Timothy Otty QC
Tim Otty is widely recognized as a leading practitioner in public international law and human rights law. Tim’s practice spans the full range of Blackstone Chambers’ work. In addition to his work at the Bar he is currently the UK’s representative on the Council of Europe’s European Commission for Democracy through Law, the Venice Commission.
He has also been a visiting fellow or lecturer at the London School of Economics and Oxford University and in 2017 he was made a Visiting Professor at Kings College London. In 2018 he was appointed to the UK’s Steering Board relating to the OECD guidelines governing business, human rights and anti-corruption measures. He took silk in 2006 as the youngest in his year, and has, since then enjoyed wide experience as Leading Counsel at all levels of United Kingdom courts, other Commonwealth domestic courts, and a range of international courts and tribunals.
He has appeared in more than 40 cases before the European Court of Human Rights and acted in an advisory capacity to United Nations office holders. In 2017 he appeared before the Supreme Court for the successful parties in two leading cases concerning state immunity and diplomatic immunity and human trafficking. He is currently involved as Counsel in a number of multi-billion dollar State arbitrations raising issues of public international law. He also sits as an arbitrator in international arbitrations.
Tim has been cited in the independent legal directories as a leader in Public International Law, Civil Liberties & Human Rights Law, Public and Administrative law and Sanctions law for a number of years and is one of only 15 UK silks at the Bar ranked in Chambers Global 2019 in Public International Law. He has also been called to the Bar of Belize, the Bar of the British Virgin Islands, the Bar of Gibraltar (ad hoc) and the Bar of Ireland. Tim graduated from the University of Cambridge, Trinity College with a MA degree.