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Peter is counsel in King & Spalding’s London office, specializing in public international law, ESG, sanctions and business and human rights. He has represented states and businesses in some of the leading cases in his field, in the UK and internationally. In addition to his disputes practice, Peter also advises multinationals on human rights and environmental issues in their operations and supply chains and issues related to greenwashing.
Peter is recognised as a rising star in the fields of public international law and as a global market leader in business and human rights.
His disputes practice ranges across jurisdictions and disciplines. He has represented States in proceedings at the ICJ, ITLOS, and the European Court of Human Rights (including in the leading international cases on climate change). He has represented businesses and individuals in war crimes prosecutions, tort claims involving extra-territorial environmental harm, cases relating to sovereign immunity and in EU and UK sanctions proceedings. He has advised financial institutions in relation to complaints before the UK National Contact Point relating to environmental impacts in the operations of their clients. Both in private practice and as a legal adviser to the UK Foreign Office, Peter has considerable experience advising on cross-cutting issues of extra-territorial jurisdiction and conflict of laws.
Drawing on experience gained in his disputes practice, Peter provides strategic advice to businesses and financial institutions on how to identify and address human rights issues in their value chains and operations. He has designed human rights and environmental due diligence programs for some of the largest companies in the world, guiding them to comply with ESG regulation (for example the EU CSDDD, CRSD, Batteries Regulation and domestic mandatory human rights due diligence legislation). He has counselled business clients in the automotive, construction, financial services and energy sectors on issues relating to human trafficking, child and forced labor. He has advised clients in the AI and telecommunications sectors on issues relating to State interception, network shutdowns and misuse of services by end users and, he has counselled clients in the financial sector on links to environmental impacts caused by clients.
Peter works with clients on drafting public disclosures relating to ESG issues which minimize legal risk associated with greenwashing. He also advises businesses on how to put in place robust ESG governance procedures which conform with international standards and applicable regulation.
Aside from his corporate advisory practice, Peter advises States on international human rights law and has worked on a number of high profile regulatory reform projects (including in relation to labour rights and the business and human rights more generally).
Peter has published widely and spoken at events in the UK, USA, at the UN, across Europe, as well as in Uganda and South Africa.
Peter is recognised by Chambers & Partners in Business and Human Rights Law – Global Market Leaders (Band 3). The citation notes, “Peter has excellent expertise at the intersection of international law and business and human rights, which makes him a go-to lawyer in this field."
Selected Articles
September 2024 “Climate Change and Human Rights: European Court Hands Down Landmark Ruling With Consequences for European States and Businesses” Energy Law Report
March 2024 "The New EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive: What Does It Mean For Non-EU Companies?" LexisNexis Practical Guidance
August 2023 "Identifying and Addressing Child Labor in International Supply Chains" Practical Law
October 2022 "EU Joins US in Banning Forced Labour Products: Supply Chain Human Rights Due Diligence" Practical Law
September 2022 "Using Contractual Clauses to Manage Supply Chain Human Rights Issues", Practical Law
June 2020 “Business Views on Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence Regulation: A Comparative Analysis of Two Recent Studies” Smit, L., Bright, C., Pietropaoli, I. Jughes-Jennett, J. Hood, P. Business and Human Rights Journal, 1-9 doi:10.1017/bhj.2020.10, Cambridge
March 2020 “Kalma v African Minerals: English Court of Appeal Judgment Cuts Against the Grain of Common Law Cases on the Responsibility of Businesses for Overseas Human Rights Impacts” Blog of the European Journal of International Law
“Business and Human Rights; Reflections from Practice” in Derechos Humanos y Empresa: Balance Y Situacion Actual Sobre el Cumplimento de los Tres Pilares Ovejero Puente, A. M. (ed.), Valencia (2020)
February 2020 “A UK failure to prevent mechanism for corporate human rights harms” British Institute of International and Comparative Law
July 2019 Commentary on scope, prevention and legal liability provisions of the revised draft of the proposed binding treaty on business and human rights, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre
May 2019 The Implication of the UK Supreme Court’s Decision in Vedanta for the Management of Human Rights Risk in Overseas Operations and Supply Chains, Oxford Business Law Blog
Dec 2017 - "Jurisdiction and parent company liability: A Catch 22 for English domiciled companies", Practical Law, Thomson Reuters, Vol. XXVIII, Number 11
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