Sir Derek William Bowett, (20 April 1927 – 23 May 2009) was an international lawyer and academic. He was appointed Whewell Professor of International Law in 1981 and was President of

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

1970–1982.

Early life and education

Raised near Manchester Bowett was a chorister at

Manchester Cathedral Manchester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Collegiate Church of St Mary, St Denys and St George, in Manchester, England, is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Manchester, seat of the Bishop of Manchester and the c ...

, attended

William Hulme's Grammar School William Hulme's Grammar School is a coeducational all-through comprehensive school in Whalley Range, Manchester, England. History William Hulme (1631–1691) of Hulme Hall, Stockport, was the founder of "Hulme's Charity" later known as ...

and joined the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

at 18 years of age in 1945. After

demobilisation Demobilization or demobilisation (see spelling differences) is the process of standing down a nation's armed forces from combat-ready status. This may be as a result of victory in war, or because a crisis has been peacefully resolved and milita ...

he studied law at

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 950 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to the university between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the oldest of ...

. After gaining a first class degree Bowett was encouraged to continue his studies by

Hersch Lauterpacht Sir Hersch Lauterpacht (16 August 1897 – 8 May 1960) was a British international lawyer, human rights activist, and judge at the International Court of Justice. Biography Hersch Lauterpacht was born on 16 August 1897 to a Jewish family in ...

the then Whewell Professor of International Law.Sir Derek Bowett: international lawyer
Obituary

Times Online ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fo ...

3. August 2009 His PhD (1958) was on "Self Defence in International Law". He was highly esteemed as a lawyer: J. P. Gardner (Director of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law) wrote in the Introduction to Bowett's book ''International Court of Justice'' (1997), that his "….experience of international litigation is unrivalled…”

Career

Work in Beirut and for Egypt

He spent 1966–1968 in Beirut as Legal Adviser to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). There he experienced, from a distance, the

Six Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab states, primarily Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June 1967. Military hostilities broke ...

and, much more directly, its effects in terms of the great increase in the number of refugees falling under UNRWA's remit. It coloured his attitude to the Middle East conflict thereafter: his rooms at Queens had on the walls photos of some of those refugees. In later years he successfully represented Egypt against Israel in a significant territorial dispute.

Work in Somalia

In 1964 while a Fellow of Queens' he was asked by the newly independent Government of

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

to advise it on its territorial disputes with Ethiopia and Kenya. This was his first international law brief. On arrival in

Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...

he was asked to draft a diplomatic note closing the

British Embassy This is a list of diplomatic missions of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, excluding honorary consulates. The UK has one of the largest global networks of diplomatic missions. UK diplomatic missions to capitals of other Co ...

, on the basis that Britain was refusing to give effect to a

plebiscite in the Northern Frontier District of Kenya A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or advis ...

, which had voted by a large majority to reunite with Somalia. Lacking experience in rupturing diplomatic relations, he asked to see the standard work, Satow's Guide to Diplomatic Practice. But the Somali Foreign Ministry had no books of any kind, and he was told to borrow it from the British Embassy. The book was duly returned, with a note of thanks and another, more formal, note giving the Ambassador four days to leave. It seems to have been a case of ''persona non grata sed liber gratus''.

Personal life

While in his first job as a university lecturer at

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, Bowett shared a house with three young women, including a "statuesque blonde with a sharp sense of humour", Betty Northall. Derek and Betty were married in 1953.

Bowett was an avid tennis player and a big fan of

Roger Federer Roger Federer ( , ; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked as the List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 3 ...

. His son is Adam Bowett, the expert on

Chippendale furniture Thomas Chippendale (June 1718 – 1779) was an English woodworker in London, designing furniture in the mid-Georgian, English Rococo, and Neoclassical styles. In 1754 he published a book of his designs in a trade catalogue titled ''The Gen ...

br>

Honours

* – Commander,

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(UK), 1983Professor Sir Derek Bowett

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Squire Law Library The Faculty of Law, Cambridge is the law school of the University of Cambridge. The study of law at the University of Cambridge began in the thirteenth century. The faculty sits the oldest law professorship in the English-speaking world, the ...

– Commander,

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

(Denmark), 1993 * Orden Jose Cecilio del Valle

– Grand Cross, Civil Order, Jose Cecilio del Valle (Honduras), 1993 * – Knight Commander,

(UK), 1998 * SVK Rad Bieleho Dvojkriza 3 triedy BAR

– Commander,

Order of the White Double Cross The Order of the White Double Cross () is the highest state decoration of the Slovak Republic. The Order was instituted on 1 March 1994 after Slovakia became independent on 1 January 1993. It continues the Czechoslovak Order of the White Lio ...

(Slovakia), 2000

References

* Conversations with Professor Sir Derek William Bowett: a contribution to the Squire Law Library's Eminent Scholars Archive, 2008 (3) Legal Information Management, 214 – 222. * Marjorie Millace Whiteman (1898–1986). Compiler of the Digest of International Law (1963–72: 15 volumes known as "Whiteman's Digest"), helped draft the UN Charter 1945, and legal advisor to Eleanor Roosevelt who chaired the UN committee that drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948. * Obituary by Lesley Dingle and Daniel Batesbr>
* Obituary in Guardia

Images of Bowett
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowett, Derek 1927 births 2009 deaths Members of the Middle Temple Presidents of Queens' College, Cambridge Knights Bachelor Lawyers awarded knighthoods Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge Whewell Professors of International Law British King's Counsel Fellows of the British Academy Commanders of the Order of the Dannebrog 20th-century English lawyers International lawyers