Description
FFEW Recognises Dr Peter Stanbury for Outstanding Contribution to Asylum, Human Rights, Human Trafficking, Modern Slavery, Proceeds of Crime & International Expert Witness Services
The Federation of Forensic & Expert Witnesses (FFEW) has selected Dr Peter Stanbury MA PhD FRGS FRAI FRSA to receive its award for Outstanding Contribution to Asylum, Human Rights, Human Trafficking, Modern Slavery, Proceeds of Crime & International Expert Witness Services, recognising the breadth of his international experience and the specialist knowledge he brings to complex legal proceedings.
Dr Stanbury works as an expert witness in cases where legal questions intersect with international politics, economics, human rights, conflict, development and the practical realities facing individuals and organisations operating across different jurisdictions.
His work includes the preparation of expert reports and the giving of evidence in court, with instructions covering areas including asylum claims, human trafficking, modern slavery, human rights and the recovery of assets held overseas.
A particularly important part of his practice concerns asylum and country-of-origin risk. In such cases, Dr Stanbury is asked to assess the risks an individual or group may face if returned to their country of origin, including risks associated with protected characteristics such as race, ethnicity and religion.
These assessments can require considerably more than a general understanding of a particular country. They may involve the evaluation of political stability, institutional capacity, social conditions, regional differences and the practical ability of state authorities to provide protection.
Dr Stanbury also undertakes instructions relating to human trafficking and modern slavery, including issues involving child labour, slave labour and bonded labour. His geographical experience encompasses the Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, and Central and South Asia.
This international perspective is underpinned by more than 30 years of experience in sustainability and international development, giving his expert witness work a practical foundation extending far beyond purely academic analysis.
His career has involved advising governments, international institutions and major corporations on some of the economic, political and social challenges that arise in fragile, developing and post-conflict environments.
Dr Stanbury currently sits on the Advisory Board of Nestlé’s $1.3 billion Income Accelerator Programme in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, and his corporate advisory experience has included work with Nespresso on conflict-free sourcing in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, JTI on supply-chain resilience in Zambia and Malawi, and CottonConnect on human rights and environmental issues in Gujarat, India.
His international institutional experience is equally extensive.
He has served as a Senior Adviser to the International Finance Corporation, focusing on private-sector investment in fragile states including Guinea, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Iraq. He also developed the OECD’s private-sector investment programme for the Middle East and North Africa, advised the European Union and the Government of Jordan on inward-investment frameworks, and authored Sierra Leone’s post-Ebola economic reconstruction strategy.
Earlier in his career, Dr Stanbury served as Political and Economic Adviser to the British Embassy in Cairo, further strengthening his first-hand understanding of political, economic and institutional conditions within an important and complex international region.
Another significant strand of his expert witness work concerns the Proceeds of Crime.
Where assets are held in difficult or problematic overseas jurisdictions, Dr Stanbury can provide expert analysis of the obstacles that may arise when attempting to identify or recover those assets, together with an assessment of how such challenges may potentially be addressed.
For solicitors and courts dealing with international matters, this combination of legal relevance, political understanding, economic expertise and practical overseas experience can be particularly valuable.
His academic background also reflects the international nature of his professional career.
Dr Stanbury studied Modern History at the University of Oxford, where he received an MA, before completing a PhD in Business and International Relations at the University of London.
His doctoral research examined “The Role and Governance of Multinational Corporations in Processes of Post-Conflict Reconstruction”, a subject closely connected to many of the international governance, reconstruction, commercial and human-rights issues that have subsequently featured throughout his professional work.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He is also a qualified dispute mediator through the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution.
Importantly, Dr Stanbury is able to accept instructions on behalf of either claimant or defendant and can also act as a Single Joint Expert, reinforcing the independent nature of his expert witness role.
The FFEW Awards Team selected Dr Stanbury because his career demonstrates an unusual combination of academic expertise, substantial international field experience, senior advisory work and specialist expert witness practice.
His work addresses some of the most challenging matters appearing before courts and legal teams: the safety of individuals seeking asylum, the realities of trafficking and modern slavery, the protection of fundamental human rights, and the difficulties associated with tracing or recovering assets across international borders.
Andrew Simpson, representing the FFEW Awards Team, said:
“Dr Peter Stanbury brings together more than three decades of international experience with a highly specialist expert witness practice. His understanding of fragile states, international development, human rights, asylum risk, trafficking and overseas asset recovery gives instructing solicitors access to a depth of knowledge that is extremely difficult to replicate.
“The FFEW felt that his contribution deserved formal recognition, particularly because his expertise can assist courts and legal professionals in understanding complex international circumstances that may have a direct and significant impact on the outcome of a case.”
The award recognises not simply the length of Dr Stanbury’s career, but the relevance and breadth of the experience he continues to bring to the legal profession.
For the FFEW, his selection represents the type of specialist, independent and internationally informed expertise that the organisation seeks to highlight across the expert witness profession.
