EXPERTISE
Justin Gleeson SC has broad experience across matters of public and private international law, from his time as Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth and in advising and appearing for numerous parties at the private bar. As Solicitor-General from 2012-2106, he lead the Australian legal team in international proceedings in the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration. He has also delivered a series of major public addresses on the inter-relationship between public international law/dispute resolution and Australian Constitutional and Public Law.
Justin Gleeson SC is available to advise and appear in matters of public and private international law, particularly cases involving state responsibility, state immunity, diplomatic protection, international investment law, treaty law and law of the sea. He is also available to advise and appear in matters in matters before international courts and tribunals, particularly in Singapore, Hong Kong and the Asia-Pacific region generally.
RECENT MATTERS
2020-2022: Counsel for Foreign States Resisting Enforcement of Arbitral Award in Australia.
2017-2022: Counsel in various ISDS disputes for States and private investors.
2018-2019: Various retainers to give expert evidence before Courts in the United States and Singapore.
2017: Expert assessor in respect to funding of an ISDS case.
2017, 2020: Member Singapore International Arbitration Academy.
2022-23 Presiding arbitrator, ICC arbitration (Hong Kong).
2022-23: Co-arbitrator, SIAC arbitration (Singapore)
2022: Co-arbitrator, ICC arbitration (London).
2021-23: Co-arbitrator, UNCITRAL arbitration.
2020: Sole arbitrator, foreign state arbitration.
2020: Presiding Arbitrator, LCIA arbitration (London).
SOLICITOR-GENERAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
2012-2016: As Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, Justin Gleeson SC advised on numerous international law issues and was joint counsel for Australia in proceedings including:
Inter-State arbitration
2015: Timor-Leste v Australia, Arbitration under the Timor Sea Treaty (PCA 2015-42).
2013: Timor Leste v Australia, Arbitration under the Timor Sea Treaty (PCA 2013-16).
International Court of Justice
2014: Timor-Leste v Australia, Questions relating to the Seizure and Detention of Certain Documents and Data.
2013: Australia v Japan, Whaling in the Antarctic.
Investor-State arbitration
2015: Phillip Morris Asia Limited v Australia, Arbitration under the Hong Kong-Australia Business Investment Treaty: Tobacco Plain Packaging Legislation (PCA 2012-12).
Inter-State Conciliation
2016: Timor-Leste v Australia, Compulsory Conciliation under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (PCA 2016-10).
RECENT PUBLIC ADDRESSES ON INTERNATIONAL LAW
2024
Robert Goff Lecture to Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre: ‘International Arbitration - Can it survive and prosper in the face of incommensurable methods of fact finding?’
2023
‘Harmonising the local and global: non-unitary States and UNCITRAL’s work of legal convergence’: chapter co-authored with Danielle Forrester in the Elgar Companion to UNCITRAL.
2021
ACICA ‘Australia as a Centre for Excellence’ (2020 Arbitration Report) - Justin Gleeson SC and Jonathon Redwood SC.
2020
October 2020: ACICA Arbitrator Round Table Forum: ‘Best Practice in International Arbitration'.
2019
November 2019: ACICA Arbitrator Round Table Forum: ‘Best Practice in International Arbitration'‘.
2018
November 2018: Panel discussion on international commercial arbitration at Australian Bar Association Sydney conference.
July 2018: Address to ACICA, "Remarks upon an occasion sponsored by ACICA to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the New York Convention 1958".
2017
November 2017: Address to Singapore International Arbitration Academy, "Dissection of a case: Phillip Morris Asia Ltd v Commonwealth of Australia".
October 2017: IBA Annual Conference Sydney, "Keynote Address to Under 40’s Arbitration Workshop".
August 2017: Australian Academy of Law Conference, Sydney: “Can Australian Lawyers of the future afford not to be internationalist?”.
July 2017: CIArb Australia lunch Melbourne: “International Arbitration – What can Australia learn from current developments overseas?”.
May 2017: Keynote address, Global Pound Alternative Dispute Resolution Conference, Sydney.
February 2017: Singapore Academy of Law, "Evolving Judicial Attitudes to Executive Power: the United Kingdom, Singapore and Australia".
2016
October 2016: Australian Academy of Law Annual Patron’s Lecture, "The increasing internationalisation of Australian law".
July 2016: Australian National University Annual Michael Kirby Lecture in International Law, "Australia's increasing enmeshment in international dispute resolution".
May 2016: Address to Second Annual UNCITRAL Seminar, Canberra, “Australia’s Interests in Investor-State Dispute Settlement under the UNCITRAL framework”.
May 2016: Young Lawyers Section of NSW Law Society, "Keynote address for Inaugural International Dispute and Negotiation Seminar Series".
2015
April 2015: Annual Sir Maurice Byers address to NSW Bar Association,“International Law and the Australian Constitution”.