Jeffrey Jowell

Sir Jeffrey Jowell KCMG KC (born 4 November 1938) is a practising barrister at Blackstone Chambers specialising in public law (including constitutional, administrative, human rights and the design and implementation of national constitutions). He was the inaugural Director of the Bingham Centre for the Rule of Law from 2010 - 2015.^[1] He is Emeritus Professor of Public Law at University College London^[2] where he was Dean of the Faculty of Laws and a Vice Provost. He is the author of leading publications in his field (see selected bibliography).

In 2011 he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George (KCMG) for "services to human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe".^[3] He is a Bencher of Middle Temple^[4] and holds honorary degrees from the Universities of Athens, Ritsumeikan, Cape Town and Paris 2. He is an Honorary Fellow of University College London and Hertford College, Oxford. In 2016 he was awarded the National Order of the Southern Cross by the President of Brazil for his contribution to constitutionalism and the rule of law internationally.^[5] In 2020 he was elected as a Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has variously been listed as one of The Times' most influential lawyers.^[6]

Jowell has held a number of public appointments including Non-Executive Director of the Office of Rail Regulation; Member of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution; Chair of the British Waterways Ombudsman Committee,^[7] Chair of the Council of the Institute for Philanthropy, and Trustee of a number of charities, including the Sigrid Rausing Trust and the UK Branch of the South African Constitutional Court Trust. He is a member of the Foreign Secretary's Advisory committee on Human Rights.^[8] Between 2000 - 2011 he was the UK's member on the Council of Europe's Commission for Democracy through Law ("The Venice Commission").