Sir Christopher John Greenwood (born 12 May 1955) is Master of

Magdalene College, Cambridge Magdalene College ( ) is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1428 as a Benedictine hostel, in time coming to be known as Buckingham College, before being refounded in 1542 as the College of St Mary ...

and a former British judge at the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

. Prior to his election, he was professor of international law at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

and a barrister who regularly appeared as counsel before the International Court of Justice, the

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, the

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, and other tribunals.

Family and career

Greenwood is the son of Captain Murray Greenwood and Diana Greenwood. He is married with two daughters. Christopher was educated at

Wellingborough School Wellingborough School is a co-educational day independent school in the market town of Wellingborough in Northamptonshire. It was established in 1595 and is one of the oldest schools in the country. The school today consists of a Prep school ...

. He then read law at

, where he was awarded a BA (Law) (First Class Hons) in 1976,

LLB Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

(International Law) (First Class Hons) in 1977, and MA in 1981. As an undergraduate, he was elected

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of the

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in 1976. 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 to ...

at the

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in 1978 and was appointed

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in 1999. In 2002 he was appointed

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(CMG) in the

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for services to

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

. He was

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in the

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. In 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours, he was appointed

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(GBE) for services to international justice. Greenwood is a member of the Panel of Arbitrators for the

Law of the Sea Treaty The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 c ...

, the

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and the United Kingdom National Group

Permanent Court of Arbitration The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is a non-UN intergovernmental organization located in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides services of arbitral tribunal to resolve disputes that arise ...

''The Legality of Using Force Against Iraq''

Greenwood is well known for the October 2002 legal opinion tendered to the

British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_es ...

, entitled ''The Legality of Using Force Against Iraq''. The legal opinion, which he signed in his capacity as a law professor, has been used to justify that the

invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

by Britain, the United States and allied powers was sanctioned by the

UN Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and ...

. However, the opinion was concluded in the month before the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1441 and the conclusion was stated to be dependent on one of three conditions being satisfied. These conditions (he said) were (1) ''"if the UN Security Council adopts a fresh resolution authorising military action against Iraq and any conditions set out in that resolution are met"'' – this did not happen; or (2) ''"under existing Security Council resolutions on the basis that the Security Council considered that (a) Iraq is in material breach of those resolutions"'' and (b) ''"that breach constitutes a threat to international peace and security in the Gulf area. This would not require a fresh Security Council authorisation of military action"''. The question of whether these conditions were satisfied is controversial and unclear, since there was no further resolution which might have rendered the point clear. Alternatively, (3) ''"under the right of self-defence if an armed attack by Iraq against the United Kingdom or one of its allies was reasonably believed to be imminent. This would not require any action by the Security Council."'' Greenwood acted as counsel for the government of the United Kingdom in relation to a number of cases in both domestic and international courts: the Ojdanic case in the

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal ...

; Federal Republic of Yugoslavia v. United Kingdom in the International Court of Justice; the General Assembly request to the ICJ for an advisory opinion on the Palestinian wall (UK observations on admissibility); R (on the application of the European Roma Rights Centre and others) v. Immigration Officer at Prague Airport and others; and R (on the application of Abbasi and Mubanga) v. the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and others. Notable appearances include: * ''

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya bo ...

v. United Kingdom'' (Aerial Incident at

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) ICJ Reps., 1992, p. 3; ICJ Reps. 1998, p. 3 * Case concerning Legality of Use of Force (''

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

v. United Kingdom'') ICJ Reps, 1999 * ''R. v. Bow Street Magistrates, ex parte

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(No. 1)''

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1 AC 147,

998 Year 998 ( CMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – Otto III retakes Rome and restores power in the papal city. Crescenti ...

3 WLR 1456 and (No. 3) 0011 AC 147,

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2 WLR 827

1 WLR 188 (Court of Appeal) ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' reported on 31 August 2007 that Greenwood had been hired by the

Canadian Department of National Defence The Department of National Defence (DND; french: Ministère de la Défense nationale) is the department of the Government of Canada which supports the Canadian Armed Forces in its role of defending Canadian national interests domestically and i ...

for an opinion on the

Canadian Afghan detainee issue The Canadian Afghan detainee issue concerns Government of Canada or the Canadian Forces (CF) knowledge of abusive treatment of detainees in Afghanistan. The abuse occurred after Afghans were detained by Canadian Forces, and subsequently transferr ...

, the responsibility Canada had for captives apprehended in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. The legal issue is whether Canada can use the United Nations mandate to override its international treaty obligations.

Judge at the International Court of Justice

Greenwood was elected as a

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in November 2008 and served from 2009 to 2018. Greenwood's direct predecessor as a judge from the United Kingdom was

Rosalyn Higgins 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 ...

and, although there is no rule allocating seats, the one held by them was kept by judges from the UK since the founding of the

ICJ The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

in 1946. In November 2017, the seats of Greenwood and four other judges were up for election.

Nawaf Salam Nawaf Salam ( ar, نواف سلام; born 15 December 1953) is a Lebanese diplomat, jurist, and academic. He was elected on 9 November 2017 as judge on the International Court of Justice for the 2018–2027 term, having received a concurrent ma ...

from Lebanon surprisingly contested and won the seat kept previously by Indian judge

Dalveer Bhandari Dalveer Bhandari (born 1 October 1947) is one of the Judges of the International Court of Justice. He is a former Judge of Supreme Court of India. He is also the former Chief Justice of Bombay High Court and a Judge of Delhi High Court. Early ...

. India in turn had Bhandari contest the seat previously held by Greenwood and after multiple rounds of voting the United Kingdom decided to withdraw Greenwood's application. This is the second time a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council has no judge on the ICJ and first time a permanent member lost the majority vote in the

UN general assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

Lectures

''The Relationship between International Law and Municipal Law''
in th

* ttp://legal.un.org/avl/faculty/Greenwood.html ''The Sources of International Law''in th
Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law

in th

* ttp://legal.un.org/avl/faculty/Greenwood.html ''Immunities from Jurisdiction''in th
Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law

in th

* ttp://legal.un.org/avl/faculty/Greenwood.html ''Reflections on the Right of Self-Defence in International Law''in th
Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law

in th

* ttp://legal.un.org/avl/faculty/Greenwood.html ''International Law in the Age of Adjudication''in th
Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law

References

Notes

External links

Profile at the London School of Economics

– Evidence to the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs

– The key case reports of which he is joint editor {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, Christopher People educated at Wellingborough School English barristers English King's Counsel Members of the Middle Temple Living people Academics of the London School of Economics Alumni of Magdalene College, Cambridge Fellows of Magdalene College, Cambridge Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Knights Bachelor Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George International Court of Justice judges 1955 births Presidents of the Cambridge Union British judges of United Nations courts and tribunals