Counsel of nations: the Bar of England and Wales representing States

The Right Hon Lord Lloyd-Jones, Justice of the Supreme Court

At the Bar Lord David's practice included international law, EU law and public law. He was amicus curiae (advocate to the court) in the Pinochet litigation before the House of Lords. A Welsh speaker, Lord Lloyd-Jones was appointed to the High Court in 2005. From 2008 to 2011 he served as a Presiding Judge on the Wales Circuit and Chair of the Lord Chancellor's Standing Committee on the Welsh Language.

In 2012 he was appointed a Lord Justice of Appeal and from 2012 to 2015 he was Chairman of the Law Commission. He was appointed as the inaugural President of the Law Council of Wales in October 2021. Lord Lloyd-Jones first served as a Justice of the Supreme Court between October 2017 and January 2022. He was the first Justice of the Supreme Court to come from Wales.

He stepped down as a Justice on 13 January 2022 after reaching the then mandatory retirement age of 70. On his retirement Lord Lloyd-Jones was appointed to the Supplementary Panel of the Supreme Court. Following the increase of the mandatory retirement age for judicial office holders from 70 to 75 in March 2022, Lord Lloyd-Jones successfully applied to be re-appointed as a Justice.

Kirsty Brimelow KC, Chair of the Bar of England and Wales

Kirsty Brimelow KC is Chair of the Bar 2026. Kirsty practises in criminal, international and public law from Doughty Street Chambers, where she is on the management board as head of the criminal law team. Kirsty was appointed Queen’s Counsel (now King’s Counsel) in 2011. Kirsty has the distinction of having led in both Civil and Criminal Courts of Appeal, the Supreme Court, the Privy Council, and the European Court of Human Rights.

In 2021, Kirsty was appointed a deputy High Court judge in the King’s Bench Division and in 2022 appointed a Recorder. She is an accredited mediator and acts in conflict resolution. Kirsty worked in the Colombia peace process and negotiated an historic apology from the former President of Colombia to a community of farmers, for a massacre.

Kirsty was a member of the Bar Council Public Affairs Committee and a Bar Council Young Spokesperson from 1998 to 2008. Kirsty was the first female Chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee (2012 to 2018) and served as the Vice Chair and then Chair of the Criminal Bar Association (2021 to 2023). In 2022, she led negotiations with the government of an historic increase in fees for criminal barristers.

Kirsty is a Bencher of Gray’s Inn and was elected to the management board (2020 to 2023). She is an experienced high-level trainer, facilitator, and conference speaker in international human rights around the world, holding consultancies to the United Nations and OSCE (the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe). She has driven law change including in sexual offences law in Denmark and FGM protection orders in England and Wales. 

In 2018 Kirsty won both the First 100 Years ‘Inspirational Woman in Law Barrister of the Year’ Award and Advocate’s pro bono ‘International Barrister of the Year’ Award. She twice has featured as The Times Lawyer of the week. Kirsty is a trustee and director of the leading global environmental charity WWF UK, visiting professor at Goldsmiths Faculty of Law (2019 to 2025), and founding member of the Alliance for Lawyers at Risk. Kirsty was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts for her service to human rights.

Professor Philippa Webb, barrister at Twenty Essex

Professor Philippa Webb is a barrister at Twenty Essex (recently appointed to King’s Counsel). She is a specialist in relation to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Philippa served as the Legal Officer and Special Assistant to Judge Rosalyn Higgins GBE KC during her presidency and in this capacity was involved in 15 inter-state cases. Philippa has since appeared as counsel and advocate in a further 12 ICJ cases. She is currently instructed on cases representing half the ICJ’s docket. She also appears before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and the European Court of Human Rights as well as inter-State arbitral tribunals. The Right to a Fair Trial in International Law (2021, with Amal Clooney) Oppenheim’s International Law: United Nations (2017, with Dame Rosalyn Higgins GBE KC, D Akande, S Sivakumaran and J Sloan), The Law of State Immunity (2015, with Lady Fox KC), and International Judicial Integration and Fragmentation (2012, 2015). In 2025, she was elected to the Institut de droit international, whose membership comprises the world's 132 leading international lawyers.

Greg Dorey CVO, Sub-Treasurer of The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple

Greg was appointed Sub-Treasurer (Chief Executive) of The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple in 2018. In this role, he is responsible for all aspects of the Inn's day-to-day management. Prior to this, he spent most of his career working for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, serving at various times as Ambassador to Ethiopia, Djibouti and the African Union; and to Hungary, plus spells as Deputy Head of Mission in Hong Kong and Pakistan.

Naomi Hart, barrister at Essex Court Chambers

Naomi has a diverse practice in international, commercial, human rights and public law. Naomi has acted in nine cases before the International Court of Justice as well as in proceedings before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the European Court of Human Rights (including four cases before the Grand Chamber), the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, various United Nations treaty bodies and the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization. She is routinely involved in cases before English and foreign domestic courts which involve questions of public international law as well as in investor-State disputes.  

Sally Langrish, Legal advisor (Director General, Legal) at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Sally Langrish was appointed Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office Legal Adviser (Director General, Legal) on 1 May 2022.

Sally first joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Legal Directorate in 1995, working on a range of international and European Union (EU) law issues. She has been posted overseas to the UK’s Permanent Representation to the EU and the British Embassy Brussels. From 2015 to 2016 Sally served as joint Legal Director at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

In 2016 she became joint Legal Director to the newly formed Department of International Trade, establishing its legal team to forge the UK’s independent trade policy following the EU Referendum.

Before she joined the Civil Service, Sally qualified as a barrister and has a law degree from University College London.

Sally is a member of the FCDO’s Management Board and Executive Committee. She is board champion for Freedom of Religion and Belief.

Director General, Legal

Director General, Legal (Legal Adviser) leads the Legal Directorate in delivering a legal service to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. The Director General, Legal also supports the Attorney General and the Treasury Solicitor in delivering legal advice to the government on international law, EU law issues and generally. The Director General, Legal has oversight of the Department’s treaties and maritime policy work.