Dr. Tomas Hamilton
Member
Called 2011
Qualified to accept Public Access instructions
Licensed to Conduct Litigation
Introduction
Tomas ('Tom') Hamilton is a barrister specialising in international law with substantial experience of proceedings before international tribunals, the UN system, and in human rights investigations. His practice includes international criminal law, international arbitration, extradition, international sanctions and export controls, business and human rights, and professional discipline.
Called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2011, Tom worked for more than 13 years in UN mechanisms and international tribunals, developing expertise in drafting compelling legal arguments and managing complex, evidence-heavy cases. His skillset is invaluable for clients facing intricate cross-border challenges.
In his academic career, Tom has published and taught international law with expertise on the arms trade. His book 'The Arms Trade and International Criminal Law' was published by Oxford University Press in 2025 and he has a regional specialism in Southeast Asia from his work on Cambodia and Myanmar.
International Criminal Law
Tom regularly advises on procedural and substantive aspects of international criminal law. Tom is appointed to the Attorney General’s Public International Law C Panel of Counsel to the Crown.
In recent years, Tom has worked for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and for Human Rights Watch, preceded by six years for the UN Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (UNAKRT) in the Case 004 investigations before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). In that case, Tom led the defence team for Counsel to Mr Yim Tith, who faced charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
In his academic career, Tom has published in leading journals and taught international criminal law at the University of Amsterdam from 2021 to 2024, holding a tenured position as Assistant Professor of International Criminal Law. His policy-oriented research continues to focus on aiding and abetting, the emerging crime of ecocide, and arms export regulation.
International Sanctions
Tom has advised on sanctions designations under the Russia-related designations in relation to the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, on asset freeze, travel ban and director disqualification measures pursuant to The Iran (Sanctions) Regulations 2023, and on the Sudan (Sanctions) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 put in place to ensure the UK continues to meet its obligations under the UN sanctions regime relating to Sudan.
Tom is available for instruction from individuals, corporations, and sovereign entities on a broad range of sanctions-related matters, whether under the UK, EU, UN, and US sanctions regimes on issues connected to INTERPOL notices, asset freeze, travel ban and director disqualification measures, or applications for licences and derogations, sanctions compliance and risk advisory.
International arbitration
Tom is developing an international arbitration practice including on areas of overlap with his core practice in sanctions, public international law, cross-border issues and Business and Human Rights (disputes arising from ESG standards).
Tom holds a Certificate in International Investment Law and Dispute Resolution from the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL) and is undertaking an Executive Course in International Commercial Arbitration at one of his alma mater King’s College London (KCL), endorsed by the International Bar Association (IBA) and the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).
Tom is available for instruction in relation to investor-state disputes, institutional commercial arbitration, enforcement proceedings, and sanctions-related litigation, including proceedings before the LCIA, the ICC, DIAC and the PCA.
Public International Law and Human Rights
Tom’s international practice focuses on serious rights violations, corporate accountability, Business and Human Rights and ESG compliance, and environmental rights. He provides advice to states, NGOs and individuals in relation to cases before domestic and international courts, as well as those involving UN Human Rights Council Special Procedures.
Prior to coming to the Bar, Tom served as a Human Rights Officer within the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). He has worked on the investigations of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela (FFMV) and the presentation of its findings to the Human Rights Council in 2023.
Tom actively engages in pro bono work and has provided legal advisory services to organisations such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Global Witness, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Crime & Extradition
In extradition proceedings, Tom has been regularly instructed in High Court appellate matters and in Westminster Magistrates’ Court where he advised Requested Persons on matters ranging from prison assurances to extraneous considerations based on persecution. He recently represented a high-profile political dissident in complex Part 2 proceedings.
As part of his growing criminal practice, Tom appears in the Crown Court and the Magistrates’ Court acting for both the defence and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as a Level 2 Prosecutor. Adept at working with vulnerable Defendants, he seeks to prepare thoroughly and give careful consideration to every case. Prior to the Bar, he spent a year at Bark & Co Solicitors working on business crime and serious prison offences.
Professional Discipline
Tom accepts instructions from individuals facing the most serious allegations of regulatory breach in their profession. He appears regularly in substantive and interim matters before the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), Social Work England (SWE), the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA), the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA), and before UK university and college disciplinary boards. Due to his academic background in university professorial roles that involved student disciplinary functions, he has a particular expertise in educational disciplinary matters.
Instructed on behalf of the regulator in fitness to practice and professional disciplinary cases, he works meticulously and diligently to ensure the regulator is afforded the highest standards of representation. He has acted in complex substantive hearings of over 4 weeks in length involving the highest sanction of strike off and removal from the professional register, as well as cases where complex health matters arise.
Education
PhD in Law, King’s College London
LLM, University of Cambridge
Bar Vocational Course, College of Law, London
GDL, College of Law, London
BA (Hons), University of Oxford
Memberships
The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn (since 2009)
Attorney General’s Specialist List of Counsel (Panel C) Public International Law
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) General Crime Panel (Level 2)
Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC)
Defence Extradition Lawyers’ Forum (DELF)
International Criminal Court’s list of Approved Assistants to Counsel
List of Experts, Forum on the Arms Trade
Selected Publications
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The Arms Trade and International Criminal Law (Oxford University Press) monograph book (forthcoming February 2025).
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Co-Editor, Business and Human Rights Journal (Cambridge University Press) Special Issue on Corporate Accountability and the Arms Trade, October 2024.
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Managing Editor, Rethinking Secondary Liability for International Crimes (SLIC*) (Oxford University Press) (forthcoming 2025).
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Principles of Reparations at the International Criminal Court: Assessing Alternative Approaches, Max Planck UN Yearbook of International Law, with Sluiter, G. 15, Dec 2023.
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Invited speaker on the IBA War Crimes Committee for the International Bar Association (IBA) in Miami (November 2022).
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Corporate accountability and Iranian drones in the Ukraine war: Could sanctions lead to prosecutions for international crimes? 23 Nov 2022, EJIL: Talk!
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Why the ICC’s termination of proceedings against deceased Kenyan defendant Paul Gicheru should not be the end of the matter, Sluiter, G. K. & Hamilton, T. F. B., 17 Oct 2022, EJIL: Talk!
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Defending Ukraine with EU weapons, Hamilton, T., Sep 2022, European Law Open. 1, 3, Cambridge University Press
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Articulating Arms Control Law in the EU’s Lethal Military Assistance to Ukraine (Just Security blog)
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Corporate Accountability for Atrocity Crimes in Myanmar: Business Complicity in the Investigations of the UN Fact-Finding Mission, with Caon G., Vol 40 (2023)
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China Would Violate the Arms Trade Treaty If It Sends Weapons to Russia for Use in Ukraine: Part I (Opinio Juris)
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China Would Violate the Arms Trade Treaty if it Sends Weapons to Russia for Use in Ukraine: Part II (Opinio Juris)
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An arms trade case at the International Criminal Court: Would the Article 25(3)(c) ‘purpose’ requirement really matter? Hamilton, T. F. B., 23 Sep 2021, Rethinking SLIC.
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Arms Transfers under Article 25(3)(d)(ii) of the Rome Statute, in Jørgensen, N. H. B. (ed.), 1 Sep 2020, Cambridge University Press
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Uniting Against Impunity: Using the UN General Assembly as a Catalyst for Action at the ICC, Ramsden, M. P. & Hamilton, T. F. B., 11 Sep 2017, 66, 4, p. 893-921
Appointments
Guest Lecturer, Law Faculty, University of Cambridge
Visiting Scholar, TMC Asser Institute, The Hague
Visiting Researcher, Grotius Center for International Law
Fellow, Centre for Rights and Justice, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Research Fellow, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford
Significant Awards
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) 3-year doctoral Scholarship
Major Bar Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn
Hardwicke Award, Lincoln’s Inn
Royal Geographical Society, Research Award
Michael Aris Memorial Trust, Research Award
Oxford University Society Grant
Experience
International Criminal Law
International Human Rights Law
International Humanitarian Law
Public International Law
Extradition
General Crime
Experience
English
Spanish
French