Derek Bowett Fellow in Law, Queens’ College; Fellow, Lauterpacht Centre for International Law
Abogado (UCAB, Venezuela), LLM, PhD (Cantab)
Interests
General international law, State responsibility, the law of necessity, law on the use of force, self-defence, history of international law, genealogy of legal concepts in international law, exceptions
CV / Biography
Abogado (cum laude), Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Caracas - Venezuela; LLM in international law (first class honours, Clive Parry Prize for International Law) and PhD (Yorke Prize), University of Cambridge; Post-Graduate Diploma in Learning and Teaching in Higher Education (PGDipLATHE), University of Oxford.
I am a general international lawyer, and my main research interests are the law of State responsibility, the law on the use of force, and international investment law. I am also interested in the legal theory and practice of exceptions. My work has been published in leading international law journals, including the British Yearbook of International Law, the European Journal of International Law and the American Journal of International Law. A monograph based on my PhD dissertation, Justification and Excuse in International Law: Concept and Theory of General Defences, was published by CUP in 2018.
Before arriving at Cambridge, I worked for Baker&McKenzie (Caracas office) as a law-clerk and a paralegal in the criminal law and labour law departments. I am a member of Blackstone Chambers Academic Research Panel.
Admitted to practice in Venezuela, as a member of the Caracas (Distrito Federal) Bar.
Teaching
Supervisions in International Law (Part IB and Part II), and Criminal Law (Part IA)
Director of Studies at Queens’ College (Part IA) & Deputy Senior Tutor
Other appointments and affiliations
European Society of International Law (ESIL) - Member of the Board (2022- )
British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) - Member of the International Law Advisory Panel (2021- )
International Law Association (British Branch) - Director of Studies (2018-2022)
Blackstone Chambers - Member of the Academic Research Panel (2015- )
Scholarships and Awards
2015: Yorke Prize (Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge), in recognition of the ‘exceptional quality’ of PhD dissertation ‘which makes a substantial contribution to its field of legal knowledge’
2009-2014: Maria Luisa de Sanchez (Girton College, University of Cambridge) and Cambridge European Trusts Scholar
2008: Clive Parry Prize in International Law (Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge)
Publications
Books
Exceptions in International Law (with L Bartels) (eds) (OUP, 2020)
Co-editor(s):
Lorand Bartels
Publisher:
OUP
ISBN 13:
9780198789321
Published May 2020
Protecting Children in Armed Conflict (with Shaheed Fatima QC (lead author)) (Hart Publishing, 2018)
Publisher:
Hart Publishing
Published Oct 2018
Justification and Excuse in International Law: Concept and Theory of General Defences (CUP, 2018)
Publisher:
CUP
ISBN 13:
978-1107513990
Published Jan 2018
Articles
"Encoding the law of State responsibility with courage and resolve: James Crawford and the 2001 Articles on State Responsibility" (2022) 11(1) Cambridge International Law Journal
Citation:
(2022) 11(1) Cambridge International Law Journal
Published: Forthcoming
"Necessity 20 Years On: The Limits of Article 25 ARSIWA" (2021) 36 ICSID Review
Citation:
(2021) 36 ICSID Review
Published: Forthcoming
"Humanitarian Intervention and the Law of State Responsibility" (2021) 32(2) European Journal of International Law 649-678
Citation:
(2021) 32(2) European Journal of International Law 649-678
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chab041
Published: Forthcoming
"The Final Act: Exploring the End of Pandemics" (2020) 114(3) American Journal of International Law 698-707
Citation:
(2020) 114(3) American Journal of International Law 698-707
Published: Aug 2020
"Military assistance on request and general reasons against force: consent as a justification for the use of force" (2020) 7(2) Journal on the Use of Force and International Law 227-269
Citation:
(2020) 7(2) Journal on the Use of Force and International Law 227-269
Published: Aug 2020
"Shared Non-responsibility? Defences and the Responsibility of Co-Perpetrators and Accessories in the SHARES Principles" (2020) 31(4) European Journal of International Law 1264-1275
Citation:
(2020) 31(4) European Journal of International Law 1264-1275
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/chaa086
Published: Forthcoming
"To Convene or Not to Convene? The Future Status of the Articles on State Responsibility: Recent Developments" (2017) 21 Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law 83-123
Citation:
(2017) 21 Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law 83-123
Published: Mar 2018
"Use of Force against Non-State Actors and the Circumstance Precluding Wrongfulness of Self-Defence" (2017) 30 Leiden Journal of International Law 93-115
Citation:
(2017) 30 Leiden Journal of International Law 93-115
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0922156516000583
Published: Jan 2017
"Self-Defence as a Circumstance Precluding Wrongfulness: Understanding Article 21 of the Articles on State Responsibility" (2014) 85 British Yearbook of International Law 90-132
Citation:
(2014) 85 British Yearbook of International Law 90-132
Published: Jul 2015
"A Genealogy of Force Majeure in International Law" (2011) 82 British Yearbook of International Law 381-494
Citation:
(2011) 82 British Yearbook of International Law 381-494
Published: Jan 2012
Book Chapters
"State Responsibility" in Carlos Esposito & Kate Parlett (ed(s)), Cambridge Companion to the International Court Justice (CUP), forthcoming
Publisher:
CUP
Published Forthcoming
"Circumstances Precluding Wrongfulness" in Christina Binder, Manfred Nowak, Jane A Hofbauer and Philipp Janig (ed(s)), Elgar Encyclopedia of Human Rights (Edward Elgar), forthcoming
Publisher:
Edward Elgar
Published Forthcoming
"Clarifying the Concept of Circumstances Precluding Wrongfulness in International Law" in L Bartels & F Paddeu (ed(s)), Exceptions in International Law (OUP, 2020)
"Countermeasures", Wolfrum et al (eds), Max Planck Encyclopaedia of Public International Law (2017) (OUP, 2016)
"The Impact of Investment Arbitration on the Development of State Responsibility Defences" in Rainer Hoffman, Stephan Schill & Christian Tams (ed(s)), ICSID at 50: Investment Arbitration as a Motor of General International Law? (Edward Elgar Publishing), forthcoming
Publisher:
Edward Elgar Publishing
Published Forthcoming
"Circumstances Precluding Wrongfulness", Wolfrum et al (eds), Max Planck Encyclopaedia of Public International Law (2015) (OUP, 2014)
Publisher:
OUP
Published Sep 2014
Book Reviews
Tadashi Mori, Origins of the Right of Self-defence in International Law: From the Caroline Incident to the United Nations Charter. Leiden: Brill, 2018, 274 pp., ISBN: 9789004355002, €154.00 (2020) 22(4) Journal of the History of International Law 667-672
Published Oct 2020
Third-Party Countermeasures in International Law. By MARTIN DAWIDOWICZ [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2017. 426 pp. Hardback: £79.99. ISBN 9781139046602] (2018) 77 Cambridge Law Journal 427
Published Apr 2018
The Verdict of Battle: The Law of Victory and the Making of Modern War by JAMES Q WHITMAN 2 [Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 2012, 336pp, ISBN: 978-0-674-067141, £22.95 3 (h/bk)] (2014) 63 International and Comparative Law Quarterly 505
Published Apr 2014
Criminal Responsibility for the Crime of Aggression. By PATRYCJA GRZEBYK. [Oxford: Routledge. 2013. 394 pp. Hardback: £90.00. ISBN 978-0-415-85678-2] (2014) Cambridge Law Journal 455
Published Mar 2014
La nécessité en droit international. De l’état de nécessité aux situations de nécessité. By Sarah Cassella. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden, 2011. xi + 577 pp (2011) 82 British Yearbook of International Law 505
Published Jan 2012
Case Notes
Multilateral Disputes in Bilateral Settings: International Practice Lags Behind Theory (2017) 76 Cambridge Law Journal 1
Published: Feb 2017
Ghosts of Genocides Past? State Responsibility for Genocide in the Former Yugoslavia (2015) 74 Cambridge Law Journal 14
Published: Mar 2015
Blog Posts
Conference Papers
"'Formation and Development of International Law in Times of Emergency: The role of Exceptions'" (London Conference on International Law: States in Emergency – International Law at a Time of Reckoning (10-11 October 2022))
Conference:
London Conference on International Law: States in Emergency – International Law at a Time of Reckoning (10-11 October 2022)
Link to conference paper:
Published: Oct 2022
"Defences under General International Law" (Covid-19 and International Law: Novel Strain or Old Wine in New Test Tubes?, Bocconi University, 15 December 2020)
Conference:
Covid-19 and International Law: Novel Strain or Old Wine in New Test Tubes?, Bocconi University, 15 December 2020
Link to conference paper:
Published: Dec 2020
"Who has access to Venezuela's gold in the Bank of England?" (University College London Faculty of Laws Online Webinar, 30 November 2020)
Conference:
University College London Faculty of Laws Online Webinar, 30 November 2020
Link to conference paper:
Published: Nov 2020
"International Law and Rival Governments" (Glasgow Centre for International Law and Security Webinar Series)
Conference:
Glasgow Centre for International Law and Security Webinar Series
Link to conference paper:
Published: Oct 2020
"Covid-19 and international law: science and disinformation, exceptions and emergencies" (ESIL and Stockholm Center for International Law and Justice (SCILJ) Joint Online Event, 10 September 2020)
Conference:
ESIL and Stockholm Center for International Law and Justice (SCILJ) Joint Online Event, 10 September 2020
Published: Sep 2020
"Military Intervention, Consent, and Reasons Against Force: Consent as a Defence to the Use of Force" (International Law Seminar - Hebrew University in Jerusalem, 19 May 2020)
Conference:
International Law Seminar - Hebrew University in Jerusalem, 19 May 2020
Published: May 2020
"Exceptions and Defences in Human Rights Law and Investment Law" (Litigating Covid-19 Under International Law - Italian Branch of the International Law Association, 27 May 2020)
Conference:
Litigating Covid-19 Under International Law - Italian Branch of the International Law Association, 27 May 2020
Published: May 2020
"Military Intervention, Consent, and Reasons Against Force: Consent as a Defence to the Use of Force" (International Law Workshop - The Buchmann Faculty of Law, 18 May 2020)
Conference:
International Law Workshop - The Buchmann Faculty of Law, 18 May 2020
Published: May 2020
"Forcible Intervention, Consent, and the Normative Assumptions about Force in the International Legal Order" (, What Role for Military Assistance on Request in the International Legal Order?, 5-6 December 2019, Rolin-Jaequemyns International Law Institute (GRILI), Ghent)
Conference:
, What Role for Military Assistance on Request in the International Legal Order?, 5-6 December 2019, Rolin-Jaequemyns International Law Institute (GRILI), Ghent
Published: Dec 2019
"Humanitarian Intervention and the Law of State Responsibility" (Human Rights and Resort to Force, Oxford Institute of Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, Blavatnik School of Government, 14-15 November 2019)
Conference:
Human Rights and Resort to Force, Oxford Institute of Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, Blavatnik School of Government, 14-15 November 2019
Published: Nov 2019
"The Venezuela Crisis and the Resilience of International Law" (International Law Weekend - American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA), Fordham Law School, 12 October 2019, New York)
Conference:
International Law Weekend - American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA), Fordham Law School, 12 October 2019, New York
Published: Oct 2019
"Diverse Voices on the Use of Force" (International Law Weekend - American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA), Fordham Law School, 12 October 2019, New York)
Conference:
International Law Weekend - American Branch of the International Law Association (ABILA), Fordham Law School, 12 October 2019, New York
Published: Oct 2019
"Host State Defences in International Investment Law" (ELSA Athens Summer School on International Investment Law)
Conference:
ELSA Athens Summer School on International Investment Law
Published: Aug 2018
"The Right of Self-Defence in the Context of Territorial Disputes" (BIICL: The Use of Force in Relation to Sovereignty Disputes over Land Territory)
Conference:
BIICL: The Use of Force in Relation to Sovereignty Disputes over Land Territory
Published: Mar 2018
"General Defences in State Responsibility" (Exceptions and Defences in International Law, Cambridge, 31 March/1 April 2016)
Conference:
Exceptions and Defences in International Law, Cambridge, 31 March/1 April 2016
Published: Apr 2016
"Justification and Excuse in the Law of State Responsibility: A Distinction of Pure Academic Interest?" (Oxford Public International Law Discussion Group)
Conference:
Oxford Public International Law Discussion Group
Published: Apr 2016
"The Impact of Investment Arbitration on the Development of Defences in the Law of State Responsibility" (Frankfurt Investment Law Workshop: ICSID at 50: Investment Arbitration as a Motor of General International Law?)
Conference:
Frankfurt Investment Law Workshop: ICSID at 50: Investment Arbitration as a Motor of General International Law?
Link to conference paper:
Published: Mar 2016
Reports
A TRIPS-COVID Waiver and Overlapping Commitments to Protect Intellectual Property Rights Under International IP and Investment Agreements
Reference Number:
Research Paper 144
Body / Institution:
The South Centre
Published: Jan 2022
Crowd control and the right to life: Brief to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
Body / Institution:
with the Cambridge Pro Bono Project for Professor Christof Heyns, UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions
Published: Mar 2011
Facebook 
Twitter 
Instagram 
YouTube 
Flickr 
Email 