Guglielmo Verdirame
Guglielmo Verdirame (born Reggio di Calabria, Italy) is a Professor of International Law at King's College London in the Department of War Studies and the School of Law. He was previously a university lecturer in law at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Law, and a Fellow of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law. He practises as a barrister at 20 Essex Street Chambers.
Verdirame conducted empirical research on international organisations and refugee protection, which formed the basis of a series of articles and the book "Rights in Exile: Janus-faced Humanitarianism",[1] which he co-authored with Barbara Harrell-Bond, an anthropologist whose "Imposing Aid" (1986) was a pioneering critique of international institutions and humanitarianism. While still relying on the earlier socio-legal and empirical research, Verdirame's "The UN and Human Rights: Who Guards the Guardians?"[2] (2011) offers a predominantly doctrinal analysis of the accountability and responsibility of the UN.
In addition to the law of international organisation, Verdirame has written extensively on the use of force, the laws of war, trade and investment, international criminal law, and the philosophy of international law.
Since 2006 Verdirame has been in practice at the Bar specialising in public international law. His practice includes both commercial (e.g. investment arbitration) and more mainstream aspects of international law (e.g. inter-state disputes, immunity, human rights).
In the past he held appointments at Merton College, Oxford, at the University of Cambridge and was a Visiting Fellow at Harvard Law School.
In 2014 he provided an expert opinion supporting the legality of G4S's activities in Palestine.
