Our People

Dr. Barnes advises on matters of business and human rights, sustainability and corporate governance. Dr. Barnes earned her Ph.D. in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. She also holds an LL.M. in International and European Law (specialization: International Trade and Investment Law) from the University of Amsterdam as well as undergraduate degrees, legal qualifications and experience in both common law and civil law. 

Dr. Barnes was a Visiting Fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge and a member of the Coordinating Committee of the European Society of International Law Interest Group on Business and Human Rights. She has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and given lectures and presentations at universities, research institutes and industry bodies in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Denmark, Germany, Australia and Romania on various topics of international law, business and human rights and sustainability.  A revised version of her Ph.D. dissertation (State-Owned Entities and Human Rights: The Role of International Law) was published by Cambridge University Press in November 2021. Earlier in her career, Dr. Barnes worked for a law firm in Perth, Western Australia and interned with the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law.

Legal Education

• Doctor of Philosophy in International Law – Thesis: State-Owned Entities in International Law, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva, Switzerland

• Master of International and European Law (International Trade and Investment Law) – Thesis: Sovereign Wealth Funds as Protected Investors in International Investment Law, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

• Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice – College of Law, Australia

• Bachelor of Laws – University of Western Australia 

• Licensed in Juridical Sciences (Licentiata in Stiinte Juridice) – University “1 Decembrie 1918” Alba Iulia, Romania

Bar Admissions

•  Supreme Court of Western Australia

• Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory 

Other Courses

• Certificate of Proficiency in Natural Resources for Sustainable Development – Columbia Centre on Sustainable Investment, Natural Resource Governance Institute and the World Bank

• Mineral Project Appraisal and Finance – Imperial College London, Royal School of Mines

• Selected as a Legal Expert by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for the open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights (since July 2024). 

• Independent Director of BULGOLD Inc. (TSX.V: ZLTO) - Chair of the Environmental, Social, Governance and Nomination Committee; Member of the Audit Committee (since March 2023).

• European Society of International Law Interest Group on Business and Human Rights: Member of the Coordinating Committee (2018-2022).

Books  

State-Owned Entities and Human Rights: The Role of International Law (Cambridge University Press, 2021), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108966245

Book Chapters

‘A Review of the Regulatory Framework for State-Owned Enterprises in France’ (In: Markus Krajewski and Judith Schönsteiner (eds), Human Rights and Environmental Sustainability in State-Owned Enterprises. Routledge, 2024), https://www.routledge.com/Human-Rights-and-Environmental-Sustainability-in-State-Owned-Enterprises/Schonsteiner-Krajewski/p/book/9781032271156 

‘Some Broad Remarks Concerning the Genesis and Evolution of Legal Concepts in International Law: The Case of the Social License to Operate’ (In: Wood, G., Górski, J., Mete, G. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Social License to Operate and Energy Transitions. Palgrave Studies in Energy Transitions. Palgrave Macmillan, 2024), https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74725-1_30-1 

‘International Investment Law and State-Owned Entities: Recurrent Key Issues and Future Directions’ (Yearbook on International Investment Law & Policy 2018, Oxford University Press, 432-456,), https://global.oup.com/academic/product/yearbook-on-international-investment-law-and-policy-2018-9780198853343?cc=es&lang=en&#

Journal Articles

‘The European Court of Human Rights and State-Owned Entities: Engagement and Development of a Jurisprudence Constante’ (The Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals, Volume 21, Issue 2, 369-415, Brill Nijhoff), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/15718034-12341478

‘The “Social License to Operate”: An Emerging Concept in the Practice of International Investment Tribunals’ (Journal of International Dispute Settlement, Oxford University Press, Volume 10, Issue 2, June 2019, pages 328-360), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jnlids/idz004 

‘State-owned Entities as Key Actors in the Promotion of Sustainable Development’ (Laws, 2019, Volume 8, Issue 2, Special Issue: Business, Human Rights and Sustainable Development), DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/laws8020010

‘The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the State Duty to Protect Human Rights and the State-business Nexus’ (Brazilian Journal of International Law, Special Edition on Business and Human Rights, Volume 15, Number 2, 2018, pages 41-63), https://www.publicacoes.uniceub.br/rdi/article/view/5476

Reports

‘Implementation Guidance for Principles 10 and 11 of the ILC Principles on Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflict’, Publication by the IUCN-WCEL Specialist Group on Environmental Security and Conflict Law (Consulted Expert). 

'How and to what Extent could Heightened Corporate Due Diligence Guide the Implementation of ILC PERAC Principle 10?' – Invited speaker at the workshop on “Corporate Due Diligence and Liability for Natural Resources Supply Chains in/from Conflict-affected Regions,” The Hague, Netherlands (22 June 2023).

‘Sustainability, National Security and International Law’ – Invited Speaker at the Conference “Smart Diaspora: Diaspora in Higher Education, Science, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Diaspora and Her Friends.” Conference organised under the High Patronage of the President of Romania, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitalisation, the Timisoara University Alliance, UEFISCDI in partnership with the Romanian Academy (11 April 2023).

‘Research Methodologies in International Law: The Use of Empirical Data’ – Invited Guest Lecturer at the School of Advanced Studies of the Romanian Academy (SCOSAAR), Department of Economic, Social and Legal Sciences, Institute for Legal Research “Acad. Andrei Rādulescu” (13 February 2023).

‘The Social License to Operate and Corporate Responsibility for Human Rights Violations: National and International Law Perspectives’ – Invited Speaker at the Workshop hosted by the Centre for Law, Sustainability & Justice, Department of Law, University of Southern Denmark (19 May 2022).

‘State-Owned Enterprises and Social Responsibility’ – Invited Guest Lecturer at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva for the course “State-Owned Enterprise: Trade, Competition and Investment-Related Issues” (11 April 2022). 

‘The Legal Regime for State-Owned Enterprises in France’ – Invited Speaker at Authors’ Workshop organised by the Centre for Human Rights Erlangen-Nürnberg and Centro de Derechos Umanos, Universidad Diego Portales (20 September 2021).

‘State-Owned Entities and the European Convention on Human Rights’ – Speaker – Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, Cambridge University – Fellows’ Roundtables (22 August 2019).

‘The Social License to Operate in the Extractive Industries: An International Law Perspective’ – Invited Speaker at the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy Conference on Sustainable Development in the Minerals Industry held in Sydney (26 – 28 May 2019).

‘Strengths and Weaknesses of the ‘Zero Draft’ Treaty on Business and Human Rights’ – Speaker – Annual Conference of the European Society of International Law, University of Manchester (13 – 15 September 2018): ‘Rethinking Limited Liability in Light of the Universality of Human Rights’ (13 Spetember 2018).

Online Workshop of the European Society of International Law Interest Group on Business and Human Rights: ‘International Business and Human Rights: Changes in International Law-Making’ (8 September 2021).

Online Workshop of the European Society of International Law Interest Group on Business and Human Rights: ‘Business and Human Rights during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Impact, Responses and Future Implications’ (9 September 2020).

Research Workshop on Business and Human Rights – Joint organiser with the BHRights Initiative, International Association for Business and Society and the European Society of International Law (Chair of the sessions: ‘Business and Human Rights and Regional Challenges’ and ‘Business and Human Rights and Tort Liability’) (University of Geneva, 23 & 24 November, 2019).

‘Sovereignty and the Extraterritorial Obligations of States under Human Rights Law’ – Workshop organiser on behalf of the European Society of International Law Interest Group on Business and Human Rights held at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (12 September 2019).

‘Rethinking Limited Liability in Light of the Universality of Human Rights’ – Workshop organiser on behalf of the European Society of International Law Interest Group on Business and Human Rights, University of Manchester (13 September 2018).

• Journal of World Investment & Trade

• Laws

• Review of European, Comparative International Environmental Law

• European Society of International Law

• British Institute of International and Comparative Law

• International Bar Association

• International Law Association

• Global Business and Human Rights Scholars Association

• English

• Romanian

• French

• Spanish