Governing Body Fellow
Mahnaz Malik is a Barrister and Arbitrator at Twenty Essex Chambers. She has 23 years of experience in advising Governments, corporations and international organisations on international investment law issues and disputes.
Mahnaz’s appointment in EuroGas Inc. et al v. Slovakia makes her one of the youngest ever designated to The World Bank’s ICSID Annulment Committee since records began and the youngest woman. She serves on ICSID’s Panel of Arbitrators. In 2024, she was appointed as one of seven external judges on the World Bank Sanctions Board, the independent administrative tribunal that serves as the final decision-maker in all contested cases of sanctionable misconduct occurring in development projects financed by the World Bank.
After graduating from Cambridge, Mahnaz was admitted to practise law in New York, England and Wales and Pakistan. Her professional awards include Law Society’s National Trainee Lawyer of the Year 2001, Financial Times Legal Innovator of the Year 2007, President of Pakistan’s Shining Star Award 2005 and City of London’s Wig and Pen Pro Bono Prize 2005.
Mahnaz is the author of four books, including children’s books, Min Chin’s Tree Home and Mo’s Star, published by Oxford University Press. Mo’s Star has been translated into Urdu and Arabic.
Mahnaz’s literary awards include the SAARC Gold Medal for Essay Writing presented by the Prime minister of India. Her stories have been performed on the BBC World Service Short Story Programme. She co-wrote and co-directed the short film, ‘Omar and the Glass Splinter’, which launched the Raindance Film Festival.
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Websites: Mahnaz Malik, Twenty Essex: www.mahnazmalik.com.
