Barristers

Martin Polaine, FCIArb FAIADR

Email: m.polaine@brookechambers.co.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 7951 712478

Martin Polaine has advised states, international organisations and corporates in Africa, Asia and Europe on international arbitration, public international law and international regulatory frameworks. His work has included treaty negotiation and drafting, dispute resolution (both commercial and State-investor arbitration), international human rights law, international trade & investment law, anti-corruption/asset recovery, maritime security, the law of armed conflict, statehood and immunities. He also has a complementary background as a former senior prosecutor.

Martin has had conduct of numerous serious, complex and sensitive cases, with a particular focus on those with an international element and serves as an expert for international and regional organisations (including Commonwealth Secretariat, Council of Europe, EU, UN agencies and the OECD).

He has extensive experience in advising at ministerial and senior official levels and his wide-ranging representational roles have included mutual legal assistance negotiation and serving as the UK’s legal representative on the OECD Working Group on Bribery.

He is a published author of legal texts (with Oxford University Press and others), a regular conference speaker and has recently developed and written the international trade & investment law components of a practitioner-focused LLM course.

Martin is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) and a Fellow of the Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution (FAIADR).

Martin is registered for public access (also referred to as ‘direct access’). Public access allows businesses, organisations and members of the public to instruct a barrister directly, without having to go through a solicitor.

Recent Work

  • Advised in both ICSID and non-ICSID (UNCITRAL) investment arbitration in respect of international & transnational law issues.
  • Advised a range of SMEs and listed companies in Malaysia, Singapore and other SE Asian States on arbitration clauses and pre-emptive dispute resolution steps in cross-border contract.
  • Advised major Central Asian State-owned enterprise on compliance, anti-bribery, cross-border contracts and international commercial arbitration.
  • Advised London law firm on public international law (PIL) issues arising in international commercial arbitration.
  • Drafted regional multilateral treaty (convention) on mutual legal assistance for IGAD States (East Africa).
  • Drafted regional multilateral treaty (convention) on extradition for IGAD States (East Africa).
  • Drafted mutual legal assistance law for Serbia.
  • Legislative drafting: Proceeds of Crime legislation Mauritius, Nigeria & Sri Lanka.
  • Advised medium-sized accountancy firm on legal issues surrounding risk/de-risking in AML/CFT and on due diligence/enhanced due diligence in respect of PEPs and other high profile individuals.
  • Advised banking and financial institutions in Malaysia & Singapore on risk/de-risking issues.
  • Advised maritime security company on international law issues concerning anti-piracy operations.
  • Advised Serbian Supreme Court of Cassation on the use of expert evidence.
  • Wrote LLM modules on international trade and investment law for Australian College of Law.

Publications

Publications include:

  • Corruption & Misuse of Public Office (Oxford, 2006).
  • Counter-Terrorism Law & Practice: An International Handbook (Oxford, 2009).
  • Special Investigative Means and Human Rights (Council of Europe, 2013).
  • Mutual Legal Assistance Manual for Asset Recovery (Council of Europe, 2013).
  • Mutual Legal Assistance and Mutual Assistance (Sakkam Press, 2014).
  • Extradition: General Principles in Corruption and Related Cases (Sakkam Press, 2015).
  • Investigating & Prosecuting Economic Crime: A practitioners’ manual for prosecutors & investigators (Council of Europe, 2016).

Arvinder Sambei

Email: a.sambei@brookechambers.co.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 7949 553060

Arvinder Sambei has advised states, corporates and individuals and acts as an expert for many international and regional organisations (including Council of Europe, EU, IMF, UNDP, UNODC) on anti-corruption & governance, AML/CFT, sanctions, international co-operation, asset recovery, handling complex cases, economic crimes, corporate criminal liability, international co-operation, human rights and public international law. She has also been instructed in treaty and legislative drafting, as well as institutional and project evaluation and capacity building/technical assistance programmes.

She has previously held the posts of Head of Criminal Law at the Commonwealth Secretariat, Legal Adviser to the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) at the UK’s Ministry of Defence and Senior Crown Prosecutor (Crown Prosecution Service of England & Wales). As a prosecutor, she had conduct of many of the UK’s high profile extradition, counter-terrorism, transnational and war crimes cases. In addition, her responsibilities included liaison with other jurisdictions on treaty negotiations, extradition and mutual legal assistance requests.

Arvinder regularly advises on a range of public international law topics, including treaty law, the use of force by states, the protection of foreign-owned property and international investment law. In international arbitration, she has experience in international trade issues, the international sale of goods and the carriage of goods.

She is a published author of legal texts (with Oxford University Press and others), a regular conference speaker, an experienced trainer and has written articles, practitioner manuals and technical papers for a range of international organisations.

Publications

Publications include:

  • Extradition Law Handbook (Arvinder K Sambei & John R.W.D. Jones) Oxford University Press, February 2005.
  • Counter Terrorism Law & Practice: An International Handbook (Arvinder Sambei, Anton du Plessis & Martin Polaine) Oxford University Press, March 2009.
  • Contributor, The Extradition and Mutual Legal Assistance Handbook (Jones, Davidson et al) Oxford University Press, August 2010.
  • Co-Author, Mutual Legal Assistance and Mutual Assistance (Sakkam Press, Japan, 2014).
  • Co-Author, Extradition: General Principles in Corruption and Related Cases (Sakkam Press, Japan, 2015).
  • Investigating & Prosecuting Economic Crime: A practitioners’ manual for prosecutors & investigators (Council of Europe, 2016).

The Bar Standards Board’s (BSB’s) Barristers’ Register shows:

  • Who has a current practising certificate;
  • Whether a barrister has any disciplinary findings, which are published on the Barristers’ Register in accordance with BSB’s policy.

The link to the Barristers’ Register page on the BSB’s website is https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/for-the-public/search-a-barristers-record.html