Alex Haines

Year of Call:
2007 (England & Wales); 2019 (New York); 2020 (Ireland); and 2024 (District of Columbia)
Direct Access:
Yes

Alex is a barrister called to both the English and Irish Bars and a US-qualified attorney admitted to the New York Bar. He is a specialist in international law and sanctions, with rare expertise in the law of international organisations (IOs). A Franco-British dual national fluent in French and Spanish, Alex is ranked in Chambers and Partners for Sanctions (Band 2) and Legal 500 for Business and Regulatory Crime (including global investigations) (Tier 3). In February 2023 he was elected Co-Chair of the New York State Bar Association International Section London Chapter.

He was appointed to the Attorney General’s London B Panel in 2019 and as Sanctions Officer (first-tier decision-maker) at the Caribbean Development Bank in 2020.

Alex’s core practice areas are: (i) business crime including global investigations and the debarment frameworks of Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and International Financial Institutions (IFIs); (ii) sanctions and export control; (iii) international regulatory and disciplinary proceedings; (iv) international administrative law and the institutional law of IOs including their privileges and immunities; and (v) international arbitration and ADR. Alex is one of few practitioners who have been instructed in LCIA arbitrations against IOs.

Alex litigates before international courts and tribunals, mostly in Washington DC, New York City, London and the regional hubs for IOs such as Geneva, Vienna, Jeddah and Addis Ababa. The cases he has been instructed in have involved more than 40 IOs. Between 2020 and 2023, Alex has been successful before several International Administrative Tribunals including those of the World Bank, Organization of American States, Islamic Development Bank and United Nations (all reported).

His unusual practice often leads to instructions on cross-over (and cross-border) issues involving economic sanctions (in 2022 and 2023 he acted for the British Government on the sale of Chelsea FC and the proceeds thereof in light of the designation of its former owner under Russian sanctions), investigations, IOs and the anti-corruption regimes of MDBs/IFIs.

Alex authored the chapter on MDBs and their debarment systems in Lissack and Horlick on Bribery and Corruption (3rd ed., Lexis Nexis, 2020), co-authored the chapter on UK, UN & EU sanctions in Smith, Owen and Bodnar on Asset Recovery (Criminal Confiscation and Civil Recovery) (OUP, 2019), and was a contributing editor to White-Collar Criminal Prosecutions in the US and UK – A Comparative Treatise for Practitioners (American Bar Association, 2022). Alex has been a member of the Bar Council International Committee for a decade and is registered for direct access and qualified for litigation. Before starting at the Bar, Alex worked as an intern at the International Criminal Court in the Office of the Prosecutor in The Hague.

Expertise

Alex is an international fraud and corruption specialist with an intricate understanding of MDBs/IFIs and their debarment systems. As Sanctions Officer at the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), he issued the first decision of the CDB’s new debarment framework. His practice consists of advocacy (written and oral), litigation, investigations and advisory work. He has represented companies and individuals before both the World Bank’s Sanctions Board in Washington DC and the Asian Development Bank’s Integrity Oversight Committee in Manila. Between 2014 and 2017, he was instructed by the Integrity and Anticorruption Department of the African Development Bank in a case jointly investigated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

In 2019, Alex was instructed by a UN specialised agency to lead an investigation into allegations of fraud in its South-East Asia regional office. He has experience of negotiated resolution agreements, voluntary disclosure, and the redesign of integrity compliance programmes to make them compliant with IFIs’ Anti-Corruption Task Force guidelines. Alex represents consultants in audits and investigations conducted by MDBs and IFIs, and advises on criminal referrals to national authorities, cross-debarment under the Cross-Debarment Agreement, representation before Integrity Compliance Offices, and privileges and immunities.

Alex has lectured on the sanctions and debarment frameworks of MDBs/IFIs to the Brazilian Bar Association, British Chamber of Commerce, Korean Bar Association, Shanghai Bar Association, English Law Week in Mexico, and was a panelist at the 35th International Symposium on Economic Crime at Jesus College, Cambridge. His work on debarment has continued through his efforts with Transparency International’s Suspension and Debarment Taskforce and Oxford International Organizations (OUP) as a rapporteur.

In 2023, Alex, leading Sophie O’Sullivan, acted for the Claimant in the first s.38 SAMLA challenge to a UK sanctions designation in the Administrative Court (Synesis v Secretary of State for FCDA [2023] EWHC 541 (Admin)). As a member of the UK Attorney General’s London B Panel, Alex is regularly instructed by HM Treasury and the FCDO to advise on sanctions matters, including in 2022 and 2023 on the sale of Chelsea FC and the proceeds thereof in light of the designation of its former owner under Russian sanctions. Alex was instructed in the Administrative Court in 2022 by the Government in the first challenge to OFSI and its alleged delay in issuing a licence. In 2022, Alex was instructed by the Attorney General of a Crown Dependency on a multibillion-dollar sanctions matter. Alex also advises companies on all aspects of sanctions law across the UN, EU, US and UK frameworks, particularly in the context of financial sanctions and export control.

Alex represents international civil servants accused of and investigated for sanctionable practices (e.g., fraud, corruption and collusion) and other misconduct including sexual offences throughout the investigatory framework of IOs. He has represented employees facing internal disciplinary proceedings before disciplinary committees at dozens of institutions including the World Bank Group, PAHO, UN, EPO, African Union, IFAD, IMF, EBRD and IMO. Alex is also instructed by smaller IOs to bring proceedings against those accused of prohibited practices.

Alex’s instructions include oral hearings before disciplinary tribunals as well as strategic advice and written advocacy. He also advises on referrals made from IOs to criminal and regulatory domestic bodies (e.g., the SFO) including the scope and potential impact thereof.

Alex regularly appears and litigates before International Administrative Tribunals (IATs) on behalf of both international civil servants (class actions, individuals seeking relief from administrative decisions, and whistleblowers who have been retaliated against for coming forward and shedding light on reprehensible practices) and IOs.

He has acted as counsel for the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank in Thessaloniki and the GWPO in Stockholm, IRENA in Abu Dhabi, and was previously instructed by the Commonwealth Secretariat before its Arbitral Tribunal in London. He has appeared as leading counsel before the following IATs:

  • African Union Administrative Tribunal (AUAT)
  • Asian Development Bank Administrative Tribunal (AsDBAT)
  • Black Sea Trade and Development Bank Administrative Tribunal (BSTDBAT)
  • Commonwealth Secretariat Arbitral Tribunal (CSAT)
  • Court of Justice of the European Union (General Court)
  • European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Administrative Tribunal (EBRDAT)
  • Inter-American Development Bank Administrative Tribunal (IADBAT)
  • International Labour Organisation Administrative Tribunal (ILOAT)
  • International Monetary Fund Administrative Tribunal (IMFAT)
  • Islamic Development Bank Group Administrative Tribunal (IsDBAT)
  • Organization of American States Administrative Tribunal (OASAT)
  • United Nations Appeals Tribunal (UNAT)
  • United Nations Dispute Tribunal (UNDT)
  • World Bank Administrative Tribunal (WBAT)

Alex also represents victims of harassment and employees who find themselves in difficulties in field missions (in particular the UN). He has an interest in the rights of women having represented several victims of sexual harassment and maternity discrimination. In the wake of the investigations into a culture of impunity at the beginning of 2018, Alex represented Oxfam survivors and assisted journalists from the Guardian and New York Times in their investigations. Alex has worked with the charities Penal Reform International and Advocates for International Developments specifically on the rights of female abuse victims convicted of violent crime against their abusers.

Alex has lectured on international administrative law and the immunities of IOs at the universities of Exeter, City of London, Brasilia, Hong Kong, La Sorbonne, and King’s College, and on the application of international human rights law to IOs at the International Court of Justice and Stockholm Centre for International Law and Justice, as well as on the appeals systems of IOs at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.

For a list of the published IAT judgments Alex has been involved in, please contact his clerk George Bennett.

In 2023, Alex was instructed to appear in a 10-day International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) arbitration for the Shareholder Claimants in a Bilateral Investment Treaty case between Latvia and the UK (PNB Banka and others v. Republic of Latvia (ICSID Case No. ARB/17/47)). In 2020, he was instructed on behalf of the Respondent in an LCIA international commercial arbitration worth over £115 million. The dispute was between two parties in a former Soviet Republic involving high value commodities. In 2019, Alex was instructed in three international arbitrations administered by the LCIA using the UNCITRAL Rules against one of the largest IOs in the UK. Alex’s experience is particularly sought after when it comes to issues touching on the cross-over between IOs and their immunities, international human rights law, and international arbitration.

Alex is regularly instructed in mediations, conciliations and settlement negotiations with an international dimension. He is experienced in class action mediations having been instructed in a complex case against an MDB headquartered in the US. His 140 clients were employees from ten Regional Offices in Central America, South America and the Caribbean, and the mediation sessions were held in both Spanish and English.

Throughout 2018, Alex was instructed by the Staff Association of the EIB in Luxembourg to represent its interests on a Conciliation Board. He has also represented employees of European institutions before various panels, the sessions of which were held in both English and French.

Between May 2019 and December 2022, Alex was instructed as part of the evidence review team in the Dame Linda Dobbs Review. The Review was set up to investigate whether issues relating to HBOS Reading were investigated and appropriately reported to authorities following Lloyds Banking Group’s acquisition of HBOS.

There are two aspects to Alex’s Public International Law practice: (i) Investment Treaty Arbitration (see PNB Banka and others v. Republic of Latvia (ICSID Case No. ARB/17/47)) and (ii) International Organisations Law, which is the law that applies to disputes and issues relating to International Organisations (IOs), themselves a product of public international law benefiting from privileges and immunities (see, for example, the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations and its Specialised Agencies).

Alex and the International Organisations Law team he leads at Outer Temple Chambers have unrivalled experience in the laws and frameworks of IOs, having been instructed in cases involving more than 40 IOs worldwide including the United Nations, World Bank Group, IMF, NATO, African Union, World Health Organisation and International Maritime Organisation. IOs enjoy privileges and immunities and, as a result, have created internal justice systems not bound by domestic jurisdictions. IOs are created by multilateral treaties concluded between sovereign states and are, therefore, products of public international law. All cases relating to IOs (whether in the context of their privileges and immunities, their institutional frameworks, sanctions, regulation and arbitral proceedings) require specialist counsel with an understanding of the complex workings of each institution (of which there are hundreds).

Related updates

Alex Haines is regulated by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) and holds a current practising certificate. If you are not satisfied with the service provided, please click here.

"A phenomenal barrister who provides all-round first-class legal services."

Sanctions, Chambers & Partners 2024

"Alex is very professional, knowledgeable and helpful."

Sanctions, Chambers & Partners 2023

"His practice is growing in the market, he's very user-friendly and very clear in drafting and submissions."

Sanctions, Chambers & Partners 2023

"Alex is a first rate advocate with excellent client manner. He has particular expertise when it comes to tribunals in international institutions and is sought after for his experience in this area."

Business and Regulatory Crime, Legal 500 2023

To find out more, contact Sam Carter on +44 (0)203 989 6669 or George Bennett on +44 (0)207 427 0807 for a confidential discussion.

Our dedicated practice management team can help you identify the right barrister for your case.

  • Elected as London Chapter Co-Chair of the New York State Bar Association International Section (2023).
  • Appointed as Sanctions Officer at the Caribbean Development Bank (since 2020).
  • Called to the Irish Bar (2020).
  • Appointed to the Attorney General’s London B Panel (from 2019 to 2024).
  • Admitted to the New York Bar (2019).
  • Member of the Bar Council International Committee (since 2014).
  • Rapporteur for Oxford International Organisations (OXIO), Oxford University Press.
  • UN Office of Staff Legal Assistance (OSLA) volunteer lawyer.
  • Diplomas from the International Institute of Humanitarian Law, Sanremo, on the Law of Armed Conflict: 152nd International Military Course (2013) and 34th Advanced Course on IHL (2017).

  • French (native)
  • Spanish (fluent)
  • Italian (basic)

  • Contributing editor to White-Collar Criminal Prosecutions in the US and UK – A Comparative Treatise for Practitioners (American Bar Association, 2022).
  • Co-authored the chapter on UK, UN and EU Sanctions in Smith, Owen, and Bodnar on Asset Recovery (Criminal Confiscation and Civil Recovery), OUP.
  • Authored the new chapter on the Sanctions Regimes of Multilateral Development Banks for Lissack and Horlick on Bribery and Corruption (3rd edition, Lexis Nexis).
  • The International Administrative Law Centre of Excellence Legitimacy Index (all five editions: 2014-2018 – www.ialcoe.org/legitimacy-index).
  • Sanctions Procedures of the African Development Bank Group, OXIO 101, OUP (opil.ouplaw.com/home/OXIO).
  • Statute of the Administrative Tribunal of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, OXIO 152, OUP (opil.ouplaw.com/home/OXIO).
  • World Bank Sanctions Procedures, OXIO 41, OUP (opil.ouplaw.com/home/OXIO).
  • Appeals Procedures of the Administrative Tribunal of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, OXIO 200, OUP (opil.ouplaw.com/home/OXIO).
  • Statute of the Administrative Tribunal of the International Monetary Fund, OXIO 348, OUP (opil.ouplaw.com/home/OXIO).
  • Enforcement Policy and Procedures of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, OXIO 349, OUP (opil.ouplaw.com/home/OXIO).
  • The Nature of the Beast – A Comparison Between International Administrative Tribunals, Federation of International Civil Servants’ Associations, ‘Focus on FICSA’, 2018 Edition.

  • Hardwicke Scholar (Lincoln’s Inn)
  • Scholarship for International Law Placement (Lincoln’s Inn)
  • Pupillage Award (Lincoln’s Inn)
  • Florida Advocacy Course Scholarship (South Eastern Circuit)
  • Bar Council business development mission grant to Brazil (UKTI)
  • Grant for Bar Council mission to Seoul and Shanghai (CBA)

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