GEOFFREY ROBERTSON
Geoffrey Robertson KC is founder and joint head of Doughty Street Chambers, Europe's largest human rights practice. He has had a distinguished career as a trial and appellate counsel in Britain and in international courts, defending, among others, Julian Assange, Salman Rushdie, Gay News, Lula (now President of Brazil), and reporters from The Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. He was sanctioned by the Kremlin in 2022.
He has served as a UN appeal judge and as the first president of its war crimes court in Sierra Leone. He has received the New York State Bar Association's Distinction in International Law and Affairs Award and the Order of Australia for services to human rights. He is a Master of the Middle Temple and a trustee of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
His book Crimes Against Humanity: The Struggle for Global Justice has been hailed as an inspiration for the global justice movement. His autobiography, Rather His Own Man: In Court with Tyrants, Tarts and Troublemakers, was published by Biteback (UK) and Penguin Random House Australia in 2018.
World of War Crimes: Eyeless in Gaza... and Beyond
Longlisted for the Moore Prize for Human Rights Writing 2026
Every day, we are exposed to evidence of hundreds of war crimes: residential buildings bombed and burning in Ukraine, merciless shootings in Gaza despite a so-called ceasefire, civilians beaten and starved by armies in Sudan, and a mounting number of aid workers and journalists murdered by soldiers. The evidence proves guilt beyond reasonable doubt, but we know there will be few, if any, prosecutions.
In this powerful book, distinguished human rights lawyer Geoffrey Robertson exposes the "fraud" that is international humanitarian law. Drawing on his experience as a UN war crimes judge, he considers some of the most pressing legal issues of our time, including torture, nuclear weapons, drone warfare, and the fallacy of "anticipatory self-defence." In the face of such threats, and with an impotent Security Council neutered by the world's most powerful aggressors, modern democracies are increasingly vulnerable to conflict and invasion.
Most importantly, in an age of amoral warlords like Vladimir Putin, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Donald Trump, the book warns that we are losing sight of Nuremberg's legacy: that there can be no peace without justice. This authoritative and deeply humane work is both a rallying defence of moral law and a resounding condemnation of those who defy it.
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