Rosalyn C. Higgins, Baroness Higgins, (born 2 June 1937) is a British former president of 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 accordan ...

(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 Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in 1937 as Rosalyn Cohen, she married the politician

Terence Higgins, Baron Higgins Terence Langley Higgins, Baron Higgins, (born 18 January 1928) is a British Conservative Party politician and Commonwealth Games silver medalist winner for England. He also competed in the men's 400 metres at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Biogr ...

in 1961.

Education and career

Higgins studied at

Girton College Girton College is one of the Colleges of the University of Cambridge, 31 constituent colleges of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college in Cambridge. In 1 ...

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, receiving her

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in 1959 and an

LL.B. 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 ...

degree in 1962. She was a

Harkness Fellow The Harkness Fellowship (previously known as the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship) is a program run by the Commonwealth Fund of New York City. This fellowship was established to reciprocate the Rhodes Scholarships and enable Fellows from several cou ...

between 1959 and 1961. Besides her undergraduate degrees, she also qualified with a

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

degree. She continued her studies at

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & World ...

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 givin ...

, and became a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

(QC) in 1986, and is a bencher of the

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and ...

. 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 The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts, established by a 1966 human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee meets for three four-week sessions per ...

when she was elected to the

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 Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

, 1963–1974 *Visiting Fellow,

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

, 1974–1978 *Professor of International Law,

University of Kent at Canterbury A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

, 1978–1981 *Professor of International Law,

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...

(

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

), 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 weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bomb ...

s in times of armed conflict. In October 2009 she was appointed advisor on

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 ...

, 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 {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

(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
/ref>

Honours and awards

Higgins is a member of the

Institut de droit international 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 organizati ...

. 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 ...

(DBE) in 1995, and was advanced to Dame Grand Cross (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 An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

, as well as the

Award of Merit and also the Manley-O.-Hudson medal.

References

Footnotes

External links

ICJ Biography of H.E. President Rosalyn Higgins

Who's Who in Public International Law 2007
*

Shabtai Rosenne Shabtai Rosenne (Hebrew: שבתאי רוזן) (24 November 1917 – 21 September 2010) was a Professor of International Law and an Israeli diplomat. Rosenne was awarded the 1960 Israel Prize for Jurisprudence, the 1999 Manley O. Hudson Medal f ...

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 The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addi ...

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 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 an
IDI Members

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

and H.E. Stephen M. Schwebel 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 Harold Hongju Koh (born December 8, 1954) is an American lawyer and legal scholar who served as the legal adviser of the Department of State in the Obama administration. He was nominated to this position by President Barack Obama on March 23, 20 ...

's Membership, along with i.a. H.E. Former ICJ President Stephen M. Schwebel, 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 Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

'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 British women judges 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 women lawyers 21st-century women lawyers