Gracious Avayiwoe

Institution: The University of Hong Kong (HKU)

Period of stay: 22 September 2025 to 20 March 2026

Contact: gracious.avayiwoe@connect.hku.hk

https://www.law.hku.hk/students/avayiwoe-gracious/

Profile: 

Gracious Avayiwoe is a PhD Candidate at the Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), and currently a Visiting Scholar at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, Faculty of Law, the University of Cambridge.

Gracious holds an LLM in International Law (top of his class) and the Geneva LL.M (MIDS) in International Dispute Settlement, where he was a Lalive Scholar. He is also an alumnus of the Hague Academy of International Law and the Global Scholars Academy of the Institute for Global Law & Policy, Harvard Law School.

Gracious has, among other things, had fellowships at the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and served as summer aide to Judge Abdulqawi A. Yusuf, during his Presidency at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Research Area:

International Law, International Dispute Settlement

Research Title:

‘On the Merit of Interpretive Inconsistencies at the International Court of Justice’

Research Outline:

To prevent the unquestioned entrenchment of prevailing practices and assumptions regarding the perceived necessity for absolute interpretive consistency at the International Court of Justice (ICJ or the Court), Gracious’ doctoral research seeks to unlock the usefulness of interpretive inconsistencies in the Court’s decisions.

The research, in critically exploring some substantive themes using a blend of methodological and theoretical approaches, contends that inconsistencies in the Court’s interpretation of international legal rules can be useful, particularly insofar as they facilitate the resolution of disputes in a manner satisfactory to the parties concerned.

Publications:

Gracious Avayiwoe, ‘Evidence and the “Gravity of the Alleged Offences” for Prompt Release of Vessels and Crews under the UNCLOS Regime’ (2025) 24(2) Chinese Journal of International Law 1, 1–50, paras 1–108 (Oxford University Press).

Gracious Avayiwoe, ‘Towards Clarity: The “May Be Affected Requirement” and Non-Party Intervention at the International Court of Justice’ (2023) 14(1) Journal of International Dispute Settlement 110, 110–125 (Oxford University Press).

Gracious Avayiwoe, ‘The Republic of Ghana and Bilateral Investment Treaties: A Burgeoning Expert?’ (2020) 35(1-2) ICSID Review – Foreign Investment Law Journal 50, 50–62 (Oxford University Press).

Gracious Avayiwoe, ‘BEPS: Preferential Tax Regime for High and New Technology Enterprises - Analysis of the Deviation from the Nexus Approach’ (2018) 24 Asia Pacific Tax Bulletin 1 (IBFD).

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