Client Alert: Volterra Fietta Partner, Gunjan Sharma, appointed as inaugural Honorary International Law Practice Fellow of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law

Volterra Fietta is proud to announce that one of its Partners, Gunjan Sharma, has been appointed as an inaugural Honorary International Law Practice Fellow of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL).

BIICL’s Honorary International Law Practice Fellowship programme was initiated this year. The programme acknowledges the contributions of the UK’s foremost lawyers to the fields of public international law and comparative law.

Gunjan advises States, international organisations and private entities on every facet of public international law. He routinely serves as counsel to States before international tribunals. He is counsel to Barbados in the climate change advisory proceedings before the International Court of Justice and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. In the last few years, before the International Court of Justice, Gunjan has served as counsel to Kenya in the Somalia v Kenya maritime delimitation case; counsel to the UAE in the Qatar v UAE case arising out of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination; and counsel to the Democratic Republic of Congo in the DRC v Uganda armed activities case.

Gunjan is also counsel to both States and investors in investor-State arbitrations. This currently includes: a multi-billion-dollar treaty arbitration arising out of a nuclear energy project; a multi-billion-Euro arbitration against the French Republic arising out of the expropriation of a gold mine; and a dispute involving support for terrorism and allegations of censorship in Al Jazeera v Egypt. He also provides public international law and comparative law advice for some of the world’s most sensitive disputes. Most recently, his work included advising Malaysia in the Sulu arbitration matter and asserting the rights of Brazilian minority shareholders in a claim seeking to invalidate over USD 100,000,000 in debentures issued to a majority shareholder.

Prior to his appointment by BIICL, Gunjan was described as a “Next Generation Partner” by Legal 500 in public international law and a “Rising Star” in Commercial Arbitration by EuroMoney’s Expert Guide.

Commenting on Gunjan’s most recent accolade, the firm’s founder, Robert Volterra, said, “We are grateful to BIICL for recognising Gunjan’s achievements in public international law. Gunjan has more than earned this recognition through his ceaseless and effective advocacy for his clients in their largest commercial and PIL disputes.”

Fellow Volterra Fietta Partner, Ahmed Abdel Hakam, added, “I have known and worked with Gunjan for over a decade, through multiple firms. He is a gifted and clever lawyer whose contributions are exemplary.”

In addition to Gunjan Sharma, BIICL has appointed nine other practitioners as Honorary International Law Practice Fellows this year. The full list of fellows can be found here: https://www.biicl.org/centreintlaw.

For further information, contact info@volterrafietta.com.

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