Dr Arman Sarvarian

Called 2009

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Introduction

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Arman Sarvarian is an English barrister specialising in international law with substantial experience of proceedings before international courts and tribunals. These include proceedings before the International Court of Justice, European Court of Human Rights and investor State arbitration. His practice includes all areas of public international law and public law, including human rights law. He also accepts instructions on employment law matters as well as service complaints and courts-martial.

Called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2009, Arman has worked for over 14 years as a university professor of public international law. A generalist of broad interests and expertise, he has written on a wide range of topics of public international law, such as the law of international responsibility, the law of international organisations, international investment law, human rights law, the law of jurisdiction and the law of territory. He has written two monographs entitled 'Professional Ethics at the International Bar' (Oxford University Press, International Courts and Tribunals Series, 19 September 2013) and 'The Law of State Succession: Principles and Practice' (Oxford University Press, May 2025).

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Public International Law

 

Arman regularly advises and acts for governments, companies and NGOs on all areas of public international law. From 2024 to 2025, he acted as sole counsel to the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire in the historic Obligations of States in respect of Climate Change advisory proceedings of the International Court of Justice. He has represented multiple entities as non-disputing party in investor-State arbitration under both ICSID and UNCITRAL/PCA rules and as acted as co-counsel in international commercial arbitration. He has advised governments from four of the five UN Regional Groups on a wide range of public international law matters, such as the enforceability of provisional measures, the law of occupation and the law of State succession.

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From 2019 to 2026, he acted as external legal adviser to the Republic of Armenia for multilateral negotiations in multiple fora. He participated in the negotiation of the 2022 Arbitration Rules of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, the 2023 Code of Conduct for Arbitrators and 2024 Statute of the Advisory Centre on International investment Dispute Resolution. As delegate at the Sixth Committee (Legal) of the UN General Assembly, he participated in negotiations for a UN Convention on Crimes against Humanity and commented on the annual reports of the International Law Commission and International Court of Justice. He also advised on matters arising in the UN Security Council and Emergency Special Sessions of the UN General Assembly.

 

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Public Law

 

Arman also advises on public law. His practice focuses on public international law issues in the courts of England and Wales, such as human rights law and the law of climate change. He has advised on the status and convertability of carbon credits, such as voluntary carbon markets, Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, the CORSIA and REDD+ (ART) schemes, as well as emission allowances under the EU Emission Trading System and other compliance or ‘cap and trade’ markets.

 

 

Education

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PhD Public International Law, University College London

LLM Public International Law, University of Cambridge

Bar Vocational Course, BPP Law School, London

LLB Law (Hons), School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London)

 

 

Memberships

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• International Law Association, British Branch

• American Society of International Law

• International Union for the Conservation of Nature World Commission on Environmental Law

• The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn (2009)

 

 

Selected Publications

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• ‘Of “Treaties” and “Titles”: the Judgment of the International Court of Justice in Land and Maritime Delimitation and Sovereignty over Islands (Equatorial Guinea v. Gabon)’, American Journal of International Law (forthcoming February 2026).

• ‘The New Carbon Crediting Mechanism under the Paris Agreement’, German Yearbook of International Law (forthcoming 2026).

• ‘Koch Industries v. Canada: Emissions Allowances as ‘Investment’?’, ICSID Review – Foreign Investment Law Journal (2024) doi: 10.1093/icsidreview/siae035.

• ‘Article 7: Ex Parte Communications’ in: Giorgetti and Potesta (eds), The UNCITRAL Code of Conduct for Arbitrators: A Commentary (Kluwer, July 2024).

• ‘The Protection of Foreign Investment in the Law of State Succession’ in Kulick and Waibel (eds), Commentary on General International Law in International Investment Law (Oxford University Press, February 2024).

• ‘Invoking the Paris Agreement in Investor-State Arbitration’, 38(2)  ICSID Review – Foreign Investment Law Journal (2023).

• ‘The Ossified Debate on a UN Convention on State Responsibility’, 70(3) International & Comparative Law Quarterly (2021), 1-30.

• International Law Association Committee on the Procedure of International Courts and Tribunals, Final Report and Resolution (1 May 2020), 53 pages, adopted by the 79th Biennial Conference (Kyoto, December 2020).

• ‘Procedural Economy at the International Court of Justice’, 18(3) The Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals (2019), 74-100.

• (with Professor Philippe Sands KC), ‘The Contribution of the UK Bar to International Law’ in McCorquodale et al. (eds), Contemporary Perspectives on British Influences on International Law (BRILL, 2016), 497-519.

• ‘Splitting the Baby: Judicial Review of United Nations Security Council Resolutions by the European Court of Human Rights’, 12(1) International Organizations Law Review (2015), 169-203.

• ‘The Lawfulness of a Use of Force upon Nuclear Facilities in Self-Defence’, 1(2) Journal on the Use of Force and International Law (2014), 1-26.

 

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Recent Public Speeches

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• ‘A “New Role” for the ICJ?’, International Law Weekend, International Law Association American Branch, New York City (23 October 2025).

• ‘State Succession and Investor-State Dispute Settlement’, University of Vienna (22 September 2025).

• ‘The Puzzle of Attribution of Conduct of SOEs’, 15th Investment Treaty Arbitration Conference, Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic, Prague (18 September 2025).

• ‘Damages in Energy Disputes’, GAR Live Energy Disputes, King & Spalding, London (2 July 2025).

• ‘The Annulment of the Award in ’ in ‘Investment Arbitration Update’ Panel, Baltic Arbitration Days, Riga (15-16 June 2025).

• ‘Jurisdiction and Applicable Law’ in ‘Navigating Climate Change and Investment Disputes’ Panel, ASIL Annual Meeting (17 April 2025).

• ‘On the “Law” of State Succession’, Lauterpacht Centre of International Law, University of Cambridge (31 January 2025).

• ‘Sustainable Development: the Paris Agreement and Foreign Investment’, 7th ILS Annual Conference on Energy Arbitration and Dispute Resolution, Herbert Smith (31 May 2024)

• ‘The Paris Agreement in Investor-State Arbitration’ in: ‘Investor-State Disputes & Emergent ESG Issues: Climate Change, Environmental Protection, and Human Rights’ Panel, Practising Law Institute, International Investment Law & Investor-State Dispute Settlement 2023 (7 November 2023).

• ‘L’avenir du régime des sanctions ciblées du Conseil de sécurité des Nations-Unies’, International Law Association 150th Anniversary Symposium, Paris (20 June 2023). 

• ‘Emerging Issues in Legal Practice: Ethics, Representation and International Dispute Resolution’, UN General Assembly Legal Committee Side Event (Permanent Mission of the Republic of Armenia), New York (26 October 2022).

 

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Appointments

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Reader in Public International Law, University of Surrey

IUCN WCEL Specialist Group on Climate Change Law (2025 – Present)

​American Society of International Law Task Force on Investor-State Dispute Settlement and Climate Change (2025 – Present)

Rapporteur, International Law Association Committee on the Procedure of International Courts and Tribunals (2016-2020)

 

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Significant Awards

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University College London Faculty of Laws Ph.D. Scholarship

Lord Denning Major Bar Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn

 

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Experience

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​Public International Law

Public Law

Employment Law

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Languages

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​English

French​ (DELF C1)

Spanish (DELE B2)

German (B1)

Armenian (C2)

Persian (A2)