The Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lecture is an annual lecture series given in Cambridge to commemorate the unique contribution to the development of international law of Sir Hersch Lauterpacht. These lectures are given annually by a person of eminence in the field of international law and a revised and expanded version of the lectures is usually published in the Hersch Lauterpacht Lecture Series by Cambridge University Press. The lecture comprises three parts, delivered on consecutive evenings, followed by a Q&A session on the fourth day.
The 2015 Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lecture series, entitled 'Aspects of Sovereign Immunity' was delivered at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge, by Sir Christopher Greenwood CMG, QC from Monday 19th to Thursday 22nd January 2015.
Sir Christopher Greenwood, CMG, QC, was educated at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he obtained first class honours in both parts of the Law Tripos (1975 and 1976) and the Ll.B (International Law) (1977) and was President of the Cambridge Union Society in 1976. He was Whewell Scholar in 1977 and was elected a Fellow of Magdalene College in 1978. From 1978 to 1996 he taught law at Cambridge. He became Professor of International Law at the London School of Economics in 1996.
Called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1978, he practised in the field of international law before the English and international courts, becoming a QC in 1999 and a Bencher of Middle Temple in 2003. Many of his appearances in court were in cases concerned with sovereign immunity; these included Pinochet, Holland v. Lampen-Wolfe, Kuwait Airways and Jones v. Saudi Arabia in the House of Lords. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 2002 and was knighted in 2009 for services to public international law.
Since 2009 he has been a Judge of the International Court of Justice.
This part, entitled 'Sovereignty, Sovereign Equality and Sovereign Immunity' is the first of the three lectures given.