Peter C. Hansen is an attorney with 14 years of legal experience who specializes in public international law and African investment law. He holds a law degree from Cambridge, has served with the United Nations and the World Bank, and has taught, lectured and published on United States and international law topics. Mr. Hansen is a United States national and fluent in French.

Mr. Hansen advises clients on African investment law and the development of commercial projects involving Africa. He also conducts trial and appellate litigation in the courts of the District of Columbia, and has done appellate work before the D.C. Circuit. Mr. Hansen has served as a Consultant with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the World Bank Administative Tribunal (WBAT), and the World Bank's Office of Evaluation and Suspension (OES), which handles the debarment of corrupt companies. Mr. Hansen has taught, lectured and published on international law subjects.

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Professional History

Mr. Hansen received his BA degree magna cum laude in international affairs, and his MA degree in international economic policy, from the American University School of International Service in Washington, D.C. He took his JD at American University's Washington College of Law, serving on the senior staff of what is now the American University International Law Review. He was a member of the only North American team to compete in 1996 in the French-language René Cassin Human Rights Moot Court Competition, held in Strasbourg, France. He served as Teaching Assistant to the CERDEC European Union Document Center, and as a Legal Extern in the U.S. State Department's Office of the Legal Adviser, Private International Law Office (L/PIL).

In 1997, Mr. Hansen began work as a legal consultant on topics of aviation law, U.S. trade law, human rights law and European wine law. In 1999, he joined the staff of the American Society of International Law (ASIL). He was soon thereafter named Editor-in-Chief of one of ASIL's flagship publications, International Legal Materials, and ASIL's widely read newsletter International Law In Brief.

In 2001, Mr. Hansen moved to the World Bank Administrative Tribunal (WBAT), where he was appointed Counsel in 2002. In this capacity, Mr. Hansen served as an expert on the World Bank's internal employment law (a variant of international administrative law), and assisted the Executive Secretary and judges in case administration. He also assisted Sir Robert Jennings (former President of the International Court of Justice) in an investigation conducted in a case involving top World Bank management. Mr. Hansen has published a major retrospective and analytical summary (525K) of the Tribunal's first quarter-century of jurisprudence.

In 2002-2003, working pro bono, Mr. Hansen as sole counsel defended a New Jersey Internet startup company in a copyright and unfair competition case brought in federal court in Ohio. The plaintiff was represented by three counsel (including two partners) from Ohio's largest state firm. Mr. Hansen raised counterclaims, appeared pro hac vice at hearings, filed a thoroughly pled motion for dismissal and/or summary judgment, and conducted extensive motion practice and discovery. At mediation, Mr. Hansen obtained significant monetary relief for his client (the original defendant) in return for minor equitable relief, with neither side admitting liability.

In 2004, on Sir Robert Jennings' recommendation, Mr. Hansen entered Cambridge University's LL.M. program as a member of Hughes Hall. His coursework concerned international dispute resolution, international commercial litigation, jurisprudence and legal history. His thesis under Prof. James Crawford, "In Defense of Multiplicity: A Methodology for Assessing Substantive Doctrinal Divergence Between International Tribunals," received a first (i.e. top honors). Upon his departure from Cambridge, at the invitation of Sir Elihu Lauterpacht, Mr. Hansen became a regular contributor to International Law Reports on U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence. During and after his studies, Mr. Hansen remained a Consultant to the WBAT.

From October 2005 to August 2006, Mr. Hansen served as a Legal Officer in the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, Codification Division. While there, he prepared a comprehensive thematic survey of 94 laws from 49 countries concerning the expulsion and deportation of aliens. He worked directly with legal codes in French, Spanish and Italian. His work was compiled into an official study for the International Law Commission (A/Cn.4/565, July 10, 2006, 664 pp., available here), and earned a commendation from the Under-Secretary-General. Mr. Hansen also produced studies for the U.N. Repertory of Practice on U.N. voting rights and country budget arrears. Following his stint at the United Nations, Mr. Hansen returned to his Consultancy with the WBAT, where he remained until December 2007.

From January 2008 to June 2010, Mr. Hansen served as a Consultant with the World Bank's International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), where he served as Managing Editor of ICSID's scholarly journal, the ICSID Review – Foreign Law Investment Journal. Mr. Hansen also assisted the Secretary-General with business-process reforms and the development of an automated case-management system.

In April 2008, Mr. Hansen joined Charles H. Camp's representation of native-born Taiwanese individuals seeking a declaration of their U.S. non-citizen nationality on the basis of the San Francisco Peace Treaty and later U.S. practice (Lin v. United States). This involved intensive analysis and argument concerning both the political-question doctrine and one of the most difficult areas of public international law.

In August 2008, Mr. Hansen founded the Law Offices with two co-counsel, Renaud Beauchard and Akua Gyekye. The Law Offices was instituted as an international law boutique focusing on African investment law. Mr. Hansen has since advised on African projects, and has also taken on civil litigation concerning a disputed stock option that has proceeded through trial in the D.C. Superior Court. Mr. Hansen has sought to promote increased U.S. investment in Africa through the building of U.S. treaty ties with African States. In his capacity as Vice Chair of the D.C. Bar's International Investment & Finance Committee, Mr. Hansen organized a heavily attended panel on the African investment climate.

From August 2009 through June 2011, Mr. Hansen served as a Consultant to the World Bank's Office of Evaluation and Suspension (OES). In this capacity, Mr. Hansen assisted the Evaluation and Suspension Officer in the consideration of recommended sanctions against allegedly corrupt companies and individuals. Mr. Hansen also advised on Bank sanctions policy, including the revision of debarment procedures.

Since 1999, Mr. Hansen has taught and lectured on international law, United States law, and legal method. His primary teaching role was as adjunct professor of international law at American University's School of International Service, where he instructed upperclassmen for much of the 2000s. In 1999, Mr. Hansen taught legal method to foreign LL.M. candidates at American University's Washington College of Law. Mr. Hansen has presented lectures for senior francophone and anglophone African officials on behalf of the U.S. State Department, the Phelps Stokes Fund and the Washington International Management Institute (WIMI). In 2000 and 2001, Mr. Hansen coached American University's Jessup Moot Court teams through, respectively, the East Regional Semi-Finals and Mid-Atlantic Regional Finals.

Mr. Hansen is a former president and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Cambridge Society of Washington, D.C. Under Mr. Hansen's leadership, the Cambridge Society massively increased its active membership, was formally incorporated, achieved 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status, and recommenced the annual Cambridge-Oxford Potomac Boat Race after a decade-long hiatus.