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Called 2011

​Qualified to accept Public Access instructions

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Tomas ('Tom') Hamilton is a British barrister specialising in international law, extradition and crime with substantial experience of proceedings before international tribunals and human rights investigations. His practice includes international law, extradition, crime, sanctions and export control, business and human rights, and professional discipline.

Called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2011, Tom worked for over 13 years in UN mechanisms and international tribunals, developing expertise in drafting compelling legal arguments and managing complex, evidence-heavy cases. His skillset is invaluable for clients facing intricate cross-border challenges.

Recognised as an expert on the arms trade, Tom’s book 'The Arms Trade and International Criminal Law' was published by Oxford University Press in 2025. He has a regional specialism in Southeast Asia from his work on Cambodia and Myanmar.

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International Criminal Law

 

Tom regularly advises on procedural and substantive aspects of international criminal law.

 

Prior to practising at the Bar, Tom worked at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague from 2013 to 2016. As a legal advisor to the Court’s judiciary, he worked on decisions in the Situations in the Ivory Coast, Libya, Darfur (Sudan), and Central African Republic.

 

From 2016 to 2021, Tom worked for the UN Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials (UNAKRT) in the Case 004 investigations before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). Tom led the defence team for Counsel to Mr Yim Tith, who faced charges of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

 

In his academic career, Tom has published in leading journals and taught international criminal law at the University of Amsterdam from 2021 to 2024, holding a tenured position as Assistant Professor of International Criminal Law. His policy-oriented research continues to focus on aiding and abetting, the emerging crime of ecocide, and arms export regulation.

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International Human Rights

 

Tom’s international practice focuses on serious rights violations, corporate accountability, and environmental rights. He provides advice to states, NGOs and individuals in relation to cases before domestic and international courts, as well as those involving UN Human Rights Council Special Procedures.

 

Prior to coming to the Bar, Tom served as a Human Rights Officer within the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). In this capacity, he worked on the investigations of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela (FFMV) and the presentation of its findings to the Human Rights Council in 2023.

 

Tom actively engages in pro bono work and has provided legal advisory services to organisations such as Amnesty International, Global Witness, and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

 

Crime & Extradition

 

In extradition proceedings, Tom is regularly instructed in cases at Westminster Magistrates’ Court where he has advised Requested Persons on matters ranging from prison assurances to extraneous considerations based on persecution. He recently represented a high-profile political dissident in complex Part 2 proceedings.

 

As part of his growing criminal practice, Tom appears in the Crown Court and the Magistrates’ Court on a regular basis. Adept at working with vulnerable Defendants, he seeks to prepare thoroughly and give careful consideration to every case. Prior to the Bar, he spent a year at Bark & Co Solicitors working on business crime and serious prison offences.

 

Professional Discipline

 

Tom is regularly instructed by regulators to present fitness to practice and professional disciplinary cases. He has successfully obtained suspension orders on behalf of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in substantive hearings, gaining particular expertise in cases arising from registrant health conditions. He works meticulously and diligently to ensure the regulator is afforded the highest standards of representation.

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Tom has represented the NMC and HCPC in substantive hearings of up to 15 days in length with sanction bids including strike off.

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Education

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PhD in Law, King’s College London

LLM, University of Cambridge

Bar Vocational Course, College of Law, London

GDL, College of Law, London

BA (Hons), University of Oxford

 

Memberships

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Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales (BHRC)

Defence Extradition Lawyers’ Forum (DELF)

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

International Criminal Court’s list of Approved Assistants to Counsel

Attorney General’s Off-Panel List of ‘Junior Junior’ Counsel

List of Experts, Forum on the Arms Trade

 

Selected Publications

 

  • The Arms Trade and International Criminal Law (Oxford University Press) monograph book (forthcoming February 2025).

  • Co-Editor, Business and Human Rights Journal (Cambridge University Press) Special Issue on Corporate Accountability and the Arms Trade, October 2024.

  • Managing Editor, Rethinking Secondary Liability for International Crimes (SLIC*) (Oxford University Press) (forthcoming 2025).

  • Principles of Reparations at the International Criminal Court: Assessing Alternative Approaches, Max Planck UN Yearbook of International Law, with Sluiter, G. 15, Dec 2023.

  • Invited speaker on the IBA War Crimes Committee for the International Bar Association (IBA) in Miami (November 2022).

  • Corporate accountability and Iranian drones in the Ukraine war: Could sanctions lead to prosecutions for international crimes? 23 Nov 2022, EJIL: Talk!

  • Why the ICC’s termination of proceedings against deceased Kenyan defendant Paul Gicheru should not be the end of the matter, Sluiter, G. K. & Hamilton, T. F. B., 17 Oct 2022, EJIL: Talk!

  • Defending Ukraine with EU weapons, Hamilton, T., Sep 2022, European Law Open. 1, 3, Cambridge University Press

  • Articulating Arms Control Law in the EU’s Lethal Military Assistance to Ukraine (Just Security blog)

  • Corporate Accountability for Atrocity Crimes in Myanmar: Business Complicity in the Investigations of the UN Fact-Finding Mission, with Caon G., Vol 40 (2023)

  • China Would Violate the Arms Trade Treaty If It Sends Weapons to Russia for Use in Ukraine: Part I (Opinio Juris)

  • China Would Violate the Arms Trade Treaty if it Sends Weapons to Russia for Use in Ukraine: Part II (Opinio Juris)

  • An arms trade case at the International Criminal Court: Would the Article 25(3)(c) ‘purpose’ requirement really matter? Hamilton, T. F. B., 23 Sep 2021, Rethinking SLIC.

  • Arms Transfers under Article 25(3)(d)(ii) of the Rome Statute, in Jørgensen, N. H. B. (ed.), 1 Sep 2020, Cambridge University Press

  • Uniting Against Impunity: Using the UN General Assembly as a Catalyst for Action at the ICC, Ramsden, M. P. & Hamilton, T. F. B., 11 Sep 2017, 66, 4, p. 893-921

 

Appointments

 

Guest Lecturer, Law Faculty, University of Cambridge

Visiting Scholar, TMC Asser Institute, The Hague

Visiting Researcher, Grotius Center for International Law        

Fellow, Centre for Rights and Justice, Chinese University of Hong Kong  

Research Fellow, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford

 

Significant Awards

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Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) 3-year doctoral Scholarship

Major Bar Scholarship, Lincoln’s Inn

Hardwicke Award, Lincoln’s Inn

Royal Geographical Society, Research Award

Michael Aris Memorial Trust, Research Award

Oxford University Society Grant         

 

Experience

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International Criminal Law

International Human Rights Law

International Humanitarian Law

Public International Law

Extradition

General Crime

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Languages

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English

Spanish

French​

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