
DPhil, University of Oxford
MPhil (Dist), University of Oxford
BCL (Dist), University of Oxford
LLB (Hons I), University of Sydney
BEc (Hons I and Medal), University of Sydney
Jonathan is an Associate Professor in Law. His primary area of research interest is international economic governance, with a particular interest in investment treaties. Much of his research is inter-disciplinary, drawing on perspectives from the disciplines of economics and political science.
Prior to joining UNSW Law Jonathan lived in Myanmar, where he worked as an advisor to the Myanmar Government on investment governance. For several years he also worked for the Australian Attorney General's Department, as a member of the team that successfully defended a multi-billion dollar challenge to Australia's tobacco plain packaging laws brought under an investment treaty.
Jonathan holds the degrees of DPhil, MPhil and BCL from the University of Oxford, where he studied as a Rhodes scholar, and the degrees of LLB and BEc (Soc Sci) from the University of Sydney, where he graduated with the University Medal in Political Economy and the Convocation Medal.
Jonathan worked part-time from 2019 to 2021.
2022-2025 ‘China’s Belt and Road Initiative: A New Model of Economic Governance?’ (with Heng Wang, Kun Fan and Ross Buckley) Australian Research Council Discovery Project ($283,250)
2012-2013 Economic and Social Research Council (UK) Post-doctoral Fellowship (£80,000)
My Research Supervision
Zhenyu Xiao, 'The Interaction between International Investment Law and Domestic Governance in China'
Justin Poonjatt, 'Legal waivers and their impact on access to remedies in business and human rights'
Elisabeth Perham, ‘Donor Constitutionalism: The Role of Donor Finance in Constitution Making in Small Developing States’
Bruno Pegorari, 'Assessing the role and the impact on Indigenous peoples of the international law of remedies'
Millicent McCreath, 'Safeguarding the interests of the international community in the protection of the marine environment under national jurisdiction'
Dan Xie, 'Transnational Due Process and Article V(1)(b) of the New York Convention: Grounding Interpretation and Application of the Due Process Defence in the Public International Law Framework for Treaty Interpretation' (PhD conferred 2022)
Sophie Burbidge, 'Regulating Stored Value Facilities in Australia: Review and a Proposal for Reform' (PhD conferred 2019)
My Teaching
International Investment Law and Policy (LAWS3070)
International Investment Law (LAWS8079/JURD7479)
Law in the Global Context (LAWS2270/JURD7270)
Principles of International Law (LAWS8180)