Chris Stephen called to the Bar in Scotland in 2022 as a Lord Hope scholar. He is also qualified as a barrister in England & Wales. He primarily specialises in administrative & public law (including public inquiries), international law and alternative/commercial dispute resolution.
Shortly after calling, he was appointed as a Standing Junior to the Advocate General for Scotland (UK Government) in December 2022 and re-appointed in September 2024. In that capacity, he has advised and represented the UK Government in a number of matters, ranging from judicial review in the immigration context to a peerage case before the Lord Lyon. He has also acted as junior Counsel to the Lord Advocate in extradition cases.
Since calling, Chris has assisted with several public inquiries, including the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry and the Sheku Bayou Inquiry. He is currently junior Counsel to the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry.
Chris also has particular interest and experience in international law. He was formerly an Assistant Legal Adviser at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) for over five years, during which time he represented the UK at the United Nations in Geneva and New York and before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in contentious proceedings. He also worked as a dual-qualified solicitor for law firms in London representing private clients and States on a wide range of contentious and non-contentious issues, including arbitration proceedings brought under bilateral investment treaties (BITs).
Chris also spent three years as Legal Secretary (Deputy Director) to the Advocate General for Scotland, one of the UK Government’s Law Officers. In doing so, Chris worked on public law litigation of national significance, including the prorogation case (R (Miller) v The Prime Minister and Cherry v Advocate General for Scotland [2019] UKSC 41), the UK Withdrawal from the EU (Legal Continuity) (Scotland) Bill reference [2018] UKSC 64 and the Article 50 (Wightman) case before the Inner House of the Court of Session [2018] CSIH 62 and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU C-621/18).
Chris also worked previously as a Judicial Assistant to the Law Lords (Lords Hope of Craighead and Mance) in the House of Lords (now the UK Supreme Court).
Selected cases:
Chris has been Standing Junior Counsel to the Advocate General for Scotland (UK Government) since 2022. In that capacity, he can be called upon to advise on and/or represent the UK Government on a range of matters before the courts in Scotland, and has done so in relation to a judicial review of the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill (Prohibition on Submission for Royal Assent) Order 2023, immigration matters and a peerage matter before the Lord Lyon.
Since calling, Chris has assisted with several public inquiries, including as:
- Junior Counsel to the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry, assisting the Chair and Senior Counsel in the Inquiry’s ongoing investigations and leading the evidence of multiple witnesses, both individuals and panels, for the Inquiry’s impact hearings
- External Counsel to the Sheku Bayou Inquiry, producing a contextual literature review on the subject of race and policing
- Ad hoc junior Counsel to the Scottish Hospitals Inquiry
Representative cases include:
- Obligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament (Marshall Islands v. United Kingdom) (Preliminary Objections) International Court of Justice 2016 ICJ Reports 833. Adviser to the UK Government.
Representative cases include:
- Kilic v Turkmenistan (ICSID Case No. ARB/10/1) (Turkey-Turkmenistan Bilateral Investment Treaty). Counsel for the Claimant.
- Vigotop v Hungary (ICSID Case No. ARB/11/22) (Cyprus-Hungary Bilateral Investment Treaty). Counsel for the Claimant.
- Karmer Marble Tourism Construction Industry and Commerce LLC v Georgia (ICSID Case No. ARB/08/19) (Georgia-Turkey Bilateral Investment Treaty). Counsel for the Claimant.
- Raynouard (Vincent) v HM Advocate, High Court of Justiciary (Appeal Court) 2024 SLT 179
- Rossi (Nicholas) v HM Advocate, High Court of Justiciary (Appeal Court), 2024 SLT 18
- Lord Advocate v Raynouard (Vincent), Sheriff Court (Lothian & Borders), Edinburgh, (Unreported)
- Lord Advocate v Rossi (Nicholas), Sheriff Court (Lothian & Borders), Edinburgh, 2023 SLT (Sh. Ct) 143
Contact our clerks
Normal business hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
ampersandclerks@advocates.org.uk
+44 (0)131 260 5674 (9am to 5pm)
Alan Moffat
Advocates' Clerk
Sheena Hume
Deputy Advocates' Clerk
Kathryn Ferguson
Deputy Advocates' Clerk
Bonnie McCracken
Deputy Advocates' Clerk
2022 – present: Member, Faculty of Advocates
2021 – 2022: Devil, Faculty of Advocates
Devilmasters
- Graham Maciver (principal)
- Chris Pirie KC (subsidiary)
- Ken McGuire (subsidiary)
- Tony Lenehan KC (criminal)
2018-2021: Legal Secretary to the Advocate General for Scotland (Deputy Director), Dover House, Whitehall
2013-2018: Assistant Legal Adviser, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), Whitehall
2011-2013: Associate, Volterra Fietta (Public International Law and International Arbitration), London
2011: Intern, Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs), London (International Law Programme)
2010-2011: Intern, Latham & Watkins LLP (International Dispute Resolution and Public International Law), London
2008-2009: Judicial Assistant to the Law Lords (Lords Hope of Craighead & Lord Mance), House of Lords (now the UK Supreme Court)
2006-2008: Trainee Solicitor, Brodies LLP (six-month seats in dispute resolution, employment, commercial property and secondment to a financial institution)
Academic
- 2010 – LL.M (Public International Law), London School of Economics & Political Science
- 2006 – Dip LP, University of Aberdeen
- 2005 – LL.B (Hons), University of Aberdeen
Scholarships/Awards
- 2021/2022: Lord Hope Scholar
2021 – Called to the Bar of England & Wales, Gray’s Inn
2022 – Standing Junior Counsel to the Advocate General for Scotland (UK Government)
2022 – Tutor, University of Edinburgh (International Law)
2023 – Junior Counsel to the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry
2024 – Door Tenant, Three Stone Chambers, London
2024 – Member, Faculty of Advocates’ Law Reform Committee
2024 – Member, Faculty of Advocates’ International Engagement Committee
Journal articles
- Dispute Settlement: Managing Disputes (Chapter 15 in Practical PIL: Public International Law and its implications for Businesses (Jus Mundi (2025)) (with A. Rahman)
- An examination of State immunity by the Scottish Courts (2022) 39 Scots Law Times 265-268
- Diplomatic Immunity, Modern Slavery and the “Commercial Activity” Exception: The UK Supreme Court in Basfar v Wong (EJIL Talk: The Blog of the European Journal of International Law, 11 July 2022)
- International Criminal Law: Wielding the Sword of Universal Criminal Justice? (2012) 61(1) International and Comparative Law Quarterly 55-89
- Recapturing the essence of breach of the peace: Harris v HM Advocate (2010) 1 Juridical Review 15
- Blazing a (new) trail for murder? Petto v HM Advocate (2009) 30 Scots Law Times 177
- Causation, drugs and culpable homicide in the High Court (2009) 6 Scots Law Times 27
- From Pretty to Purdy: suicide and assistance from across the border -R (on the application of Purdy) v Director of Public Prosecutions) (2008) 39 Scots Law Times 267
Book reviews
- Meron, T., The Making of International Criminal Justice (2013) 24 European Journal of International Law (Book Review) 460-462
- Scharf M.P. & Williams P.R., Shaping Foreign Policy in Times of Crisis: The Role of International Law and the State Department Legal Adviser (2012) 61(2) International and Comparative Law Quarterly 553-554
- Combs, N.A. Fact-Finding Without Facts: The Uncertain Evidentiary Foundations of International Criminal Convictions (2011) 22 European Journal of International Law 602-60