Elizabeth Susan Wilmshurst (born 28 August 1948), Distinguished Fellow of the International Law Programme at

Chatham House The Royal Institute of International Affairs, also known as Chatham House, is a British think tank based in London, England. Its stated mission is "to help governments and societies build a sustainably secure, prosperous, and just world". It ...

(the Royal Institute of International Affairs), and Professor of International Law at

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

, is best known for her role as Deputy Legal Adviser at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom on the eve of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. She resigned from the Foreign Office on 20 March 2003, three days after Lord Goldsmith's final advice to the British government reversed her legal opinion (in Lord Goldsmith's first secret memo 10 days earlier) that the invasion was illegal without a second United Nations Security Council Resolution to SCR 678. Although her resignation was public at the time, the detailed reasons and resignation letter were not, and caused a stir when they were released two years later. On 26 January 2010, Wilmshurst gave evidence to the Iraq Inquiry about the legality of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the advice given to then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw on the same day as her former boss, Sir Michael Wood.

Life and career

Wilmshurst was educated at Clarendon School for Girls, a private

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

, and studied law at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

( LLB and AKC, 1969). Wilmshurst was admitted as a

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

in 1972. From 1974 until her resignation in 2003, she was a legal advisor with HM Diplomatic Service. She was the leading British negotiator of the

Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998Michael P. Scharf (August 1998)''Results of the R ...

, both within the framework of the UN Preparatory Committee for the Establishment of an ICC (1996–1998) and the Rome Diplomatic Conference (June–July 1998). She was made a Companion of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 1998. Her writings and publications in the complex area of International Criminal Law include the widely used ''An Introduction to International Criminal Law and Procedure'', co-edited with Robert Cryer, Hakan Friman and Darryl Robinson. She was appointed Honorary Queen's Counsel (QC Honoris Causa) in 2022.

In popular culture

Juliet Stevenson played Wilmshurst in "A Simple Private Matter", an episode of the BBC series '' 10 Days to War''. She is also played by Tamsin Greig in the film '' Official Secrets'' about Katharine Gun's leaking of the GCHQ memo.

Publications

*Daragh Murray (editor), Wilmshurst et al. (consultant editors),
Practitioners' Guide to Human Rights Law in Armed Conflict
'. (2016, Oxford University Press).

on the General Assembly resolution 3314 (XXIX) of 14 December 1974 (Definition of Aggression) in th

References

External links

Army chiefs feared Iraq war illegal just days before start
''The Guardian'', 29 February 2004
Profile
at SourceWatch {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilmshurst, Elizabeth 1948 births Alumni of King's College London Associates of King's College London British civil servants Chatham House people Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George 21st-century King's Counsel English King's Counsel Honorary King's Counsel Living people People educated at Clarendon School for Girls

Life and career

In popular culture

Publications

See also

References

External links