Clifford Chance
Joanne specialises in Public International Law, Business and Human Rights and other aspects of ESG law.
Joanne has represented clients before domestic and international courts including the International Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights and the UK Supreme Court.
As a former legal adviser at the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Joanne has over a decade’s experience advising government on complex, intersecting issues of law and policy and crisis management. She was the first Deputy Director for Legal Affairs (International and Cyber) at Government Communications Headquarters, advising on cyber and national security issues, including cyber sanctions.
As a senior diplomat at the UK Mission to the United Nations, Joanne led the Human Rights, Peacekeeping and Conflict Prevention team. She has direct experience of engaging with affected populations in conflict and post-conflict settings. She also has extensive experience negotiating legal instruments and representing the UK in multilateral fora, including the UN, Council of Europe and EU institutions.
Joanne is a member of the Team of Experts of the UK’s Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative.
- Representing a government at the UN Group of Governmental Experts on Information Security.
- Negotiating legal instruments at the UN Security Council, General Assembly and Human Rights Council on issues including business and human rights, the rights of indigenous peoples and the right to water and sanitation.
- Advising a government on challenges before the CJEU in relation to listings under the EU’s terrorist sanctions regimes and related JR proceedings before the UK Supreme Court.
- Advising a government on a Supreme Court case concerning the legality of detention operations in Afghanistan, engaging complex issues of treaty, UN, international humanitarian law and the ECHR.
- Representing a government before the European Court of Human Rights in cases concerning the interpretation and application of Article 1 of Protocol 1 and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
- Advising a government on treaty negotiations, including the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence.
- Advising a government on law and procedure relating to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Court.
- Representing a government before the International Court of Justice in advisory proceedings on the question of the legality of Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence.
News and client work
Contact details
- Clifford Chance, London
- +442070063923
- Email me
- Practice area Litigation, dispute resolution & risk management
Career and qualifications
- University of Oxford (BA Law with French Law, First Class hons) 2002
- London School of Economics (LLM in Public International Law, Distinction) 2008, awarded Lauterpacht/Higgins Prize for Best Performance in PIL
- Media barrister, One Brick Court Chambers 2003-2006 (including pupillage)
- Media lawyer, British Broadcasting Corporation 2007-2008
- European Commission 2008, DG External Relations (Human Rights and Democratisation)
- Senior lawyer and diplomat Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office 2009-2016
- Research Fellow, Harvard Law School and London School of Economics 2016-2017
- Senior Legal Adviser, Government Communications Headquarters 2018-2019
- Deputy Director of Legal Affairs (International and Cyber), Government Communications Headquarters 2019-2022
- Joined Clifford Chance 2022
- Called to the bar of England and Wales 2003 (Lord Denning, Hardwicke and Levitt scholar, Lincoln’s Inn)
- Admitted as a barrister in England and Wales 2004
Professional bodies
- Guest lecturer/speaker at the United Nations, Harvard University, Oxford University, Chatham House
- Member of the Team of Experts, UK’s Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative
- Member of FCDO Advisory Board to develop a Platform of Action for Children Born of Sexual Violence in Conflict
- Member of Women’s Network on R2P, Peace and Security, European Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
- Member of UN Gender Equality Network and UN Global Order Programme, University of Reading
- Research Fellow, Harvard University and London School of Economics, 2018
- Teaching Fellow In Public International Law, SOAS, 2009-2011