first class honours. He taught at Cambridge for nearly twenty years before being appointed to a Chair of International Law at the London School of Economics in 1996.
Sir Christopher's publications include eighty volumes of the International Law Reports (Joint Editor with Sir Elihu Lauterpacht QC) and The Kuwait Crisis: Basic Documents (1991) and a collection of essays – Essays on War in International Law (2006) He is currently working on a tenth edition of Oppenheim’s International Law. As a barrister he has argued more than forty cases before the English courts, International Court of Justice, European Court of Human Rights and other international tribunals. He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1999 and made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for services to public international law in 2002.
The notes on higher awards, released by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, said:
“Sir Christopher Greenwood is recognised for his outstanding service to international law and the peaceful settlement of disputes. Sir Christopher has been the pre-eminent British international lawyer, as a teacher at the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics, as a practitioner at the Bar and, finally, from 2009 until February this year, as one of the foremost and respected judges at the International Court of Justice. This award is in recognition of Sir Christopher’s sustained and significant achievements and contribution to international law.”