Dickson Poon School of Law Graduate Receives Georg Schwarzenberger Prize in International Law

The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies is pleased to announce that Ms Stephany Aw is this year’s recipient of the Georg Schwarzenberger Prize in International Law. 

The prize was endowed by friends and former students of the late Professor Georg Schwarzenberger, a distinguished academic who taught international law at the University of London from 1938 to 1975. It is awarded to a student in one of the law schools of the University of London on the basis of outstanding performance in Public International Law. 

This year’s winner, Stephany Aw, graduated from the University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Laws degree. She was the recipient, amongst other awards, of the Koh Han Kok Book Prize in Public International Law. Stephany qualified as an Advocate and Solicitor in Singapore. She was an associate at Morgan Lewis Stamford and she currently serves as Deputy Senior State Counsel in the International Affairs Division of the Singapore Attorney General’s Chambers. In this role, Stephany advises on a range of international law issues, including security, law of the sea, and trade and international law. She also represents the Government at bilateral and multilateral negotiations and in international disputes. 

Stephany studied for her LLM in International Dispute Resolution at the Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London. Her dissertation, entitled ‘The Effects of Third-Party Intervention in the Adjudication of Maritime Delimitation Disputes’, examined whether third states are better off attempting to intervene in the adjudication of maritime delimitation disputes and whether there are alternative strategies which might more effectively reduce any potential prejudice caused to third states by a maritime delimitation decision. Her supervisor, Professor Philippa Webb, described the work as

a very thorough, thoughtful and well-researched dissertation on a specific aspect of dispute settlement that is of potentially increasing importance. … Behind the questions explored by the student and the excellent examination of the case law, is a more theoretical dilemma of how to peacefully resolve disputes in a system that operates largely on a bilateral basis. 

The Director of the Institute, Professor Carl Stychin, offered his congratulations to this year’s winner:

The Institute is very proud to manage the Georg Schwarzenberger Prize on behalf of the University of London. This year, I faced a particularly difficult task with a number of excellent nominations. However, Stephany Aw was a clear winner. Stephany’s academic and professional achievements are outstanding and demonstrate the depth of her commitment to the international law field. She rightly joins the prestigious list of winners of the Georg Schwarzenberger Prize.