Alison Macdonald KC KC > Essex Court Chambers > London, England > Barrister Profile

With ‘ the perfect combination of expertise and commercial awareness‘, pre-eminent public international law set Essex Court Chambers fields an outstanding portfolio of commercial and academically accomplished barristers who are highly adept at handling the full spectrum of public international law matters with particular expertise in state-versus-state disputes, land and sea territorial disputes, international trade and investment arbitrations, and state immunity issues. Alison Macdonald KC who was recently asked by the Ukrainian government to join a high-profile working group on the seizure of Russian assets to provide reparations following Russia’s 2022 invasion. Ben Juratowitch KC is representing the Gabonese government in its dispute with Equatorial Guinea in its boundary dispute over three islands. On the junior end, Amy Sander, Naomi Hart and Jackie McArthur stand out, forming parts of counsel teams in state-versus-state disputes. Thomas Sebastian, joined from Monckton Chambers in July 2023, bringing with him expertise on WTO matters.

Essex Court Chambers is ‘a market leading set with an excellent line up of senior and junior counsel‘ for international arbitration work. Members are instructed as counsel to lead on the most complex, high-profile arbitrations and often politically sensitive matters, from commercial to investment treaty claims, involving the full spectrum of arbitral rules, spanning a broad geographical area and sectors. Alison Macdonald KC is representing the claimant telecom operator in Axiata Investments v Nepal, an ICSID case in concerning a disputed 22.5bn NPR (£134m) tax bill. Governments draw on Ben Juratowitch KC’s expertise for sensitive arbitrations, including an Energy Charter Treaty dispute concerning the RAFO Onești refinery in Romania. Angeline Welsh KC and Siddharth Dhar KC and took silk in March 2023, boosting the set’s senior ranks further. With expertise in international commercial arbitration, Thomas Sebastian, who is also qualified in India, joined the set in July 2023 from Monckton Chambers.

Human rights matters form a key pillar of Essex Court Chambers‘ practice, often crossing over with its public international law expertise. In a prominent case highlight, Alison Macdonald KC and Amy Sander  are representing the claimants in Duarte Agustinho v Portugal and others, a case brought against 33 member states of the Council of Europe, alleging that the states’ climate change policies violate their rights under articles 2, 8 and 14; the case is due to be heard before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights. Ben Juratowitch KC is well versed in handling inter-state cases concerning human rights issues, while Edward Brown KC is regularly instructed by the British government in heavyweight human rights litigation before the English courts system.