Human Rights at Sea  was founded by David Hammond, an English Barrister-at-Law, former military seafarer and retired Royal Marine Officer. He has significant practical maritime operator and legal related experience in many jurisdictions. He has variously served at sea in the North and South Atlantic, the Mediterranean, the Indian Ocean Arabian Gulf and South China Seas since he first joined the Royal Navy at 18 years old.

Since Human Rights at Sea became a Foundation Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) as a Registered Charity in England and Wales, No. 1161673, David has stepped up to be the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

David is a leading figure for the on-going international development, advocacy and eventual explicit codification of the concept of ‘Human Rights at Sea’ throughout the maritime environment.

Entirely separately, David runs a international legal practice as a Barrister and where he focuses on public international and criminal law matters. He is the UK Counsel to the Libyan National Council for Civil Liberties and Human Rights (NCCLHR) where he introduced the Declaration for Business and Human Rights into Libya for the first time on 19 January 2014 and the lead International Humanitarian Law advisor for the EU mission in Mali. David’s international advisory work has been recognised by the UK Government, the UN and European institutions and he has been instructed in leading legal roles for European Union missions around the world.