Sir Jeffrey Jowell KCMG KC (Hon)

Sir Jeffrey is instructed by private and government solicitors in the UK and abroad, and by international organisations on issues of constitutional, administrative and human rights law. He has recently assisted with the constitutions of the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Burma, Sri Lanka, Georgia and The Gambia. He has acted as an expert witness in the recent extradition case of The Government of the Republic of Turkey v Buyuk, Celik and Ipek, in which he was described as an “authoritative and persuasive witness”. He regularly advises on public law matters in British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.  He has been involved in the constitutional settlements of Serbia, Bosnia, the Maldives and Luxembourg.  He has appeared in the courts of a number of countries including Malawi, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda.  He assisted with the South African constitution and its administrative law statute. He appeared in the recent Supreme Court case, R (Privacy International) v Investigatory Powers Tribunal.

Sir Jeffrey is a CEDR accredited mediator. His wealth of experience derives not only from his professional practice across the public law and human rights arena, but also from his distinguished career as a high profile academic and administrator. He has also developed an impressive portfolio of constitutional work for national governments abroad and he is well known for his strong diplomatic skills in this field.

Sir Jeffrey has been involved in practical rule of law projects in many different ways.  He was the founder-director of the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law ( a London-based international body ); and the UK Member of the Council of Europe's Commission for Democracy Through Law (the 'Venice Commission', which provides advice to countries in Europe and beyond on rule of law issues).  He has advised a number of countries on their constitutions, on their law-making, electoral, law-enforcement and regulatory systems and on techniques to ensure access to justice, rights and judicial independence. He is a leading authority on administrative law, including the necessary powers of the state and ways to ensure good and lawful governance. 

Sir Jeffrey has advised and litigated in many countries on different issues concerning constitutional and  international human rights standards. He has represented a number of Commonwealth countries and British Overseas Territories and Dependencies on their relative powers and constitutional duties. He has recently appeared in the courts of countries in the Caribbean on such matters, and in the Privy Council and the UK Supreme Court. 

Sir Jeffrey has worked on different issues offshore for countries, attorneys-general and civil society.  His work includes litigation on public law matters in places such as Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Malawi, the Southern African Development Community’s Tribunal in Namibia and related litigation in the Privy Council and Supreme Court.  For many years he has been the constitutional advisor to the Cayman Islands, and in 2018 both advised in respect of the Sanctions and Money-Laundering Act and assisted in their constitutional negotiations with the FCO. He has similarly advised the Governments of Gibraltar, Jersey and Guernsey on their relationship with the United Kingdom. He has advised on matters such as the relationship on the compatibility of measures to combat tax evasion in the Overseas Territories with human rights to privacy. He has recently advised on the new Georgian, Sri Lankan and Gambian constitutions. Previous work includes advice on public law and human rights issues in Singapore, Malaysia, the Maldives and South Africa.