Professional practice

Amy specialises in public international law (PIL) before international and domestic courts and tribunals. She acts on a wide range of issues including territorial and maritime boundaries, treaty obligations, law of the sea, immunities, human rights (including gender discrimination and sexual violence), environmental law (including climate change), international humanitarian law and state responsibility.

Described as “an outstanding advocate before international and domestic courts” and “undoubtedly one of the top senior juniors”, she has extensive experience. She has been instructed before the International Court of Justice in ten cases (including recently in the UNRWA advisory proceedings). In UNCLOS proceedings, she has appeared on various inter-state matters, reflecting her expertise on law of the sea (noting she is co-author of the fourth edition of Law of the Sea: Churchill, Lowe and Sander). Before the European Court of Human Rights, she is instructed on a range of complex issues, e.g., appearing as counsel against 32 States in Duarte Agostinho v Portugal and Others. She has also acted in other international forums e.g., UN treaty bodies (Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women) and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Appointed to the A-Panel of the Attorney General’s Public International Law Panel of Counsel, Amy is regularly instructed before the domestic courts on significant PIL issues, notably immunity issues.

Amy is recommended in the Legal Directories as a leading junior for PIL (Chambers and Partners and Legal 500), international human rights law (Chambers and Partners) and administrative law and human rights (Legal 500). Recent entries say she is “really almost a silk – viz the exceptional standard of her advocacy and strength of her analytical mind”, “a true pleasure to work with”, “extremely intelligent”, “a hugely valuable member of any team” and “crystal clear in everything she says and writes”.

Amy is listed as a “Star Individual” in Chambers and Partners 2025. In 2023 and 2024, she was nominated as international law junior of the year. Amy is on the Pro Bono Recognition List of England & Wales.

Amy is a member of the BIICL PIL Advisory Panel, a mentor for the ASIL Women in International Law Program and a project member of the European Legal Institute project on Climate Justice. Previously, Amy taught PIL at Cambridge University, was a Board Member of the YPILG and was also Assistant Editor of the European Human Rights Reports.

Amy’s recent speaking engagements include at the ITLOS Workshop for State Legal Advisors (2024) and the London Conference on International Law (2024, 2022 and 2019).

In addition to being co-author of the fourth edition of Law of the Sea (Churchill, Lowe and Sander: 2022), Amy is contributing author to The Cambridge Companion to the International Court of Justice (ed. Parlett and Esposito: 2023). She co-authored two articles (with Sean Aughey) entitled ‘Intervention before the ICJ: A practical guide’ (2022) and ‘Deep Seabed Mining: The Critical Juncture that we should all be talking about’ (2023). Other notable publications include a contribution in the Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Law (2022), a paper in AJIL Unbound (2019) on professional conduct before the ICJ and a chapter on arbitration in ‘International Employment Disputes’ (Sweet and Maxwell, 2019).

 

What others say

Chambers and Partners UK Bar, 2025: International Human Rights Law

“She’s brilliant.”

“She is a very compassionate advocate who has strong legal skills across a range of areas.”

“Amy is fantastic.”

Chambers and Partners UK Bar, 2025: Public International Law

“She is a generalist across all areas of international law.”

“Amy is a hugely valuable member of any team and an outstanding advocate before international and domestic courts.”

“Her attention to detail is astonishing.”

“She’s extremely intelligent, always responsive and able to quickly assist with complex queries.”

“Amy is a true pleasure to work with.”

Chambers and Partners UK Bar, 2025: Public International Law: The English Bar

“She is also attentive to client interests.”

“Amy is exceptionally able, balanced and has good judgement.”

The Legal 500 Bar, 2025: Public International Law

“She is very thorough and reliable, and excellent at drafting while paying attention to details.”

Chambers and Partners UK Bar, 2024: Public International Law 

“Amy is exceptionally able, balanced and has good judgement. She is also attentive to client interests.”

Chambers and Partners UK Bar, 2024: International Human Rights

“Amy provided clear, comprehensive, strategic and practical advice.”

The Legal 500 Bar, 2024: Public International Law 

“Amy’s knowledge is first-rate and she is fast in mastering details of complex cases.”

The Legal 500 Bar, 2023: Public International Law 

“Amy is undoubtedly one of the top senior juniors, who is really almost a silk – viz the exceptional standard of her advocacy and strength of her analytical mind.”

Chambers and Partners UK Bar, 2023: Public International Law 

“She is crystal clear in everything she says and writes.”

Chambers and Partners UK Bar, 2022: Public International Law 

“Super diligent, has an exceptional intellect, and has unparalleled advocacy experience for a senior junior in state on state cases”

The Legal 500 Bar, 2021: Public International Law 

“smart as a whip. She gets her arms around all of the details in the case, but never loses sight of the big picture and the client’s goals. She tries to get to a resolution and does not get lost in the weeds of legal technicalities.”

Chambers and Partners UK Bar, 2021: Public International Law 

“Absolutely outstanding. She is hard-working and has a strong natural aptitude for international law.”

Other comments from Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 in recent years include:

“Her professionalism, courtesy and diligence is truly exemplary.” “[Amy is] an excellent advocate, arguing her points with a clarity and fluency that is welcomed by the bench and appreciated by her colleagues”. “Amy flawlessly tackles, analyses and handles extremely difficult and complex issues”; “[Amy is] a real star in the making; she is incredibly hardworking and has brilliant attention to detail”; “excellent team player, who is extremely hard-working and very effective even when handling the most urgent matters”; “she is obviously phenomenally bright… very comfortable tackling extremely abstruse questions, and she cuts through issues effectively”, “really efficient and impressive, and is building up a great practice”, “incredibly thorough…patient under great pressure”, “has a sharp and focused mind, and is a master of the cases she works on”, “very good academic knowledge, but is practical with it and an efficient worker”, “unflappable” and “a good team player”.

In 2023 and 2024, Amy was nominated as international law junior of the year. Amy is listed as a “Star Individual” in Chambers and Partners 2025. Previously, Amy was named as one of the ten “Stars of the Bar” under ten years call by Legal Week.

Examples of Recent Cases
  • Appeared as counsel and advocate in Obligations of Israel in relation to the Presence and Activities of the United Nations, Other International Organizations and Third States in and in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory (ICJ)
  • Instructed as counsel and advocate in Guatemala’s Territorial, Insular and Maritime Claim (Guatemala/Belize) (ICJ)
  • Appeared as counsel and advocate in Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem (ICJ)
  • Appeared as counsel and advocate in Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change (ICJ)
  • Appeared as counsel and advocate in Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and Others (ECtHR)
  • Appeared as counsel and advocate in Request for an Advisory Opinion submitted by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (Request for Advisory Opinion submitted to the Tribunal) (ITLOS)
  • Appeared as counsel and advocate in Dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Mauritius and Maldives in the Indian Ocean (Mauritius/Maldives) (ITLOS)
  • Acted for the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in Tomanovic v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (High Court)
  • Advised the International Human Rights Service (with Alison McDonald KC, Ben Juratowitch KC and Naomi Hart) on the crime of gender apartheid under international law, with particular reference to the conduct of the Taliban in Afghanistan (advice available here).
Human rights & civil liberties

Amy acts and advises in relation to a wide range of significant human rights issues before domestic and international courts, United Nations treaty bodies, and regional (European, African and Inter-American) human rights systems. Amy’s expertise includes gender discrimination and sexual violence, the right to life, the right to freedom from torture and inhuman treatment, the right to a fair trial, freedom of expression as well as rights of civilians during armed conflict.

Amy appears in the major directories in the human rights field, described as “fantastic” and “a very compassionate advocate who has strong legal skills across a range of areas”. From 2008 to 2014, Amy was an Assistant Editor of the European Human Rights Reports.

Examples of matters in the public domain on which Amy has been instructed include:

  • Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and Others concerning alleged breaches of the ECHR by 33 respondent States arising from climate change
  • Acting against Moldova regarding alleged breaches of freedom of expression and association
  • Two sets of advisory proceedings before the ICJ concerning Israel’s conduct in the Occupied Palestinian Territory including breaches of international human rights and humanitarian law
  • Acting for the Republic of Cyprus in respect of human rights matters connected to the ‘TRNC’
  • Acting in a case before CEDAW concerning gender discrimination
  • Submissions before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on environmental law (climate change)
  • Advising the International Human Rights Service on the crime of gender apartheid under international law (advice available here).
  • Advising an NGO with respect to a claim before the African Court of Human Rights concerning the rights of refugees and asylum seekers
  • Advising an NGO with respect to child sexual abuse in Sierra Leone
  • Tomanovic v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs concerning an alleged breach of the ECHR by the UK arising from deaths and disappearances in Kosovo in 1999/2000
  • The Queen (on the application of KAB) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Secretary of State for Defence concerning a claim for protection by three individuals who claimed to have acted as covert human intelligence sources for the UK in Afghanistan
  • Hussein v Secretary of State for Defence [2014] EWCA Civ 1087 concerning the lawfulness of an element of a policy dealing with the questioning of persons captured by United Kingdom armed forces
Public international law

Amy is a specialist in public international law (which she taught at Cambridge University). She undertakes complex and diplomatically sensitive work for States and governmental bodies, as well as acting for private entities. In 2020, Amy was appointed to the A Panel of the Attorney General’s Public International Law Panel. In addition to her extensive experience before international forums and domestic courts (see below), she authors authoritative commentary (e.g., Law of the Sea: Churchill, Lowe and Sander) and is regularly asked to speak at high profile events (see listed further below). Amy is a member of the BIICL PIL Advisory Panel and project member of the European Legal Institute project on Climate Justice. She was awarded a starred first in the LLM (international law) at Cambridge University, where she was ranked top in the year.

Amy appears in the major directories in this field, described as “extremely intelligent” and “a hugely valuable member of any team” who is “also attentive to client interests”.

Matters in the public domain in which Amy has been involved include:

  • Appeared as counsel and advocate in Obligations of Israel in relation to the Presence and Activities of the United Nations, Other International Organizations and Third States in and in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory (ICJ)
  • Instructed as counsel and advocate for Belize in Guatemala’s Territorial, Insular and Maritime Claim (Guatemala/Belize) (ICJ)
  • Appeared as counsel and advocate in Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem (ICJ)
  • Appeared as counsel and advocate in Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change (ICJ)
  • Appeared as counsel and advocate for the applicants in Duarte Agostinho and Others v. Portugal and Others (ECtHR)
  • Appeared as counsel and advocate for the United Kingdom in Request for an Advisory Opinion submitted by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (Request for Advisory Opinion submitted to the Tribunal) (ITLOS)
  • Advised the International Human Rights Service (with Alison McDonald KC, Ben Juratowitch KC and Naomi Hart) on the crime of gender apartheid under international law, with particular reference to the conduct of the Taliban in Afghanistan (advice available here).
  • Instructed in relation to proceeding before the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
  • Instructed in relation to proceedings against Moldova (ECtHR)
  • Instructed on behalf of GLAN to make submission in Request for an advisory opinion on the Climate Emergency and Human Rights (IACtHR)
  • Appeared as counsel and advocate for the Maldives in Dispute concerning delimitation of the maritime boundary between Mauritius and Maldives in the Indian Ocean (Mauritius/Maldives) (ITLOS)
  • Appeared as counsel and advocate in Dispute Concerning Coastal State Rights in the Black Sea, Sea of Azov, and Kerch Strait and Dispute Concerning the Detention of Ukrainian Naval Vessels and Servicemen (Ukraine v the Russian Federation) (UNCLOS, PCA) (resigned as counsel for Russia in February 2022)
  • Instructed by Guyana in Guyana v. Venezuela (Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899) (ICJ)
  • Acted in the matter of Kenya v Somalia (Maritime Delimitation in the Indian Ocean) (ICJ)
  • Advised an NGO on matters related to child sexual abuse in Sierra Leone
  • Acted for the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in Tomanovic v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (High Court)
  • Acted for the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Secretary of State for Defense in The Queen (on the application of KAB) v Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and Secretary of State for Defence (High Court)
  • Acted for the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in the matter of Campaign Against Arms Trade v Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (High Court)
  • Appeared as counsel and advocate for Bolivia in Obligation to Negotiate Access to the Pacific Ocean (Bolivia v Chile) (ICJ)
  • Appeared as counsel and advocate for the UK in The Republic of Mauritius v The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UNCLOS)
  • Appeared for Japan in Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v Japan: New Zealand intervening) (ICJ)
  • Appeared as counsel and advocate in Swissbourgh Diamond Mines (Pty) Limited and others v. the Kingdom of Lesotho (UNCITRAL)
  • Appeared in the Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Georgia v Russia) (ICJ)
  • Appeared for the Republic of Cyprus in the Accordance with international law of the unilateral declaration of independence in respect of Kosovo (ICJ)
  • Advised the Palestinian Negotiations Support Project on matters of public international law Assisted and attended the Russian delegation at the 20th round of Geneva International Discussions addressing international humanitarian law issues
  • Assisted Professor Vaughan Lowe KC in the matter of C and Others Director of Immigration and Another (before the Court of Appeal in Hong Kong)
  • Instructed (with Sir Frank Berman KCMG KC) in an ICSID arbitration addressing issues of treaty law
  • Assisted Professor Malcolm Shaw KC with research concerning Cameroon and Nigeria
  • Appeared for the Republic of Cyprus (interested party) in R (Kibris Turk Hava Yollari) and CTA Holidays Ltd v The Secretary of State for Transport (High Court)

Talks include:

  • London Conference on International Law (2024), guest speaker on state immunity and ECHR issues
  • ITLOS Workshop for State Legal Advisors (2024), guest speaker
  • International Boundaries Research Unit Workshop on Maritime Delimitation (Training for States) (2024), guest lecturer
  • Debevoise seminar event (2023), panellist with Catherine Amirfar, Stephen Fietta KC and Kate Parlett addressing 30 years of UNCLOS
  • KCL event (2023), panellist with Professor Roger O’Keefe, Professor Yuval Shany, Professor Carlos Esposito and Kate Parlett addressing immediate and medium term challenges for the ICJ
  • Gender Apartheid (2023), participant in discussion groups
  • London International Disputes Week (2023), climate change and inter-state activity on the international law plane
  • SOAS masterclass on intervention in international forums (2023), panellist with Sir Michael Wood QC, Martins Paparinskis and Sam Wordsworth QC
  • Guest speaker at UN side event on 40th anniversary of UNCLOS (2022)  Climate Change Seminar (PIL Series, Essex Court Chambers) (2022)
  • Inner Temple, International Bar Committee (2022), speaker on litigation before the ICJ, with the Rt Hon Lady Higgins GBE KC, Sam Wordsworth KC and Professor Alina Miron
  • London Conference on International Law (2022), guest speaker on ethical challenges in situations of emergency
  • ASIL Conference (2019), guest speaker on ‘Obligations to Negotiate: worthwhile tool or exercise in futility?
  • London Conference (2019), guest speaker on inter-State litigation Denial of Justice (workshop at Cambridge University)
  • An informal discussion with Professor Lowe KC: lessons learned as a public international law academic, counsel and arbitrator (a YPILG event)
  • Oxford University, PIL Discussion Group: guest speaker addressing advocacy before international forums
  • ‘70 Years of the International Court of Justice: The Advisory Function of the Principal Judicial Organ of the United Nations’ (a BIICL event chaired by Dame Rosalyn Higgins DBE KC)
  • ‘International Dispute Resolution’ (an introduction to international law for government lawyers)
  • ‘Commencing an ICSID Arbitration: practical issues and pitfalls’ (given by invitation of the Japanese Government as part of a series of seminars at the University of Tokyo and the University of Kyoto in Japan)

As regards publications:

  • Co-authored article (with Sean Aughey) entitled ‘Deep Seabed Mining: The Critical Juncture that we should all be talking about’ (2023).
  • Contributing author to The Cambridge Companion to the International Court of Justice (May 2023)
  • Co-author of the fourth edition of the Law of the Sea (with Professor Vaughan Lowe KC and Professor Robin Churchill).
  • Co-authored article (with Sean Aughey) entitled ‘Intervention before the ICJ: A practical guide’ (2022)
  • Contributor to Climate Change in Law Blog Series (ECC)
  • Author of entry in Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Procedural Law.
  • Co-authored a paper (with Kate Parlett) in AJIL Unbound (2019, Vol 113) entitled “Into the Void: A Counsel Perspective on the Need to Articulate Rules Concerning Disclosure Before the ICJ”.
  • Co-authored a chapter on arbitration in ‘International Employment Disputes’ (Sweet and Maxwell, 2019).
  • Assisted VV Veeder KC in compiling the First Interim Report on the Workings of Section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 and authored “Investment Insurance and Investment Arbitration: the Position of the Third Party” in the European International Arbitration Review.
Career

2020: Appointed to Attorney-General’s A PIL Panel

2014: Appointed to Attorney-General’s C PIL Panel

2013: Appointed to Attorney-General’s C Panel

2006: Call: Middle Temple

2006: Research Assistant, Law Commission

2005: Supervisor in Public International Law, Gonville and Caius College and Newnham College, University of Cambridge

2004: Paralegal, Bredin Prat, Paris

Education

2006: BVC (Outstanding), Inns of Court School of Law

2004: LLM (Starred First Class Hons), Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge (ranked first in year)

2003: Harvard University, Kennedy Trust Memorial Scholar, Special Student

2002: BA (Double First Class Hons, Starred First in 2001) (Law), Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge (ranked first in year 2001 and second in year 2002)

Awards

2005: Queen Mother Scholarship Fund, Middle Temple 2005: Harmsworth Entrance Scholarship, Middle Temple

2004: BRD Clarke Prize for Best Overall Performance in LLM, University of Cambridge 2004: Clive Parry Prize for International Law, University of Cambridge

2004: Emlyn Wade Prize for Law, University of Cambridge 2003: Tapp Scholarship, University of Cambridge

2003: Arts and Humanities Research Fund Scholarship 2002: JFK Memorial Trust Fund Scholarship

2002: The Schuldham Plate (2002) (Gonville and Caius College Plate for Top Graduate of that Year), University of Cambridge

2001: Clifford Chance David Gottlieb Law Prize for best results in Law, University of Cambridge 2001: John Hall Law Prize for best paper in Family Law, University of Cambridge

2000-2002: Cambridge University Elected Scholar

2000 & 2001: Sir William McNair Prize for Law, University of Cambridge 2000 & 2001: Rebecca Flower Squire Scholarship, University of Cambridge

2000: Sir William McNair Prize for Mooting, Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge