The former president, and a current appellate judge, of the (United Nations created) Special Tribunal for Lebanon, H.E. the Honourable Sir David Baragwanath has joined chambers as a Door Tenant.
Following the recent appointment of former Supreme Court Justice Randy J Holland of Delaware, this move further builds on our international strategy. Sir David, a renowned lawyer and jurist from New Zealand, is an Overseas Bencher of the Inner Temple and a former New Zealand Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. As Queen’s Counsel in New Zealand he had a broad practice, particularly in public and commercial law. A Rhodes Scholar of Balliol College, he was recently named by the Rhodes Trust as one of the inaugural winners of the George Parkin Distinguished Service Award.
Previously, Sir David appeared as leading counsel assisting the Royal Commission of Enquiry into the Mt Erebus air disaster in Antarctica, which resulted in the Human Factors Management Report of the International Civil Aviation Organization as to the importance of systemic safety analysis of events such as the Chernobyl, Bophal, Clapham Junction, King’s Cross and other major high-technology systems catastrophes. He was a permanent member of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand. Additionally, he was the Presiding Judge of the Court of Appeal of Samoa for six years and served as President of the New Zealand Law Commission. Currently, Sir David is a Member of the Judicial Council and Legal Services Committee, Government of Bermuda.
As counsel before the New Zealand Court of Appeal, Sir David led for the Maori people in landmark cases which recognised and helped restore indigenous rights in land, forests, fisheries and language, as used in broadcasting. At the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, he has ordered trial for criminal contempt by corporations, and as an appellate judge endorsed the existence under customary international law of a crime of terrorism and a right of access to official information.
Commenting on his appointment, Sir David said: “It is a privilege to be invited to join 3 Hare Court. The Set is showing how to combine the practice of law with charitable, including educational, outreach, helping lift standards of judicial and other legal performance, to benefit communities internationally.”
The potential of the law domestically and internationally is still expressed in the Victorians’ Promissory Oaths Act: [1] to do right to all manner of people [2] after the laws and usages of the realm. The comforting stability of the latter requires constant testing and refreshment by the former. And “all” means all.”
Joint Head of Chambers, Jeffrey Golden, adds: “Our invitation to Sir David to join 3 Hare Court as a Door Tenant recognises and honours his distinguished career as advocate and jurist. His acceptance of this appointment ensures for the rest of us in Chambers direct access to a man of great intellect and the highest professional values. Our Privy Council practice has long been a specialism of Chambers, and Sir David’s, having excelled in appellate advocacy in this and other spheres when he practised at the Bar gives one more reason we felt his experience complements our own and are proud to associate him with 3 Hare Court.”
Sir David Baragwanath currently chairs the Advisory Board, and Jeffrey Golden chairs the Management Board, of The P.R.I.M.E. Finance Foundation in The Hague, which oversees the activities of its Panel of Recognised International Market Experts in Finance. This added breadth of international expertise following this latest appointment continues to expand 3 Hare Court’s global reach and depth of understanding of worldwide matters. As Sir David will continue in his judicial capacity at the Special Tribunal, he will not be presently available for instruction.
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