Dr. Charles Ayodeji Adeogun-Phillips is an accomplished international criminal lawyer, former lead international prosecutor and head of special investigations at the United Nations. He is the founder of Charles Anthony. He also practices as a Barrister specialising in international law, from Guernica 37 (International Justice) Chambers at 6, Pump Court, London.

What he had initially thought would be a short-term sabbatical from the rigours of regular practice as a criminal defence solicitor in the City of London in 1998, eventually lasted well over a decade. Between 1998 and 2010, Charles had a pioneering and distinguished legal career at the United Nations, where he successfully led teams of international prosecutors in 12 precedent-setting genocide trials before the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), making him arguably one of the most experienced and successful genocide prosecutors in history. His elevation to the rank of senior trial attorney before an international court at the age of 34, by the then Chief Prosecutor of the ICTY/ICTR, Ms. Carla Del-Ponte (former Attorney-General of Switzerland), was equally unrivalled. Between 2007 and 2008, he also served as head of special investigations in the Office of the Prosecutor, under the leadership of Justice Hassan Jallow. (The current Chief Justice of The Gambia).

With the 1945 trials of major war criminals before the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg and Tokyo serving as his only precedent, Charles’ work as a lead prosecutor, fighting for justice, on behalf of over 800,000 victims of the worst crimes ever known to mankind, placed him in the forefront of several pioneering developments in the field of international humanitarian and criminal law, a feat which earned him a citation in the maiden edition of Creswell’s “Who’s Who in Public International Law” in 2007 and in the International Year Book and Statesmen's Who's Who in 2011. The rate of the killings in Rwanda was four times greater than at the height of the Nazi Holocaust.

Since returning to private practice in 2010, Charles specialises in the areas of international human rights law, international criminal law, international civil service law, complex cross border ‘white-collar’ and business crimes, international investigations, cross border insolvency and asset recovery. As part of his practice in international human rights, between 2013 and 2014, Charles successfully represented Rev. Christopher Mtikila, the outspoken Tanzanian politician, in his watershed and precedent-setting case against the Tanzanian Government, before the African Court on Human and People’s Rights, resulting in amendments to Tanzania’s electoral laws to allow for independent candidacy for election to public office. Charles’ practice in ‘white-collar’ and business crimes has focused mainly on representing sovereign States, major oil and gas corporations, and ultra-high-net-worth individuals in complex corruption and fraud cases, often with cross-border elements. In 2016, Charles was appointed by the Federal Republic of Nigeria to lead the unprecedented corruption investigations and trials of several senior judicial officers in Nigeria.

Charles’ advisory practice in the area of international criminal and humanitarian law has included providing specialist advice to the Nigerian Government in connection with the preliminary examinations launched by the ICC into alleged crimes against humanity and/or war crimes committed in the context of armed conflict between “Boko Haram” and the Nigerian security forces; and to the Military Defence Headquarters in Nigeria, following Amnesty International’s allegations of extra judicial killings of “Boko Haram” members by the Nigerian Armed Forces. He also advises various Governments and international NGOs on ICC related transitional justice issues, including but not limited to; in connection with the 1988 mass extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances of political prisoners in Iran and the allegation of genocide on members of the Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Ethiopia.

As part of his practice in asset recovery, since 2017, Charles has been retained by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, to investigate, trace and recover over 5 trillion Naira (14 billion US Dollars), currently owed to the Nigerian Government, following its acquisition in 2011, of non-performing loans from some of the country’s ailing commercial banks. In 2021, he advised two joint venture partners, including an oil exploration corporation owned by a sovereign State and a multinational exploration oil company, in $1billion fraud claim against the operator of the joint venture in 3 oil producing fields.

Between 2020 and 2023, Charles represented the Defendant as investigation and local counsel in The Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) Vs. Process and Industrial Developments Limited (P&ID) (Claim No: Cl-2019-000752) before Honourable Justice Robin Knowles of the High Court of Justice Business and Property Courts of England and Wales Commercial Court, London (QBD). The case which centred on an alleged $11.1 billion procurement fraud claim, was the largest of its kind, brought before a UK court by a sovereign State against a foreign investor, following a repudiated infrastructure contract allegedly procured by fraud and corruption with the complicity of several public office holders.

Charles also acted as investigation and local counsel between 2020 and 2023, in a very complex white-collar cross-border corruption investigation and subsequent prosecution (Info Proc. 12333/17), instituted by the Office of the Public Prosecutor in Milan Italy, following allegations of a criminal conspiracy between March and May 2019, involving our clients, a UAE based oil trading company and several officials of the State owned Eni Trading & Shipping S.P.A, to fraudulently engage in the trade and supply of crude oil originating from Iran, a UN embargoed country, under the guise that the said product was Basrah Light crude from Iraq. Other allegations included that of obstruction of investigations against ENI’s senior management in connection with its alleged corrupt economic activities in Nigeria and Algeria. He also practices in international civil service law, wherein he represents UN staff members in challenging administrative decisions of the UN Secretary-General before the United Nations Dispute and Appeals Tribunals.

Born in London England, on March 6, 1966, Charles was educated at Repton and read law at Warwick and London universities from where he graduated in 1989 and 1994 respectively. He was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1992 and as a Solicitor of the Superior Courts in England and Wales in 1996. In 2021, he was called to the Bar of England and Wales as a transferring Solicitor, by the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn following which, he joined Guernica 37, a prestigious barristers Chambers in London, specialising in the practice of international law. In 2022, he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws, LL. D by his alma mater, Warwick University, in recognition of his outstanding work as an international lawyer and advocate.

With other leading international criminal law practitioners and/or academics around the world, Charles contributed to the reference books; International Criminal Investigations, Law, and Practice - “The Challenges of International Investigations and Prosecutions: Perspectives of a Prosecutor” Charles A. Adeogun-Phillips (2018) (Eleven International Publishing, The Hague Netherlands). Print ISBN 978-94-6236- 779; Contemporary International Criminal Law Issues: Contributions in pursuit of accountability for Africa and the World – “The Evolution and Practice of Guilty Pleas in International Criminal Law” Charles A. Adeogun-Phillips (1st Edition) (2022) T.M.C Asser Press, The Hague, Netherlands). eBook ISBN 978-94-6265-555-3; Print ISBN 978-94-6265-554-6

He is currently admitted as List Counsel at the International Criminal Court, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and at the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals. He is the focal point for Nigeria at the International Criminal Court Bar Association where he also sat on its Membership Committee for several years. He is a member of the Association of Defence Counsel practising before the International Courts and Tribunals (ADC-ICT) and was Council member of the Section of Legal Practice of the Nigerian Bar Association until 2023. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Business Recovery & Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria (BRIPAN). He is also a member of the Institute of Directors of Nigeria (IoD). He was admitted as a Notary Public of Nigeria in 2014.

He currently sits on the Board of Integrity Initiatives International (III) a US based international NGO advocating for the establishment of the proposed International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC). He also serves as an international expert and adviser to the statute drafting committees for the proposed Special Chemical Weapons Tribunal for Syria and the International Anti-Corruption Court.

In July 2019, Charles was invited to give the graduation speech at his alma mater, Warwick University, having previously been invited to speak at the Warwick Africa Summit alongside business moguls, Isabel De Santos and Aliko Dangote, and Nigeria’s Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the previous year. In June 2023, he was invited to brief British MP’s and Peers at the House of Lords on the proposed establishment of the International Anti-Corruption Court. He currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of “New Faces New Voices” (Nigeria), a pan-African organisation of women in finance founded by Her Excellency, Mrs. Graça Machel, the widow of the former South African President, the late Madiba Nelson Mandela.

Jurisdictions

Barrister, England and Wales
Solicitor, England and Wales
Barrister and Solicitor, Nigeria
List Counsel, International Criminal Court
List Counsel, African Court on Human and People’s Rights
List Counsel, International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals
Notary Public of Nigeria

Education

LL.B (Hons), University of Warwick
LL.M, SOAS, University of London

Honours

Who’s Who in Public International Law
International Yearbook and Statesmen’s Who’s Who
Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) University of Warwick

Memberships

Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
Chartered Institute of Directors
International Criminal Court Bar Association
Business Recovery & Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria
The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn
The Law Society of England and Wales
Association of Defence Counsel practising before the International Courts and Tribunals

Areas of Practice

Insolvency litigation
International Criminal and Human Rights Law
International and Domestic Dispute Resolution
Complex “White-Collar” Criminal Prosecution and Defence
International Investigations, Asset Recovery and Forfeiture
Private Client, International Wealth, and Investment Advisory