Sir Frank Berman, KC

Sir Frank Berman joined the Faculty in 2000 as Visiting Professor in International Law on his retirement from the post of Legal Adviser to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

During a full career in the Diplomatic Service, he served in Berlin, Bonn and at the UN in New York, conducted cases before the International Court of Justice and arbitral tribunals and took part in numerous international negotiations, culminating in leading the British Delegation to the International Conference that drew up the Statute of the International Criminal Court. From 2001 he served as Chairman of the Austrian Claims Committee for the compensation of victims of Nazi persecution until the completion of its work in 2017.

He came to Oxford to read law as a Rhodes Scholar and is an Hon. Fellow of Wadham. He practises at the Bar in public international law and international arbitration. He has sat on numerous committees in the legal field, including the Advisory Council of the Institute for European & Comparative Law, the Board of Trustees of the British Institute of International & Comparative Law, and the Editorial Board of the British Year Book of International Law.

He is a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and was appointed Legal Member of the Court of Arbitration between Pakistan and India under the Indus Waters Treaty. He has sat as Judge ad hoc in three cases before the International Court of Justice.

His research interests lie principally in the law of treaties, the use of force, settlement of disputes, international humanitarian law and the law of international organizations. He is General Editor of the Oxford Library of International Law.