Dr Penelope Ridings is a Member of the International Law Commission and Special Rapporteur for the topic ‘Due Diligence in International Law’. She is a New Zealand Barrister practicing in the field of public international law. Dr Ridings was Chair of the 2025 arbitration under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (UK-Sandeel) and Chair of the WTO appeal arbitration China – Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights under the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement. She has served on several ICSID Annulment Committees, including as Chair. She was formerly New Zealand’s Chief International Legal Adviser and a New Zealand diplomat. In this role she was Agent for New Zealand before the International Court of Justice in Whaling in the Antarctic: Australia v Japan, New Zealand Interveningand before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea in the Request for an Advisory Opinion submitted by the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission. She has also been an independent panellist in disputes before the WTO and has represented New Zealand as Counsel in WTO disputes. She is Legal Advisor to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.
