Kate specialises in public international law and international arbitration.
She acts for States and private entities on matters covering land and maritime boundaries, investment treaty and contract disputes, international trade law, human rights, law of the sea, State responsibility, treaty obligations, immunities, transboundary environmental harm, sanctions and international crimes. Kate regularly appears as an advocate before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Kate represents States and investors in investment treaty arbitrations, under the ICSID and UNCITRAL rules. She has also advised clients on how to structure their investments to take advantage of protections offered by investment treaties and foreign investment laws.
She has experience in international commercial arbitrations under the ICC, LCIA and Stockholm Chamber of Commerce rules.
Kate also sits as arbitrator.
She has taught public international law, international investment and commercial arbitration, and international human rights law at the universities of Cambridge, Paris-II (Panthéon-Assas), Queen Mary (University of London), Queen’s University (Canada), Queensland and at the Graduate Institute in Geneva. Kate is ranked as a ‘Future Leader’ in Who’s Who Legal Arbitration and amongst those most highly regarded in EMEA. She is also ranked as a leading junior in the directories for public international law.
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Example cases
- Counsel to the claimant in Energo Pro A.S. v Republic of Bulgaria (ICSID Case No. ARB/15/19), under a bilateral investment treaty and the Energy Charter Treaty.
- Advising on the enforcement of a political risk insurance policy in connection with proceedings under a bilateral investment treaty in the natural resources sector in Asia.
- Representing Her Royal Highness Princess Haya bint Al Hussein in proceedings against His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum concerning their two children, and in relation to complex issues of diplomatic and head of government immunity, and the effectiveness of waivers of immunity. Copies of the four published judgments in relation to this matter are available here.
- Representing applicants before the European Court of Human Rights in a case involving expropriation of property rights in a substantial piece of land in eastern Europe.
- Sitting as a member of a tribunal in an ICC dispute concerning a joint venture in the telecommunications sector in Asia.
- Obligation to Negotiate Access to the Pacific Ocean (Bolivia v Chile) ICJ: counsel to the Republic of Chile in relation to Bolivia’s claim for sovereign access to the sea.
- Counsel to the claimant in UNCITRAL proceedings involving a dispute over a plant in an eastern European State, involving complex issues of State succession.
- Maritime Delimitation (Costa Rica v Nicaragua) & Land Boundary in the Northern Part of Isla Portillos (Costa Rica v Nicaragua) ICJ: counsel to the Republic of Costa Rica in relation to delimitation of the maritime boundaries in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, and sovereignty over territory adjacent to the Caribbean Sea.
- Advising a State on the prospects of a claim under the General Agreement on Trade in Services under the World Trade Organization dispute settlement mechanisms.
- Certain Activities Carried Out by Nicaragua in the Border Area (Costa Rica v Nicaragua), & Construction of a Road in Costa Rica Along the San Juan River (Nicaragua v Costa Rica)ICJ: counsel to the Republic of Costa Rica in these cases concerning sovereignty over territory and transboundary environmental impacts.
Public international law
- Acting for an individual in a case in the English courts involving issues of foreign act of State.
- Representing the FCDO in the High Court in Charles & Dunn v FCDO, a case concerning the existence and scope of immunity of the spouse of a US diplomat in the UK.
- Guatemala’s Territorial, Insular and Maritime Claim (Guatemala/Belize), International Court of Justice, Counsel to Belize.
- Representing the United Kingdom before the European Court of Human Rights in Hanan v Germany, a case concerning issues of extraterritorial jurisdiction in the context of an armed conflict.
- Advising on the enforcement of a political risk insurance policy in connection with proceedings under a bilateral investment treaty in the natural resources sector in Asia.
- Representing Her Royal Highness Princess Haya bint Al Hussein in proceedings against His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum concerning their two children, and in relation to complex issues of diplomatic and head of government immunity, and the effectiveness of waivers of immunity. Copies of the four published judgments in relation to this matter are available here.
- Representing applicants before the European Court of Human Rights in a case involving expropriation of property rights in a substantial piece of land in eastern Europe.
- Acting for Media Legal Defence Initiative intervening in proceedings before the Court of the Economic Community of West African States, involving allegations of judicial corruption and breaches of the right to freedom of expression.
- Counsel to the Republic of Costa Rica in Land Boundary in the Northern Part of Isla Portillos (Costa Rica v Nicaragua), International Court of Justice, concerning a dispute over sovereign territory adjacent to the Caribbean Sea.
- Counsel to the Republic of Costa Rica in Maritime Delimitation (Costa Rica v Nicaragua), International Court of Justice, concerning delimitation of the maritime boundaries in the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
- Counsel to the Republic of Chile in Obligation to Negotiate Access to the Pacific Ocean (Bolivia v Chile), International Court of Justice, concerning Bolivia’s claim for sovereign access to the sea.
- Advising a State on the implications of a decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the light of EU law.
- Advising a State on a joint development zone for maritime areas, to permit exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons by two neighbouring States while a maritime boundary dispute is pending.
- Advising an international organization on the implementation of its international law privileges by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
- Acting for a coalition of NGOs intervening in a case before the European Court of Human Rights concerning freedom of expression.
- Advising a State on an extradition request for an individual alleged to have committed war crimes.
- Advising a State on immunities of a government minister in response to a request for information by financial services authorities of another State.
- Advising multiple companies in respect of sanctions imposed by the EU, the United States and the United Kingdom.
- Certain Activities Carried Out by Nicaragua in the Border Area (Costa Rica v Nicaragua), International Court of Justice, Counsel to the Republic of Costa Rica. Following Nicaragua’s occupation of Costa Rican territory in the border area close to the Caribbean Sea in 2011, the Court definitively recognised Costa Rican sovereignty in its decision on the merits in December 2015, and awarded compensation to Costa Rica for material harm to the environment, to be agreed or assessed in a subsequent phase.
- Construction of a Road in Costa Rica Along the San Juan River (Nicaragua v Costa Rica), International Court of Justice, Counsel to the Republic of Costa Rica. Following Costa Rica’s construction of a road in the vicinity of the border with Nicaragua, Nicaragua claimed that Costa Rica was causing significant transboundary environmental harm to the San Juan River, and that Costa Rica had failed to comply with international law requirements concerning environmental impact assessment. In December 2015, the Court gave judgment on the merits in favour of Costa Rica in respect of the allegations of significant transboundary environmental harm. This judgment followed an earlier success in resisting an application for provisional measures by Nicaragua in December 2013.
- Maritime Dispute (Peru v Chile), International Court of Justice, Counsel to the Republic of Chile – Following a request by Peru to delimit its maritime boundary with Chile, the Court in January 2014 recognised an existing agreement for part of the maritime boundary, awarding areas with rich fishing resources to the Republic of Chile.
- Navigational and Related Rights on the San Juan River (Costa Rica v Nicaragua), International Court of Justice, Counsel to the Republic of Costa Rica. In a 2009 judgment on the merits, the Court recognised Costa Rica’s treaty and customary rights of navigation on the San Juan River, adjacent to the boundary with Nicaragua, including for the purposes of providing essential services to the population, and a right of fishing for subsistence purposes.
International arbitration
- Sitting as sole arbitrator in an ICC dispute concerning franchising agreements in the education sector in Asia.
- Counsel to the claimant in UNCITRAL proceedings involving a dispute over a plant in an eastern European State, involving complex issues of State succession.
- Counsel to the claimant in Energo Pro A.S. v Republic of Bulgaria (ICSID Case No. ARB/15/19), under a bilateral investment treaty and the Energy Charter Treaty.
- Sitting as a member of a tribunal in an ICC dispute concerning a joint venture in the telecommunications sector in Asia.
- Sitting as sole arbitrator in an ICC dispute concerning a contract for provision of services in the pharmaceutical sector.
- Representing the respondent State in RSM Production Corporation v Saint Lucia (ICSID Case No ARB/12/10).
- Representing the claimant in Electrabel v Republic of Hungary (ICSID Case No ARB/07/19), in a dispute under the Energy Charter Treaty, involving measures taken in the context of Hungary’s accession to the EU.
- Representing the respondent State in Cambodia in Cambodia Power Company and EDC v Kingdom of Cambodia (ICSID Case No ARB/09/18), in a contractual dispute relating to the construction and operation of an electricity power plant.
- Advising corporate clients on how to structure their investments in order to take advantage of protections offered by investment treaties and foreign investment laws.
- While at Freshfields, Kate advised several investors on potential claims under investment treaties and the ICSID and UNCITRAL rules in relation to expropriation of their investments by Egypt, through the reversal of privatizations under a former regime.
Human rights
- Representing a State before the European Court of Human Rights in a case concerning issues of extraterritorial jurisdiction in the context of an armed conflict.
- Representing applicants before the European Court of Human Rights in a case involving expropriation of property rights in a substantial piece of land in eastern Europe.
- Acting for Media Legal Defence Initiative intervening in proceedings before the Court of the Economic Community of West African States, involving allegations of judicial corruption and breaches of the right to freedom of expression.
- Advising a State on the implications of a decision of the European Court of Human Rights in the light of EU law.
- Advising non-governmental organizations on an intervention before the European Court of Human Rights.
Energy and natural resources
- Counsel to the claimant in Energo Pro A.S. v Republic of Bulgaria (ICSID Case No. ARB/15/19), under a bilateral investment treaty and the Energy Charter Treaty.
- Advising on the enforcement of a political risk insurance policy in connection with proceedings under a bilateral investment treaty in the natural resources sector in Asia.
- Representing the respondent State in RSM Production Corporation v Saint Lucia (ICSID Case No ARB/12/10).
- Representing the claimant in Electrabel v Republic of Hungary (ICSID Case No ARB/07/19), in a dispute under the Energy Charter Treaty, involving measures taken in the context of Hungary’s accession to the EU.
- Representing the respondent State in Cambodia in Cambodia Power Company and EDC v Kingdom of Cambodia (ICSID Case No ARB/09/18), in a contractual dispute relating to the construction and operation of an electricity power plant.
- Advising a State on a joint development zone for maritime areas, to permit exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons by two neighbouring States while a maritime boundary dispute is pending.