Rosalyn C. Higgins, Baroness Higgins, (born 2 June 1937) is a British former president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). She was the first female judge elected to the ICJ, and was elected to a three-year term as its president in 2006.

Life

Born to a Jewish family in 1937 as Rosalyn Cohen, she married the politician Terence Higgins, Baron Higgins in 1961.

Education and career

Higgins studied at Girton College, University of Cambridge, receiving her B.A. degree in 1959 and an LL.B. degree in 1962. She was a Harkness Fellow between 1959 and 1961. Besides her undergraduate degrees, she also qualified with a M.A. degree. She continued her studies at Yale Law School earning a

J.S.D. A Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD; ), or a Doctor of Science of Law (JSD; ), is a research doctorate in law equivalent to the more commonly awarded Doctor of Philosophy degree. Australia The S.J.D. is offered by the Australian National Unive ...

degree in 1962.Award of Merit
- Yale alumni website Following her education, Higgins was a practising

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

, and became a Queen's Counsel (QC) in 1986, and is a bencher of the Inner Temple. She served on the UN Human Rights Committee for 14 years. Her role as member of the leading body for supervising implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights earned her respect for her diligence and competence. She resigned from the Human Rights Committee when she was elected to the International Court of Justice on 12 July 1995, re-elected on 6 February 2000, and ended her second term on 6 February 2009. Her professional appointments include: *Specialist in International Law, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1963–1974 *Visiting Fellow, London School of Economics, 1974–1978 *Professor of International Law, University of Kent at Canterbury, 1978–1981 *Professor of International Law, University of London ( London School of Economics), 1981–1995 *Vice President,

British Institute of International and Comparative Law British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

*Member of the UN Human Rights Committee. Higgins is the author of several influential works on international law, including ''Problems and Process: International Law and How We Use It'' (1994). Despite delivering many balanced judgements in different cases, Higgins's dissenting opinion in the ICJ's advisory opinion on the Legality of the Threat or the Use of Nuclear Weapons has been widely criticised by some legal scholars, on the grounds that it provides sovereign states with an unjustifiable amount of latitude in resort to the use of nuclear weapons in times of armed conflict. In October 2009 she was appointed advisor on International Law, to the British government's

inquiry An inquiry (also spelled as enquiry in British English) is any process that has the aim of augmenting knowledge, resolving doubt, or solving a problem. A theory of inquiry is an account of the various types of inquiry and a treatment of the ...

into the Iraq war (Headed by Sir

John Chilcot Sir John Anthony Chilcot (; 22 April 1939 – 3 October 2021) was a British civil servant. In 2009, he was appointed chairman of the Iraq Inquiry (also referred to as the "Chilcot Inquiry"), an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the ...

).IraqInquiry.org.uk
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Honours and awards

Higgins is a member of the Institut de droit international. She was appointed a

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(DBE) in 1995, and was advanced to

Dame Grand Cross Grand Cross is the highest class in many orders, and manifested in its insignia. Exceptionally, the highest class may be referred to as Grand Cordon or equivalent. In other cases, there may exist a rank even higher than Grand Cross, e.g. Grand ...

(GBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours. In 1988 she was appointed a Knight of the French Order of Academic Palms. Furthermore, in 2007 she was awarded the

Balzan Prize The International Balzan Prize Foundation awards four annual monetary prizes to people or organizations who have made outstanding achievements in the fields of humanities, natural sciences, culture, as well as for endeavours for peace and the br ...

for International Law since 1945. Her competence has been recognised by many academic institutions, having received at least thirteen honorary doctorates, as well as the Yale Law School Award of Merit and also the

Manley-O.-Hudson medal Manley Ottmer Hudson (May 19, 1886 – April 13, 1960) was a U.S. lawyer, specializing in public international law. He was a judge at the Permanent Court of International Justice, a member of the International Law Commission, and a mediator i ...

References

Footnotes

External links

ICJ Biography of H.E. President Rosalyn Higgins

Who's Who in Public International Law 2007
* Shabtai Rosenne Memorial Lecture
"Shabtai Rosenne and the International Court of Justice"
by Dame Rosalyn Higgins DBE QC, London, 19 November 2012 (retrieved 2013-03-26)

a lecture by Dame Rosalyn Higgins in th

(retrieved 2013-03-26)
Belgium/Netherlands Iron Rhine Award
an
XXVII UNRIAA 35
an
Award Series

Professor Edith Brown Weiss and Charles Brower
and ICJ President
H.E. Rosalyn Higgins
an
H.E. Stephen M. Schwebel
a
the 104th ASIL Annual Dinner of 26 March 2010
in Ritz Carlton in Washington, D.C., an
104th ASIL Annual Dinner's Video
i
104th ASIL Videos

ICJ Presidents H.E. Rosalyn Higgins
and H.E.

Stephen M. Schwebel Stephen Myron Schwebel (born March 10, 1929), is an American jurist and international judge, counsel and arbitrator. He previously served as judge of the World Bank Administrative Tribunal (2010–2017),

a
The Function of International Law Conference in Cambridge on 11-12 July 2008
an
25th Lauterpacht Centre's Anniversary

of the

Institute of International Law The Institute of International Law ( French: Institut de Droit International) is an organization devoted to the study and development of international law, whose membership comprises the world's leading public international lawyers. The organizat ...

an
IDI Members

Manley O. Hudson Awards
and
26 January 2009
* ICJ President

and H.E.

a
the ILSA-ASIL Gala Dinner Celebrating the 50th Anniversary
of the Philip Jessup Moot Court Competition on 27 March 2009 an
Jessup's 50th Anniversary Honorary Committee
an
50th Jessup Video
an
50th Jessup Programme
an
Prize for "Best Jessup Oralist" Launched in Honour of Former ICJ President Stephen M. Schwebel
a
the 103rd ASIL Annual Meeting on International Law as Law, Fairmont Hotel
in Washington, D.C., 25–28 March 2009 * U.S. Legal Adviser Harold Hongju Koh's Membership, along with i.a. H.E. Former ICJ President

, i
the U.S. National Group
o
the PCA
which on 18 June 2010 nominate

to be the second - after ICJ President Rosalyn Higgins
woman Judge in the International Court of Justice's history
and U.S. Foreign Secretary Hillary Clinton's
Congratulations
{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Rosalyn Presidents of the International Court of Justice United Nations Human Rights Committee members 1937 births Living people Academics of the London School of Economics Academics of the University of Kent Chevaliers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire British baronesses British legal scholars English King's Counsel English Jews 20th-century English judges Fellows of Girton College, Cambridge Harkness Fellows International law scholars Members of the Institut de Droit International Lawyers from London Spouses of life peers Yale Law School alumni 21st-century English judges Honorary Fellows of the London School of Economics British judges of United Nations courts and tribunals Women legal scholars Wives of knights 20th-century British women lawyers 21st-century British women lawyers International Court of Justice judges 20th-century British women judges