The presentation will cover: functional immunity (e.g., the 1945 UN Charter); immunity from jurisdiction (e.g., the 1946 Convention on the privileges and immunity of the UN, and the jurisprudence of the ICJ, ECtHR and International Administrative Tribunals); and practical examples of how immunity is challenged and defended (e.g., the UN Haiti Cholera Case, and the recent Canadian Supreme Court case of Wallace involving the World Bank). The seminar will also address the various internal justice systems of international organisations such as the Sanctions Regime of the Multilateral Development Banks and the administrative and judicial processes set up as alternatives to domestic systems.

Alex is an international law barrister specialising in the law of international organisations. He regularly appears and litigates before International Administrative Tribunals (e.g., the United Nations Appeals Tribunal in New York City) and international sanctions boards (e.g., the World Bank Sanctions Board in Washington DC). He is a member of the International Committee of the Bar Council of England and Wales, and sits on Transparency International’s Suspension and Debarment Taskforce. Alex has lectured on the law of international organisations to a number of universities and institutions including King’s College London, La Sorbonne, the Shanghai Bar Association, the Council of Europe and the University of Cambridge. Alex is a rapporteur for Oxford International Organisations (OXIO) and is fluent in French and Spanish.