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Cherie Blair CBE KC speaks at London International Disputes Week (LIDW) 2025.

11th June 2025

Omnia’s Cherie Blair CBE KC spoke at London International Disputes Week (LIDW) 2025 last week, addressing today’s fast-changing geopolitical and economic landscape and its impacts on lawyers, the Rule of Law and – naturally – disputes.

Drawing on Omnia’s experience advising clients and her own unique perspective, Cherie shared 5 key observations:

𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲

“𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴-𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘞𝘢𝘳. 𝘐𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 – 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 – 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥.”

𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐚𝐰

Cherie asked “𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭?”, highlighting the impacts on international arbitration and human rights enforcement.

𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦

Cherie outlined the work Omnia is doing to support governments around the world to modernise their treaty frameworks – preserving space for environmental and social priorities, while upholding legal certainty and investor confidence.

𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 & 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬

Cherie warned of the weaponising of trade as a tool to undermine international norms, whether on gender equality, human rights or the environment: “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘶𝘵𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 – 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴.”

𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩

Cherie addressed the current geopolitical tension around climate change, and underscored the importance of climate leadership, amidst populist backlash and investors’ legal challenges. Cherie emphasised that “𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 𝘦𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘸𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺’𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸’𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺.”

 

The panel was moderated by Campbell Jackson (Global Claims & Disputes Leader at EY) with contributions from Nigel Gould-Davies (Senior Fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies), and was supported by the LIDW team, alongside Omnia’s James Palmer and Aladdin Benali.

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