Matrix is pleased to welcome Steven Powles KC, Nehal Bhuta and Andrew Sanger to the international law team.
Matrix’s international law team is renowned with expertise spanning public and private international law, international criminal law, human rights, extradition, immigration, sanctions, environmental law and EU law. Its barristers regularly act in high-profile, complex cases before domestic courts and major international tribunals, supported by academics who help shape the development of international legal principles.
Steven has practiced in international crime for over 30 years and is recognised as one of the leading specialists in the field. He has appeared before most of the various international criminal courts and tribunals on behalf of States, victims and accused. He is currently representing the former Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, and has previously represented other senior government officials, including Agnes Taylor, the former First Lady of Liberia, in universal jurisdiction proceedings in the UK. Steven started at the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia as a judicial assistant and also advised Trinidad and Tobago during negotiations on the establishment of the International Criminal Court. He has worked around the world, including Freetown, Sierra Leone, at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, in Beirut, Lebanon, as part of the UN International Independent Investigation Commission into the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and more recently in Seychelles where he worked in the Attorney General’s Chambers prosecuting corruption and terrorism cases. He is co-author of one of the leading practitioner texts International Criminal Practice (OUP). Steven also practices in extradition, human rights and crime and is regularly instructed in matters before domestic courts and the European Court of Human Rights.
Nehal is Chair of PIL at the University of Edinburgh and an experienced international lawyer and legal adviser. He has extensive expertise across international humanitarian law, human rights, international criminal law, refugee law, and the governance of emerging technologies in conflict. He has advised the UK Ministry of Defence and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on issues including the application of international humanitarian law and the military use of artificial intelligence and was commissioned to draft the revised Chapter 9 of the UK Joint Service Manual of the Law of Armed Conflict. Nehal is also a distinguished international law scholar with degrees from NYU, The New School, and the University of Melbourne, where he graduated first in his class. He was a Hauser and Fulbright Scholar and won major academic and mooting honours, including the Jessup World Championship and Best Oralist award. He has taught at leading universities across North America and Europe and supervised 19 PhD students, many of whom now hold positions at top global institutions.
Andrew is a recognised expert in international law, teaching, publishing and practicing at the intersection of international law, public law and human rights. As Associate Professor at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, his work focuses on corporate responsibility for breaches of international law, state responsibility for genocide, state and diplomatic immunity, the use of force, international humanitarian law, and international dispute settlement. He regularly advises and acts in domestic and international proceedings involving complex international law issues, including the ongoing proceedings in the International Court of Justice brought by South Africa against Israel under the Genocide Convention. Andrew is a widely published scholar whose work has been cited by senior courts including the UK Supreme Court and the High Court of England and Wales. He was a co-author of a major review of special mission immunity for the Council of Europe’s Committee of Legal Advisers on Public International Law. Andrew is also a Senior Fellow (Melbourne Law Masters) at Melbourne Law School and is recognised for excellence in teaching international law, having been awarded the University of Cambridge’s Pilkington Prize for Excellence in Teaching (2024) and a Finalist for the Oxford University Press Law Teacher of the Year Award (2023).
Rachel Holmes, Chief Executive of Matrix, commented:
“We are delighted that Steven Powles KC, Nehal Bhuta and Andrew Sanger have joined Matrix. Each brings a wealth of expertise and experience in their respective fields, further strengthening the breadth and depth of our international law practice. Their arrival builds on our existing strengths and reflects Matrix’s continued commitment to providing exceptional advocacy and legal advice across a broad range of international law matters. We look forward to working with Steven, Nehal and Andrew as they continue to grow and develop their practices.”