Sir Jeffrey Jowell KCMG KC (Hon)

Sir Jeffrey is instructed by private and government solicitors in the UK and abroad, and by international organisations on issues of constitutional, administrative and human rights law. He has advised on the constitutions of the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Gibraltar, Burma, Sri Lanka, Georgia and The Gambia. He has acted as an expert witness or an advocate in cases about international human rights and fair trial standards in a number of jurisdictions and has been described in an extradition case as an “authoritative and persuasive witness”. He regularly advises on public law matters in British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, most recently for Jersey, Guernsey, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands. He has previously been involved in the constitutional settlements of Serbia, Bosnia, the Maldives and Luxembourg. He has appeared in the courts of a number of Commonwealth countries including Malawi, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. He assisted with the South African constitution and its administrative law statute. He appeared in the recent Supreme Court case, R (Privacy International) v Investigatory Powers Tribunal.

Sir Jeffrey is a CEDR accredited mediator. His wealth of experience derives not only from his professional practice across the public law and human rights arena, but also from his distinguished career as a high profile academic and administrator. He has also developed an impressive portfolio of constitutional work for national governments abroad and he is well known for his strong diplomatic skills in this field, often negotiating with the UK Government on behalf of British Overseas Territories.

Sir Jeffrey has been involved in practical rule of law projects in many different ways. He was the founder-director of the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law ( a London-based international body ); and the UK Member of the Council of Europe's Commission for Democracy Through Law (the 'Venice Commission', which provides advice to countries in Europe and beyond on rule of law issues). He has advised a number of countries on their constitutions, on their law-making, electoral, law-enforcement and regulatory systems and on techniques to ensure access to justice, rights and judicial independence. He is a leading authority on administrative law, including the necessary powers of the state and ways to ensure good and lawful governance. He is a member of the Leadership Council of the World Justice Project and jointly chaired a panel for the European Law Institute which has led to their Charter on the Fundamental Constitutional Principles of a European Democracy.

Sir Jeffrey has advised and litigated in many countries on different issues concerning constitutional and international human rights standards. He has represented a number of Commonwealth countries and British Overseas Territories and Dependencies on their relative powers and constitutional duties. He has acted as counsel or expert witness in cases involving international fair trial standards. He has recently appeared in the European Court of Human Rights and in the courts of countries in the Caribbean on such matters, and in the Privy Council and the UK Supreme Court.

Sir Jeffrey has worked on different issues offshore for countries, attorneys-general and civil society. His work has includeded advice and/or litigation on public law matters in places such as Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Southern African Development Community’s Tribunal in Namibia, and South Africa, some of which has led to and related litigation in the UK Privy Council and Supreme Court. He has advised a number of countries on their anti money-laundering and sanctions duties and been involved with some in their negotiations with the FCDO in respect of privacy rights. He has advised a number of British Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies on a number of aspects of their relationship with the United Kingdom. He has recently advised on the new constitutions or constitutional amendments of the Turks and Caicos Islands, Cayman Islands, Georgia, Sri Lanka and The Gambia. Previous work includes advice on public law and human rights issues in Singapore, Malaysia, Gibraltar, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and South Africa.