Guglielmo Verdirame

Who is Guglielmo Verdirame?

Guglielmo Verdirame is a Professor of International Law at King's College London in the Department of War Studies and the School of Law. He was previously a University Lecturer in law at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Law, and a Fellow of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law. He practises as a barrister at 20 Essex Street Chambers.

In the late 1990s, Verdirame conducted empirical research on international organisations and refugee protection. This research formed the basis for a series of articles, and for the book "Rights in Exile: Janus-faced Humanitarianism" which he co-authored with Barbara Harrell-Bond - an Oxford anthropologist whose "Imposing Aid" had pioneered critiques of international institutions and humanitarian organisations. While still relying on the earlier socio-legal and empirical research, Verdirame's "The UN and Human Rights: Who Guards the Guardians?" offers a predominantly doctrinal analysis of the accountability and responsibility of the UN.

In addition to the law of international organisation, Verdirame has written extensively on the use of force, the laws of war, trade and investment, international criminal law, and the philosophy of international law. His teaching interests reflect a similarly wide spectrum in international law from both theoretical and practical perspectives.