Michael Jacob Beloff, KC (born 18 April 1942) is an English

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 arbitrator. A member of Blackstone Chambers, he practises in a number of areas including

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

administrative law Administrative law is a division of law governing the activities of government agency, executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law includes executive branch rulemaking (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regul ...

and sports law.

Career

Beloff is the son of the historian Max Beloff, Baron Beloff, and is therefore technically styled 'the Honourable', a courtesy title he habitually uses. His mother was Helen Dobrin. He was educated at the Dragon School and

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

(under scholarship), read history at

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College ( ) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It is one of the wealthiest Oxford colleges, as of 2022, and ...

, and was President of the

Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest unive ...

. When he was President of the Union in 1963 the Union passed a resolution to allow women to have full membership for the first time. He was

called to the Bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and Wale ...

, where he later became a

Bencher A bencher or Master of the Bench is a senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales or the Inns of Court in Northern Ireland, or the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher c ...

and was the Treasurer for 2008. He is the founder of a student prize at the Inn awarded for an essay on administrative law. The term

Plate glass university A plate glass university or plateglass university is one of a group of universities in the United Kingdom established or promoted to university status in the 1960s. The original plate glass universities were established following decisions by ...

stems from the title of his book ''The Plateglass Universities'' (1970). From 1995 until 2014 he was a member of the Jersey Court of Appeal and the Guernsey Court of Appeal and senior ordinary appeal Judge for six years. He sits on the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...

(CAS), which deals with disputes including doping offences on behalf of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

. He has also chaired the ethics commission of the

International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, coverin ...

(IAAF), including investigations into IAAF treasurer Valentin Balakhnichev and Papa Massata Diack, son of IAAF president Lamine Diack. He was President of

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

, from 1996 to 2006, succeeded by Ivor Roberts. Trinity College now awards a Michael and Judith Beloff Scholarship. Trinity College's debating society also runs the annual Michael Beloff After-Dinner Speaking Competition, open to members of the college.

Sources

Brief CV, Oxford University Faculty of Law website

Summary of Arbitration Panel adjudication, (accessed 3 July 2007)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beloff, Michael 1942 births People educated at The Dragon School People educated at Eton College Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford English King's Counsel English people of Russian-Jewish descent 20th-century King's Counsel Presidents of the Oxford Union Presidents of Trinity College, Oxford Living people Members of Gray's Inn Judiciary of Jersey English barristers