Guglielmo Verdirame, Baron Verdirame, (born 25 August 1971) is a legal scholar,

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

and a member of the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

. He was previously a Junior Research Fellow at

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 126 ...

, a university lecturer in law at the

University of Cambridge 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 ...

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

, a Fellow of the

Lauterpacht Centre for International Law The Lauterpacht Centre for International Law (LCIL) at the Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Brita ...

, a visiting fellow at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, and a visiting professor at

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

. He is a dual national (British and Italian), and was born in

Reggio di Calabria Reggio di Calabria (; ), commonly and officially referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria as well as the seat of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. As of 2025, it has 168,572 ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Career

He is Professor of International 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 ...

in the Department of War Studies and the School of Law. He practises as a

at 20 Essex Street Chambers and was appointed

Queen's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

(now

King's Counsel A King's Counsel (Post-nominal letters, post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their Viceroy, viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarc ...

) in January 2019. Verdirame conducted

empirical research Empirical research is research using empirical evidence. It is also a way of gaining knowledge by means of direct and indirect observation or experience. Empiricism values some research more than other kinds. Empirical evidence (the record of one ...

on international organisations and refugee protection, which formed the basis of a series of articles and the book "Rights in Exile: Janus-faced Humanitarianism", which he co-authored with

Barbara Harrell-Bond Barbara Elaine Harrell-Bond (née Moir) (7 November 1932 – 11 July 2018) was an American-born British social anthropologist in the field of refugee studies. Early life and education Barbara Elaine Moir was born on 7 November 1932, d ...

, an anthropologist whose "Imposing Aid" (1986) was a pioneering critique of international institutions and humanitarianism. Verdirame's "The UN and Human Rights: Who Guards the Guardians?" (2011) examined the accountability and responsibility of the UN. The book won the Biennial Book Award of the Friends of the Academic Council of the United Nations in 2014. In addition to the law of international organisation, Verdirame has written on the use of force, the laws of war, trade and investment, international criminal law, and the philosophy of international law and human rights. He has argued that liberal internationalists have changed in the last decades, having embraced a supranationalist and cosmopolitan view of the international political order that gives little or no importance to the ideal of self-government and "is at odds with liberal internationalism properly understood". He is the author, with Oxford philosopher

John Tasioulas John Tasioulas (born 18 December 1964) is a Greek-Australian moral and legal philosopher. He is the inaugural Director of the Institute for Ethics in AI (artificial intelligence), and Professor of Ethics and Legal Philosophy, Faculty of Philoso ...

, of the entry on international law in the

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''SEP'') is a freely available online philosophy resource published and maintained by Stanford University, encompassing both an online encyclopedia of philosophy and peer-reviewed original publication ...

. Verdirame was counsel for the UK Government in

Miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...

Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union or, informally, Brexit Secretary, was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the business of the Department for Exiting the European Union, as well ...

(2017) 'the

Article 50 Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) provides for the possibility of an EU member state leaving the European Union "in accordance with its own constitutional requirements". Currently, the United Kingdom is the only state to hav ...

case' at the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

, and at the International Court of Justice bligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament (Marshall Islands v. United Kingdom)">Marshall Islands">bligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament (Marshall Islands v. United Kingdom) and for the Italian Republic in the Enrica Lexie case about the detention of two Italian marines by India following an incident where two Indian fishermen were killed off the coast of Kerala. He was also instructed] by Leigh Day on behalf of The [ nited Nations special rapporteur in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court case Shamima Begum v. Secretary of State for the Home Department. It was reported in March 2022 that Verdirame represented Ukraine against Russia in the European Court of Human Rights in a case filed in response to the Russian invasion. Verdirame wrote a number of papers during the Brexit debates in 2016-2019. He criticised the 2018 version of the

Brexit withdrawal agreement The Brexit withdrawal agreement, officially titled Agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, is a treaty between the European Uni ...

negotiated under

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Baroness May of Maidenhead (; ; born 1 October 1956), is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served as Home Secretar ...

arguing that the Northern Ireland "backstop would inevitably weaken the institutions of the Belfast Agreement and their role in policy-making for Northern Ireland" but that there were ways of strengthening the UK's position. He also co-authored a proposal with Sir Richard Aikens and Professor

George Yarrow George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

for Britain to remain in the

European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Asso ...

while a long-term arrangement was negotiated. He has spoken against Britain leaving the

European Convention on Human Rights The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR; formally the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms) is a Supranational law, supranational convention to protect human rights and political freedoms in Europe. Draf ...

House of Lords

It was announced as part of the 2022 Special Honours that Verdirame would receive a

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

age. On 2 November 2022, he was created Baron Verdirame, ''of Belsize Park in the London Borough of Camden''. He sits in the Lords as a non-affiliated peer.

Personal life

Verdirame's partner is the Conservative Party

political adviser Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely televisi ...

Henry Newman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Verdirame, Guglielmo Academics of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the London School of Economics University of Bologna alumni Harvard Law School fellows Alumni of Merton College, Oxford 21st-century Italian lawyers Living people Italian human rights activists Academics of King's College London People from Reggio Calabria People educated at a United World College Life peers created by Charles III LGBTQ life peers 1971 births