News & Events
News & Events
Alex Haines and Courtney Step-Marsden have been instructed in a mini-class action against the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector before the Islamic Development Bank Group Administrative Tribunal. The newly established Islamic Development Bank Group Administrative Tribunal (IsDBGAT or Tribunal) is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and hears cases brought by international civil servants who work at the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDBG). The IsDBG is comprised of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), Islamic Research & Training Institute (IRTI), Islamic Corporation for Development of the Private Sector (ICD), Islamic Corporation for Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC), and International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC). The IsDBG is a regional Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) whose mission includes the promotion…
News 12 Jul, 2022
Outer Temple’s Alex Haines was instructed to provide expert advice on the sale of Chelsea FC and the implications of Russian sanctions imposed on club. Alex Haines – member of the Attorney General’s Civil Panel and Outer Temple’s specialist sanctions team – was instructed by the legal team at Her Majesty’s Treasury to advise on the sale of Chelsea Football Club and the proceeds thereof in light of the designation of its former owner, Roman Abramovich, under Russia sanctions. On 10 March 2022, Mr Abramovich was sanctioned by the UK Government and, as a result, the Club operated within the confines and constraints caused by the imposition of sanctions. The sanctions imposed on Mr Abramovich presented unique and unforeseen challenges…
News 29 Jun, 2022
Alex Haines and Jeremy Scott-Joynt are instructed in a case involving the criteria for reclassification from Economist to Financial Sector Expert for an international civil servant before the International Monetary Fund Administrative Tribunal (IMFAT) in Washington DC. The case deals not only with the personal consequences of the IMF’s decision for the Applicant, but also with the novel issue of whether a regulatory gap – in this case the lack of formal criteria (being in fact unpublished, undisclosed and rarely applied) – is within the IMFAT’s jurisdiction. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), having been conceived in July 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference in New Hampshire, formally came into existence on 27th December 1945 when its first 29 member countries signed its…
News 6 May, 2022
Alex Haines and Henry Reid have recently been instructed in a case before the African Union (“AU”) Administrative Tribunal, an international administrative tribunal (similar in nature to both the World Bank Administrative Tribunal and United Nations Dispute Tribunal) which is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The African Union The AU is a continental union and regional organisation – equivalent to the European Union – consisting of the 55 member states that make up the countries of the African continent. In 2001, the AU was created to replace the Organisation of African Unity (“OAU”) and it was officially launched in 2002. The evolution of this institution was the outcome of a consensus by African leaders that there was a need to refocus…
News 6 Apr, 2022
Two members of Outer Temple’s International Organisations Law have been instructed in the first set of cases before the Islamic Development Bank Administrative Tribunal (IsDBAT) which is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Alex Haines and Victoria Brown have been instructed in a case before the IsDBAT in a case involving an allegation of unlawful termination of employment. The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) is a Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) whose mission includes the promotion of social and economic development in Member States and Muslim communities worldwide. The present membership of the IsDB consists of 57 countries, with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia funding almost a quarter of its total capital. The IsDBAT is a judicial body that functions independently of the IsDB; its…
News 14 Mar, 2022
Two members of our International Organisations Law Team have been instructed in a case before the World Bank Administrative Tribunal in Washington DC against the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development Alex Haines and Carin Hunt have been instructed in a case before the World Bank Group’s Administrative Tribunal (WBAT) involving an allegation of indirect sex discrimination. The WBAT was established by the Board of Governors of the Bank in 1980. It acts as a judicial forum of last resort for the resolution of cases submitted by World Bank Group staff members alleging non-observance of their contracts of employment or terms of appointment. The WBAT’s decisions are final and binding on the Bank. The WBAT is composed of seven judges, all of whom…
News 16 Feb, 2022
Alex Haines and Victoria Brown successfully represented the applicants in two recent WBAT cases. The World Bank Administrative Tribunal (“WBAT”) delivered last week its 8th November 2021 judgments in Cases Nos. 659 (GH v International Finance Corporation) and 660 (GI v International Finance Corporation). Alex Haines and Victoria Brown represented two Heads of Funds at the International Finance Corporation (“IFC”), one of the five World Bank Group Agencies together with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (“IBRD”), International Development Association (“IDA”), International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (“ICSID”) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (“MIGA”). The decision The WBAT ordered the IFC to pay compensation to the Applicants in the amount of six months’ salary net of taxes for the…
News 16 Dec, 2021
The United Nations Appeals Tribunal (UNAT) has dismissed as “misplaced” the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Secretary-General’s July 2021 applications for interpretation of the landmark 2019 UNAT judgments on the IMO’s international justice system in which Alex Haines, assisted by Stephen Butler, was instructed by the successful claimants. On Friday 19th November 2021, the UNAT in New York – sitting as a full bench (i.e., all seven judges) – released its 29th October 2021 Judgment No. 2021-UNAT-1148 in the case of Fogarty, Sheffer, Spinardi, Dispert and Hoe (Respondents) v Secretary-General of the IMO (Applicant) (the “2021 Judgment”). Mr Haines represented Mr Sheffer, Ms Dispert and Ms Hoe. The 2021 Judgment on interpretation is relevant to the international justice systems of several…
News 25 Nov, 2021
Outer Temple Chambers and RPC have launched the Unspoken Giants podcast series which, for the first time ever, brings together senior officials from nine of the largest IFIs together to provide a unique insight into how investigations are conducted and what legal and compliance teams can do to navigate the complex and individualised systems at each institution. The World Bank In this episode, Alex Haines joins Jamieson Smith, Chief Suspension and Debarment Officer at the World Bank and Alice Kemp, barrister at RPC, to discuss how this giant of international finance is fighting against the cancer of corruption in its mission to work in every major area of development. The Inter-American Development Bank In this episode, Alex Haines joins Juan Ronderos,…
News 27 Oct, 2021
Teresa Rosen Peacocke and Alex Haines have authored an article in the September issue of Counsel Magazine on the advantages of dual qualification and a guide to qualifying for the New York Bar. Teresa explores the benefits of becoming an attorney in the United States, particularly in New York State, where most cross-border legal business is conducted. Teresa qualified as an attorney in New York 20 years after her call to the Bar of England and Wales after completing an LLM at New York University School of Law. Teresa explains that dual qualification enables the practitioner to understand and appreciate different approaches to resolving legal issues and, in turn, to become more flexible in providing legal services. It also enhances your…
News 8 Sep, 2021
Alex Haines and Victoria Brown have been instructed in two cases currently going through the internal justice system of the Organization of American States in Washington DC. The First International Conference of American States held in Washington DC between October 1889 and April 1890 approved the establishment of the International Union of American Republics that was subsequently reconstituted as the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1948 when the Charter of the OAS was signed in Bogotá, Colombia. The OAS brings together all 35 member states of the Americas and constitutes the main political, juridical, and social governmental forum in the hemisphere. In addition, it has granted permanent observer status to 69 states, as well as to the EU. As with most international organisations, the…
News 1 Jul, 2021
Alex Haines and Sophie O’Sullivan have recently been instructed to act for a senior international civil servant at the African Union Commission (AUC) in relation to a number of ongoing matters, including disciplinary proceedings involving serious allegations of multi-million pound misappropriation of African Union (AU) funds and false accounting. Barristers in Outer Temple Chambers’ International Team are frequently instructed in cases involving international organisations whose disciplinary and regulatory frameworks are often little known about. International Organisations are established by treaty and possess their own international legal personalities. They also enjoy immunity from suit and – through the application of inter alia international human rights law – most have set up internal justice systems that deal with institutional matters. The African Union The AU is a…
News 22 Jun, 2021
