Born to a Jewish family in 1937 as Rosalyn Cohen, she married Terence Higgins (Lord Higgins since 1997) in 1961. ^*"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."

She has been a member of the Court since July 12, 1995, and was re-elected as of February 6, 2000. She studied at Girton College Cambridge (undergraduate and Master's degrees in Law) and Yale (doctorate). She was a staff specialist in International Law, of the 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 in the University of London (London School of Economics), 1981-. She was a practising barrister, and became a Queen's Counsel in 1986, and is a bencher of the Inner Temple.

Lady Higgins is the author of several influential works on international law, including Problems and Process: International Law and How We Use It (1994).

Titles from birth

• Miss Rosalyn Cohen (1937-1961)
• Mrs. Terence Higgins (1961-1986)
• Mrs. Terence Higgins QC (1986-1993)
• Lady Higgins QC (1993-1995)
• Her Excellency Lady Higgins DBE QC (1995-present)

References

Footnotes

External link

• ICJ biography.

1937 births | Academics of the London School of Economics | Academics of the University of Kent | Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire | English Jews | International Court of Justice judges | British judges | Living people | Yale Law School graduates | Women lawyers

Rosalyn Higgins | Rosalyn Higgins | Rosalyn Higgins