The National University of Singapore (NUS) is pleased to announce that Mr J. Christopher Thomas, Q.C. will join its Centre for International Law (CIL) as a Senior Principal Research Fellow and the NUS Faculty of Law as a Visiting Professor. The appointments will take effect from 3 July 2012 for a term of three years.
Mr Thomas has been Counsel in many international disputes, in domestic administrative law procedures (anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases), and in contentious proceedings before the superior courts of Canada. He has also provided counsel and consultancy to many countries on issues relating to trade and investment. He has also been a panelist in General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and Free Trade Agreement disputes, and now acts primarily as an arbitrator in international investment, trade and commercial disputes.
He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2002 and has been designated as a Chartered Arbitrator by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Institute of Canada, as well as a Listed Panelist of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre. In 2012, Chambers and Partners, the London-based publisher of one of the world’s leading directories of the legal profession, ranked Mr Thomas as a leading lawyer in the field of arbitration.
The Dean of the NUS Faculty of Law, Professor Simon Chesterman, observed, “The recruitment of Chris by CIL reflects the University’s strong desire to contribute to research and training on emerging and important global developments such as international arbitration.”
The Director of the NUS Centre for International Law (CIL), Associate Professor Robert C Beckman, added, “Chris brings with him a wealth of practical international law experience and knowledge, which will help CIL become a global thought leader and capacity building hub in the field of investment law and international dispute settlement. As a practising arbitrator and international lawyer he will bring real world experience to the Centre.”
Mr Thomas commented that, “I am very pleased to be joining CIL. It has shot to prominence in its brief [three-year] existence and it has ambitious plans for the future. I have had a long association with NUS and CIL and have been impressed with their forward-thinking strategies and thought leadership.”
Mr Thomas will be working closely with Associate Professor Michael Ewing-Chow, Head, Trade and Investment Law and Policy at CIL on a number of projects, such as the upcoming annual Singapore International Arbitration Academy commencing 26 November 2012, and a multi-year research project entitled, “An Investment Treaty for the 21st Century”, which will focus on best practices in treaty drafting and investment arbitration procedure. They will also co-teach a course at the Faculty of Law entitled “International Legal Protection of Trade and Investment”.
Curriculum Vitae
To view Mr J Christopher Thomas QC’s CV in PDF format, click here.