Lance Bartholomeusz is an Australian national who joined UNHCR as the General Counsel in October 2016. Before joining UNHCR, he was the Director of Legal Affairs of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), where he worked for 12 years. He has some 30 years of legal experience in the United Nations, private commercial practice, a domestic appellate court and a government regulatory agency. He has published extensively on various topics of public international law, including the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, amicus curiae before international courts and tribunals and the mandate of UNRWA.