Rowan Downing, , an Australian

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 international jurist, is a member of the international judiciary of the

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC; ; ), commonly known as the Cambodia Tribunal or Khmer Rouge Tribunal (), was a court established to try the senior leaders and the most responsible members of the Khmer Rouge for alle ...

Biography

In 1971 Downing was awarded a Commonwealth Government Scholarship to study for a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts degrees. He was a resident of Ormond College from 1971 to 1975 and a tutor in law at Whitley College and the College of Legal Training from 1977 to 1980. He completed a Master of Laws degree in 1980 from the

Melbourne Law School Melbourne Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of the University of Melbourne. Located in Carlton, Victoria, Melbourne Law School is Australia's oldest law school, and offers Juris Doctor, J.D., Master of Laws, LL.M, Doctor of P ...

. Downing is a senior Australian lawyer who has worked on aid projects since 1993. He was a judge of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal in

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

from 1993 to 1995 as part of

AusAID Australian Aid is the brand name used to identify projects in developing countries supported by the Australian Government. As of 2014 the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) has been responsible for Australia's official development ...

. During this period he provided continuing legal education courses to members of the legal profession and introduced new processes in the courts for the protection of women and children. Following this period he returned to the Victorian Bar where his practice included commercial law, company law, administrative law, employment law, finance and trade law, regulatory law, land law, criminal law, banking law and human rights law. He was frequently involved in commercial projects and administrative law, human resources and regulatory work for the

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world. The bank was establishe ...

, including an SME development project in the Lao PDR and a review of the employment and administrative law regulations of the Bank, as a staff consultant. He returned to Vanuatu in 1999 and was the Solicitor General until 2002. He established the Financial Intelligence Unit of Vanuatu and subsequently worked to establish like units in Indonesia and

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

. He has advised the

State Bank of Vietnam The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV; ) is the central bank of Vietnam. Organized as a Ministry (government department), ministry-level body under the Government of Vietnam, it is the sole issuer of the national currency, the Vietnamese đồng. As o ...

and many donors in respect of the design of projects to assist the development of the legal sector in failed, conflicted and developing nations. In 2006 he took up a position as an international judge for the United Nations Assistance to the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and by extension to Democratic Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihano ...

Tribunal (UNAKRT) at the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia, initially working half time and then from 2010, full-time. Prior to working full-time in Cambodia with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, he maintained his practice and also worked on international aid projects in 14 countries. In December 2014, Rowan was voted by the UN General Assembly to the bench of th
United Nations Dispute Tribunal
in Geneva.

References

Australian King's Counsel Living people Khmer Rouge Tribunal judges Australian judges on the courts of Vanuatu Melbourne Law School alumni Australian judges of United Nations courts and tribunals Year of birth missing (living people) {{Australia-law-stub