{{Short description|British judge (born 1937)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}} {{Use British English|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable | name = The Lady Higgins | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|GBEf|KC|sep=|size=100%}} | image = Rosalyn Higgins (cropped).jpg | caption = Higgins at the International Court of Justice in 2006 | office = President of the International Court of Justice | term_start = 6 February 2006 | term_end = 6 February 2009 | predecessor = Shi Jiuyong | successor = Hisashi Owada | monarch = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1937|06|02}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | birth_name = Rosalyn C. Cohen | spouse = {{marriage|Terence Higgins|1961|2025|end=d.}} | alma_mater = University of Cambridge<br>Yale Law School | occupation = Judge | profession = | signature = | children = 2 }}
''' Rosalyn Cohen Higgins, Lady Higgins''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|GBEf|KC|sep=,|size=100%}} (born 2 June 1937)<ref name="Birth">{{cite web|date=2 June 2011|title=Birthdays today|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/archive/2011-6-2.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110603060144/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/archive/2011-6-2.html|archive-date=3 June 2011|url-status=dead|work=The Telegraph|location=London|quote=Dame Rosalyn Higgins, QC, President, International Court of Justice, 2006–09, 74|accessdate=31 May 2014}}</ref> is a British judge who was a judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) from 1995 to 2009. She was the first female judge elected to the ICJ. Higgins was elected to a three-year term as its president in 2006.
==Life== Born to a Jewish family in 1937 as '''Rosalyn Cohen''', she married the politician Terence Higgins in 1961.<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/04/06/nlaw06.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/06/ixhome.html Telegraph.co.uk]{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} 6 April 2006 "Was it any more difficult for her to be so critical in the Israel case because she is Jewish? 'I don't think so,' she says, stressing that she judged the case as an international lawyer and not because of her background. 'I also think that the fact you happen to be Jewish doesn't mean you think that everything the State of Israel does is right.'"
When the Foreign Office put her name forward for election to the court, there were fears that some countries in the UN would not vote for a Jewish woman. She dismisses such concerns. "I don't think I have ever been perceived as Rosalyn Higgins, the Jewish international lawyer – and I hope not Rosalyn Higgins, the woman international lawyer."</ref> Her husband was created a life peer in 1997;<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=54936 |date=3 November 1997 |page=12333}}</ref> consequently, she became '''Baroness Higgins''' or '''Lady Higgins'''.
==Education and career== Higgins studied at Girton College, Cambridge, receiving her BA degree in 1959 and an LLB degree in 1962. She was a Harkness Fellow between 1959 and 1961. She later proceeded to a MA degree. She continued her studies at Yale Law School, earning a JSD degree in 1962.<ref name="Yale">[http://www.law.yale.edu/alumni/awardofmerit.htm Award of Merit] - Yale alumni website</ref>
Following her education, Higgins was a practising barrister, and became a Queen's Counsel (QC; since 2022, KC) in 1986,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=50483 |date=11 April 1986 |page=5021}}</ref> and is a bencher of the Inner Temple. She served on the UN Human Rights Committee for 14 years. Her role as member of the leading body for supervising implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights earned her respect for her diligence and competence. She resigned from the Human Rights Committee when she was elected to the International Court of Justice on 12 July 1995, re-elected on 6 February 2000, and ended her second term on 6 February 2009.{{citation needed|date=March 2026}}
Her professional appointments include: *Specialist in International Law, Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1963–1974 *Visiting Fellow, London School of Economics, 1974–1978 *Professor of International Law, University of Kent at Canterbury, 1978–1981 *Professor of International Law, University of London (London School of Economics), 1981–1995 *Vice-president, British Institute of International and Comparative Law *Member of the UN Human Rights Committee.
Higgins is the author of several influential works on international law, including ''Problems and Process: International Law and How We Use It'' (1994). Despite delivering many balanced judgements in different cases, Higgins's dissenting opinion in the ICJ's advisory opinion on the Legality of the Threat or the Use of Nuclear Weapons has been widely criticised by some legal scholars, on the grounds that it provides sovereign states with an unjustifiable amount of latitude in resort to the use of nuclear weapons in times of armed conflict.<ref>A. Anghie, Imperialism, Sovereignty and Making of International Law, (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2005), p. 293</ref>
In October 2009, she was appointed adviser on International Law, to the British government's inquiry into the Iraq war, headed by Sir John Chilcot.<ref>[http://www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/news/091013advisers_appointed.aspx IraqInquiry.org.uk]</ref>
==Honours and awards== Higgins is a member of the Institut de droit international. In 1995, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) "for services to international law",<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=54124 |date=8 August 1995 |page=10831}}</ref> and in the 2019 New Year Honours promoted to Dame Grand Cross of the same Order (GBE) "for services to International Law and Justice".<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=62507 |date=29 December 2018 |page=N24|supp=y}}</ref> In 1988, she was appointed a Knight of the French Order of Academic Palms. Furthermore, in 2007 she was awarded the Balzan Prize for International Law since 1945.
Her competence has been recognised by many academic institutions, having received at least thirteen honorary doctorates, as well as the Yale Law School Award of Merit<ref name="Yale" /> and also the Manley-O.-Hudson medal.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|Rosalyn Higgins}} * [http://www.icj-cij.org/court/index.php?p1=1&p2=2&p3=1&judge=6 ICJ Biography of H.E. President Rosalyn Higgins] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20081121001118/http://www.crestwall.com/ Who's Who in Public International Law 2007] * Shabtai Rosenne Memorial Lecture – [http://legal.un.org/avl/ls/Higgins_CT.html "Shabtai Rosenne and the International Court of Justice"] by Dame Rosalyn Higgins DBE QC, London, 19 November 2012 (retrieved 2013-03-26) * [http://legal.un.org/avl/ls/Higgins_CT.html "What International Courts (and Judges) May and May Not Do"], a lecture by Dame Rosalyn Higgins in the [http://legal.un.org/avl/lectureseries.html Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law] (retrieved 2013-03-26) * [https://web.archive.org/web/20131019173343/http://www.pca-cpa.org/showpage.asp?pag_id=1155 Belgium/Netherlands Iron Rhine Award] and [https://www.un.org/law/riaa/ XXVII UNRIAA 35] and [https://web.archive.org/web/20130521124743/http://www.pca-cpa.org/showpage.asp?pag_id=1056 Award Series] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100609062506/http://www.asil.org/awardarchives.cfm#HudsonAwards Professor Edith Brown Weiss and Charles Brower] and ICJ Presidents {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303172529/http://viswiki.com/en/Rosalyn_Higgins H.E. Rosalyn Higgins]}} and [https://web.archive.org/web/20100309024243/http://www.squire.law.cam.ac.uk/eminent_scholars/judge_stephen_m_schwebel_photographs_of_judge_stephen_m._schwebel.php H.E. Stephen M. Schwebel] at [https://web.archive.org/web/20100410230403/http://www.asil.org/am10/program-details.cfm#annualdinner the 104th ASIL Annual Dinner of 26 March 2010] in Ritz Carlton in Washington, D.C., and {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110521035100/http://fora.tv/2010/03/26/ASIL_Annual_Dinner_Reflections_on_Change_in_International_Law 104th ASIL Annual Dinner's Video]}} in {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100323074436/http://fora.tv/conference/asil_104th_annual_meeting 104th ASIL Videos]}} * [https://archive.today/20121223181411/http://www.lcil.cam.ac.uk/25th_anniversary/lcil_25th_anniversary_dinner_at_trinity_college.php ICJ Presidents H.E. Rosalyn Higgins] and H.E. Stephen M. Schwebel at [https://web.archive.org/web/20110725181150/http://www.lcil.cam.ac.uk/25th_anniversary/Anniversary_programme.php The Function of International Law Conference in Cambridge on 11-12 July 2008] and [https://archive.today/20121222224711/http://www.lcil.cam.ac.uk/25th_anniversary/ 25th Lauterpacht Centre's Anniversary] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20090627222146/http://www.idi-iil.org/idiE/navig_commissions.html 6th IDI Commission on The Position of International Judge] of the Institute of International Law and [https://web.archive.org/web/20130704193742/http://www.idi-iil.org/idiE/navig_members.html IDI Members] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20100609062506/http://www.asil.org/awardarchives.cfm#HudsonAwards Manley O. Hudson Awards] and [http://www.globalarbitrationreview.com/news/article/5062/brower-awarded-asil-medal/ 26 January 2009] * ICJ Presidents [http://www.unmultimedia.org/photo/detail/159/0159713.html H.E. Rosalyn Higgins] and H.E. Stephen M. Schwebel at [https://web.archive.org/web/20090211075926/http://am2009.asil.org/program.cfm the ILSA-ASIL Gala Dinner Celebrating the 50th Anniversary] of the Philip Jessup Moot Court Competition on 27 March 2009 and [http://www.ilsa.org/jessup/50/50thCommittee.pdf Jessup's 50th Anniversary Honorary Committee] and {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160311014946/http://viswiki.com/en/stephen_m._schwebel 50th Jessup Video]}} and [http://www.ilsa.org/jessup/50/JessupCelebrationProgram.pdf 50th Jessup Programme] and [http://www.globalarbitrationreview.com/news/article/15199/colombian-team-wins-50th-jessup-moot/ Prize for "Best Jessup Oralist" Launched in Honour of Former ICJ President Stephen M. Schwebel] at [https://web.archive.org/web/20090310214600/http://am2009.asil.org/index.cfm the 103rd ASIL Annual Meeting on International Law as Law, Fairmont Hotel] in Washington, D.C., 25–28 March 2009 * US Legal Adviser Harold Hongju Koh's Membership, along with i.a. H.E. Former ICJ President Stephen M. Schwebel, in [https://web.archive.org/web/20100623223555/http://blogs.state.gov/index.php/site/entry/donoghue_icj the U.S. National Group] of [https://web.archive.org/web/20100602004715/http://www.pca-cpa.org/showpage.asp?pag_id=1041 the PCA] which on 18 June 2010 nominated [https://web.archive.org/web/20100625230223/http://www.state.gov/s/l/releases/143264.htm U.S. Principal Deputy Legal Adviser Joan E. Donoghue] to be the second – after ICJ President Rosalyn Higgins – [http://www.icj-cij.org/presscom/index.php?p1=6&p2=5 woman Judge in the International Court of Justice's history] and US Foreign Secretary Hillary Clinton's [https://web.archive.org/web/20100625225545/http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/06/143348.htm Congratulations]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Rosalyn}} Category:Presidents of the International Court of Justice Category:United Nations Human Rights Committee members Category:1937 births Category:Living people Category:Academics of the London School of Economics Category:Academics of the University of Kent Category:Alumni of Girton College, Cambridge Category:Chevaliers of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques Category:Dames Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire Category:British baronesses by marriage Category:British legal scholars Category:English King's Counsel Category:English Jews Category:20th-century English judges Category:Fellows of Girton College, Cambridge Category:Harkness Fellows Category:International law scholars Category:Members of the Institut de Droit International Category:Lawyers from London Category:Spouses of life peers Category:Yale Law School alumni Category:21st-century English judges Category:Honorary Fellows of the London School of Economics Category:British judges of United Nations courts and tribunals Category:British women legal scholars Category:Wives of knights Category:20th-century British women lawyers Category:21st-century British women lawyers Category:International Court of Justice judges Category:20th-century British women judges Category:Lawyers awarded damehoods