Gillian Higgins

Career

Gillian is a senior international criminal lawyer and Head of the International Practice Group at 9BR Chambers with extensive experience at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN international tribunals. Her practice includes international criminal law, human rights law, international fraud and corruption, cultural heritage and Interpol advisory work. She is described as ‘one of the foremost minds in international law, current and emerging, with an unrivalled experience.’ The directories spotlight her ‘truly fearless approach to winning for her clients’ and describe her as a ‘powerhouse with an infectious calm.’

International Criminal Law and Human Rights Law

International Trials

Gillian has been instructed in some of the leading cases in international criminal law including the first trial of a former Head of State (former President of Serbia, Slobodan Milosevic) and the first case at the ICC of an incumbent Head of State (President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya). Before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, she represented Ivan Cermak in a case that has been described as the most important trial in the history of Croatia. Before the Rwanda Tribunal (ICTR), she acted for the defence in the trials of Alfred Musema (the first trial of a civilian alleging command responsibility for genocide) and Ferdinand Nahimana (a trial concerning the responsibility of the media for genocide in Rwanda in 1994).

More recently, Gillian has been instructed as a consultant to the Defence in criminal proceedings brought against the Swedish Oil Company Lundin Oil for war crimes in Sudan between 1999 and 2003 brought under laws of universal jurisdiction in Sweden.

Gillian has also acted as a senior advisor to the Government of South Sudan on international legal issues. She has provided advice and legal services to a range of organisations including the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia and the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in addition to conducting both fact-finding missions and trial observations.

International Advisory and Reports

Gillian advises states in investigating allegations of corruption and human rights abuses, capacity building, sanctions, improving relations between governmental institutions and advising on compliance with human rights obligations. Her recent work includes the publication of the following reports:

• South Sudan: (i) An investigation and report on the causes of the 2013 and 2016 conflicts in South Sudan, entitled ‘Pushing the Reset Button’ and (ii) ‘Setting the Record Straight’, a report focusing on the challenges faced by South Sudan.

• Sudan: A report on the Lundin case concerning universal jurisdiction proceedings in Sweden alleging war crimes committed in Sudan from 1999-2003 against Lundin Oil company, its chairman and CEO, commissioned by the Board of Directors for Lundin Energy.

• Algeria: A Human Rights Abuse Alert report, July 2019. Submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

• Egypt: Reports on the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt commissioned by the State Lawsuit (Litigation) Authority of Egypt, 2015.

• Sri Lanka: Submissions to the OHCHR investigation on Sri Lanka (OISL) relating to the 30-year conflict between the Government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE (Tamil Tigers).

International Fraud and Corruption

In FBME, Saab and Saab v Dangate, Brown and Leighton, 2019, Gillian appeared as defence counsel in litigation in the Commercial Court concerning two ex-Metropolitan police officers, sued by the owners of FBME bank. The litigation concerned an alleged breach of a confidentiality agreement in relation to the provision of information to the Central Bank of Cyprus and US FINCEN of serious criminal conduct and regulatory breaches revealed within the accounts held by the Cyprus branch of the bank referencing money laundering, Magnitsky money, terrorist accounts, fraud, sarin gas and extreme pornography.

In Top Zinc Ltd v Hilton Hotels, Alix Partners et al, 2018, Gillian advised in respect of legal action by Vincent Tchenguiz concerning a portfolio of Hilton hotels bought by Mr Tchenguiz, leased back to Hilton and eventually put into administration upon default of a loan scheme hedged by Bayerische Landesbank, in circumstances where the value of assets was believed to be undersold.

Interpol

In 2019, Gillian and Steven Kay KC established the Interpol Red Notice Desk at 9BR Chambers to deal with an increasing number of international arrest warrants subject to challenge as either politically or financially motivated.

Wellbeing

In addition to her legal practice, Gillian is a recognised pioneer of wellbeing at the Bar as an accredited mindfulness teacher. For the past 9 years, she has designed and developed presentations, workshops, and courses for a broad range of legal institutions and bodies including The International Criminal Court, Gray’s Inn, Women in Criminal Law, The Criminal Bar Association, The South-Eastern Circuit, civil and commercial chambers, Barclays Bank and JPM Chase. Gillian is the author of Mindfulness at Work and Home and is a Champion of LawCare.

Professional Memberships

• Called to the Bar 1997, Gray’s Inn

• List Counsel at the International Criminal Court

• Member of the Criminal Bar Association

• Founding member of The International Criminal Law Bureau

Appointments and Accreditations

• Founder of the International Criminal Law Bureau, 2008

• Independent Commissioner to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, 2019-2021

• Accredited civil and commercial mediator

• Investigative interviewer (accredited by Intersol Global)

Publications

• Oxford University Press Book Review: International Cultural Heritage Law by Janet Blake, 2023;

• Counsel Magazine, “How to Tame Your Inner Critic”, September 2019;

• Mindfulness at Work and Home, 2019;

• Blog editor and publisher for the International Criminal Law Bureau;

• OUP Book review of Interpreting the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty by Daniel H Joyner, 2012;

• Examination-in-Chief and Cross-Examination, chapter in Transferring War Crimes Cases From the ICTY, UNICRI 2011;

• The Development of the Right to Self-Representation before the International Criminal Tribunals, chapter in Judicial Creativity at the International Criminal Tribunals, OUP, 2011;

• The Impact of the Size, Scope and Scale of the Milosevic Trial and the development of Rule 73bis before the ICTY, Northwestern University Law Review, 2009;

• Entries on The Prosecutor v Slobodan Milosevic and The Prosecutor v Ferdinand Nahimana in the Oxford Companion to International Criminal Law, OUP 2009;

• Fair and Expeditious Pre-Trial Proceedings: The Future of International Criminal Trials, Journal of International Criminal Justice 2007;

• The Impact of the Size, Scope and Scale of the Milosevic Trial, special edition, Criminal Law Forum 2006;

• Life Beyond the Crown Court Grind, The Times 11 October 2005;

• The Intoxication Defence and Theories of Criminal Liability: A Praxeological Approach by Martin Shain and Gillian Higgins, Contemporary Drug Problems, Volume 24, Issue 4, pages 731-736, 1999.

Languages Spoken

Fluent in French

Education