Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Sir Franklin Berman QC. The recording is available here.

Sir Franklin (Frank) Berman joined HM Diplomatic Service in 1965 and was the Legal Adviser to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office from 1991-99. For the past 20 years he has been in practice in Essex Court Chambers specializing in international arbitration and advisory work in international law. He is Visiting Professor of International Law at Oxford and the University of Cape Town.

His over 50-year career in international law and diplomacy has spanned a wide and varied field, including settlement of disputes; the law of treaties; State responsibility; diplomatic and State immunity; maritime delimitation; the law of the Continental shelf; outer space and nuclear energy; the law of international organisations; the UN Security Council; the laws of war and neutrality; international criminal tribunals; and numerous other areas. In the light of this extensive experience, he is highly qualified for advisory work in all areas of public international law, for international dispute-settlement proceedings of all kinds and for international commercial and investment arbitration.

Sir Frank has served as an ad hoc Judge in the International Court of Justice: in the Case concerning Certain Property (Liechtenstein v. Germany) and recently in the two Appeals Related to the Jurisdiction of the ICAO Council. He was appointed by the Lord Chief Justice as the Legal Member of the Court of Arbitration in the Kishenganga dispute between Pakistan and India under the Indus Waters Treaty. He successfully represented Cambodia before the International Court in the Case concerning the Temple of Préah Vihear (Interpretation).

He was appointed by the British Government from 2004-2020 to the list of Arbitrators under the ICSID Convention, and has sat as Chairman and Party-appointed arbitrator in many ICSID arbitrations for both the claimant and host State.  He has also sat in ICSID annulment proceedings, as well as in arbitrations under the ICC, PCA, Stockholm Arbitration Institute and LCIA (sole arbitrator), and ad hoc rules.

Find out more about Neil Kaplan, Chiann Bao and the In conversation with Neil series here, and browse past ‘conversations’ here.