CCLS alumnus talks about his work at the Attorney General's Chambers in Antigua and Barbuda.
In the recent School of Law Alumni seminar that took place on 13th March, Zachary Phillips (Public International Law LLM, 2018), discussed the three pending advisory opinions on climate change before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice. He gave his perspective on the possible outcomes in light of having prepared and delivered written and oral submissions in the cases before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea and the International Court of Justice.
Zachary says; “As a part of the Attorney General's Chambers in Antigua and Barbuda one of my major tasks is advising the Government on its international obligations across the wide scope of different regimes. Most recently, however, the focus of the Government has been to engage in litigation before international tribunals to attempt to seek the protection of the interests of small island states. Antigua and Barbuda, despite its small size, has participated in all three of the Advisory Opinions on Climate Change: before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea, the Inter American Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice. For all three of these processes, I have represented my country and small island states both in written and in oral advocacy. I am truly honoured to have had this experience at such a young age and more so honoured that the first advisory opinion before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) has returned so favourably for Small Island Developing States.
For those of you interested in getting into this area, I would suggest not to limit yourself before you even try. If I listened to my own voices that said, I am too junior or I am too young or too inexperienced, I would have never appeared before two international tribunals and been appointed the Agent for my state in an International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion proceedings. I would also say it is important to expose yourself to the areas you want to work in, so make efforts to attend panel discussions or webinars and get your name out there. Meet the people who could one day hire you and always put your best foot forward, since you may never know where your paths may cross again”.
A bit about Zachary A. R. Phillips: He is a young Attorney-at-Law, academic and published author. Zachary has attained a BSc in Political Science., an LLB, and an LLM in Public International Law all at first class classification. Zachary also received the Public International Law Prize for graduating from QMUL as the top student in Public International Law in his cohort. Zachary is now employed at the Attorney General's Chambers of Antigua and Barbuda as a Crown Counsel, in the International Unit. His tasks include negotiating on behalf of Antigua and Barbuda at regional, and international fora such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) sub-committees and making sure treaty obligations are implemented domestically. In this capacity he has also held the position of Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) Fellow in 2022 and participated in the Regional Course in International Law in 2023 organized by the United Nations. Most recently Zachary made oral submissions before the International Tribunal of the Law of Sea in their climate change advisory opinion hearing as a part of the Commission of Small Island States (COSIS) legal team. He has also been appointed as Agent for Antigua and Barbuda in the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion.
Zachary’s seminar is available to watch on QM YouTube channel https://youtu.be/WOH62RK1C-Y?si=Wedhmlkypo0RvhY-