Thailand hires 3 foreigners to fight case at ICJ

Thailand has hired three foreign legal advisers to help fight an International Court of Justice case filed by Cambodia.  The three attorneys are from Australia, Canada, and France. Considering the importance of the case, the Bangkok Post is providing an introduction to the lawyers.

Prof James Crawford

Australia national

Mr Crawford is a professor of international law at the University of Cambridge, the United Kingdom. He is one of England's top international barristers and has worked on cases in several international courts, including the ICJ.

He represented Malaysia in a dispute with Singapore over the sovereignty of Pulau Batu Puteh island and in another dispute with Indonesia over the Ligitan-Sipadan islands.

Prof Donald M. McRae

Canada/New Zealand national

Mr McRae currently holds the Hyman Soloway Chair in Business and Trade Law and teaches international law at the University of Ottawa. Mr McRae has been a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration since 1988. He was elected to the United Nations' International Law Commission in 2006. He was a counsel for Canada during an arbitration with France over the St Pierre and Miquelon maritime boundary dispute in l991 and 1992, was a legal adviser to New Zealand on maritime boundary issues from 2000 to 2005, and counsel to Suriname in a dispute with Guyana in 2006. 

Prof Alain Pellet

French national

Mr Pellet is an international law professor at Universite' Paris Ouest-Nanterre-La De'fense. He is one of the most distinguished French experts on international law and has made a name for himself as the representative of several countries before the ICJ in the Hague. He is one of the most active lawyers practising before the ICJ. In addition, he serves in an advisory capacity to international organisations on issues concerning administration and international legislation. He has been a member of the UN's International Law Commission since 1990. He was the commission's chairman in 1997.