Thomas Franck Lecture

KFG Berlin Potsdam Research Group "The International Rule of Law – Rise or Decline?"

The Berlin Potsdam Research Group “The International Rule of Law – Rise or Decline?”
takes great pleasure in inviting you to a public lecture by Professor Philippa Webb,King’s
College London, on

“Not Reinventing the Wheel: Using Existing Exceptions to Sovereign Immunity
to Enhance Accountability”.

Various attempts over the years to create an exception to sovereign immunity for human
rights violations have failed. Philippa Webb argues that there is more promise of progress by
using existing exceptions to hold states or diplomats accountable for abusive conduct. She
illustrates this argument by reference to case law on exceptions to immunity for commercial
activities and employment contracts, including the recent ground-breaking judgment of the
United Kingdom Supreme Court in Wong v Basfar [2022] UKSC 20.

Philippa Webb is Professor of Public International Law at King’s College London and a
barrister at Twenty Essex Chambers. Previously, she served as the Special Assistant and
Legal Officer to Judge Rosalyn Higgins during her Presidency of the International Court of
Justice and held positions in the International Criminal Court and United Nations
Headquarters. She is on the Public International Law Advisory Panel of the British Institute of
International & Comparative Law, the Board of the Clooney Foundation for Justice, and on
editorial boards of various international law journals. Her research interests are in Public
International Law, in particular international courts, all aspects of the law of immunity,
United Nations law, human rights, international humanitarian law and international criminal
law. She has authored numerous books and articles, including The Law of State Immunity
(OUP 2015, with Hazel Fox) and The Right to a Fair Trial in International Law (OUP 2020,
with Amal Clooney).

The lecture will take place on Thursday, 8 September 2022, at 6.15 pm at lecture hall B,
Henry Ford Building, Freie Universität Berlin (Garystraße 35, 14195 Berlin).

We look forward to welcoming you.