Michael Jacob Beloff, KC (born 18 April 1942) is an English barrister and arbitrator. A member of

Blackstone Chambers Blackstone Chambers is a set of barristers' chambers in the Temple district of central London. Established in the 1950s, as of 2022 it had 119 tenants, of whom more than 50 are silks. Current notable members include Robert Anderson, Michael Be ...

, he practises in a number of areas including

human rights Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...

administrative law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are generally referred to as " regulations"), ...

and sports law.

Career

Beloff is the son of the historian Max Beloff, Baron Beloff, and is therefore by courtesy styled 'the Honourable'. His mother was Helen Dobrin. He was educated at the

Dragon School ("Reach for the Sun") , established = 1877 , closed = , type = Preparatory day and boarding school and Pre-Prep school , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Emma Goldsm ...

and Eton, and read history at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 ...

, and was President of the

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''U ...

. As President of the Union he passed a resolution in 1963 to allow women to have full membership for the first time. He was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call t ...

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

, where he later became a

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher ca ...

and was the Treasurer for 2008. He is the founder of a student prize at the Inn awarded for an essay on administrative law. The term Plate glass university stems from the title of his book ''The Plateglass Universities'' (1970). From 1995 until 2014 he was a member of the Jersey Court of Appeal and the Guernsey Court of Appeal and senior ordinary appeal Judge for six years. He sits on the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...

(CAS), which deals with disputes including doping offences on behalf of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

. He has also chaired the ethics commission of the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

(IAAF), including investigations into IAAF treasurer

Valentin Balakhnichev Valentin Vasilyevich Balakhnichev (russian: Валентин Васильевич Балахничёв; born 23 April 1949) is a Russian engineer and athletics coach and a former president of the All-Russia Athletic Federation. After investigation ...

and Papa Massata Diack, son of IAAF president

Lamine Diack Lamine Diack (7 June 1933 – 3 December 2021) was a Senegalese businessman, sports administrator, and athlete. He was president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) from 1999 to 2015. He was the subject of numerous ...

. He served as President of

Trinity College, Oxford (That which you wish to be secret, tell to nobody) , named_for = The Holy Trinity , established = , sister_college = Churchill College, Cambridge , president = Dame Hilary Boulding , location = Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BH , coordinat ...

, from 1996 to 2006 and was succeeded by Ivor Roberts. Trinity College now awards a Michael and Judith Beloff Scholarship endowed by Michael. Trinity College's debating society also runs the annual Michael Beloff After-Dinner Speaking Competition, open to members of the college.

Sources

Brief CV, Oxford University Faculty of Law website

Summary of Arbitration Panel adjudication, (accessed 3 July 2007)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beloff, Michael 1942 births People educated at The Dragon School People educated at Eton College Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford English King's Counsel English people of Russian-Jewish descent 20th-century King's Counsel Presidents of the Oxford Union Presidents of Trinity College, Oxford Living people Members of Gray's Inn Judiciary of Jersey English barristers