Direct Access Barrister

Fiona Petersen

Direct Access Barrister

Fiona Petersen

Fiona has expertise in commercial law, public international law and public law.

Area of Law

Commercial

Recent experience includes:
- Currently instructed as sole Counsel on a multi-million-dollar debt claim, raising jurisdictional issues.
- Currently instructed as junior Counsel for the defendant to a debt claim, raising issues of limitation, set-off and security.
- Junior Counsel on a shipping arbitration.
- Advice on obtaining a worldwide freezing injunction.
- Extensive contract law advice, raising issues of conflicts of laws, routes to termination of the contracts, quantification of damages, the minimum performance rule, contractual interpretation, exclusion of common law rights, and implied terms.
- Junior Counsel in a Court of Appeal case concerning the refusal of the High Court to grant the claimant an interim injunction.

Commodities

Recent experience includes:
- Junior Counsel in a shipping arbitration, concerning loading and stowage of cargo. During this arbitration, she gained experience with cross-examining two expert witnesses.
- Junior Counsel in a shipping arbitration concerning an unsafe port.
- Junior Counsel in a High Court trial concerning storage costs in respect of contaminated cargo.
- Advice on the duty to mitigate loss following contamination of cargo.
- Advice on termination of a contract for sale of a ship.
- Advice on the obligation to nominate a vessel.
- Advice on quantification of damages for delay.

Public and Administrative Law

Recent experience includes:
- Sole Counsel for HMRC in forfeiture proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
- Sole Counsel for the Ministry of Justice in a trial concerning a prisoner’s Article 8 rights.
Furthermore, Fiona has been appointed to the Attorney General's C panel and the Equality and Human Rights Commission's C panel.

Public International Law

- Extensive advice on the law of State Immunity
- Sanctions law, including advice on the interpretation of sanctions regimes, international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and extra-territorial application.
- Law of the Sea, including: advice on the right of coastal states in relation to the exclusive economic zone; research on the interplay between UNCLOS, the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement; advice on international obligations as regards fire safety and hygiene on board vessels, including under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, the Maritime Labour Convention and International Health Regulations. Furthermore, she was junior counsel on a judicial review which raised issues under the Law of the Sea, in particular the demarcation between internal waters and the territorial sea (R (Parkes) v Dorset County Council).
- Treaty interpretation, including advice on the interpretation of the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement, InterBus Treaty, and the Tokyo Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft.
- Investor-State disputes under Bilateral Investment Treaties, including advice on the definition of “investment”, guarantees in relation to expropriation and equivalent measures, fair and equitable treatment, and full protection and security.
She is on the Attorney General's PIL panel.

What sort of work do I do?

I represent clients before the High Court, in international arbitration and before international tribunals.

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