The Hon. Mr Justice Robin Knowles CBE

Accountable to an international Steering Group, Sir Robin is the judge with day-to-day responsibility for the Standing International Forum of Commercial Courts (SIFoCC), the global forum of the world’s commercial courts.

A High Court Judge in England & Wales, Sir Robin sits principally in the Commercial Court but also deals with public law and criminal law cases. He is a designated judge of the Financial List. Sir Robin was Chairman of the International Committee of the Judicial College, and a member of the Civil Justice Council. He remains a member of the Financial Markets Law Committee and its governing board. Before appointment to the High Court Bench, as Queen’s Counsel Sir Robin sat part-time as a judge and a mediator and an arbitrator. He was Chairman of the Commercial Bar Association.

Sir Robin has a career-long involvement in the encouragement and coordination of legal pro bono work, nationally and internationally, and chairs the board of the National Pro Bono Centre. With others, Sir Robin led work to achieve the Rolls Building in London, the world’s largest dedicated business dispute resolution centre. He also assisted Qatar in establishing its International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre.

Outside the law, Sir Robin was chairman of the UK umbrella charity for children’s palliative care and children’s hospices, and of London’s first children’s hospice.