Britain and the world: From Chagos to Ukraine and beyond
Defending human rights—and writing about his experiences in critically recognized books—has taken renowned international lawyer and writer Philippe Sands all over the world.
His first book explored the lives of two Jewish lawyers in the Ukranian city of Lviv who would go on to legally define crimes against humanity and genocide as part of the Nuremberg trials—a story he weaves together with that of his own Jewish family. Most recently, he took on the lingering effects of British colonialism by writing about the forced removal of Chagossians from the Chagos Islands, a human rights case which took Philippe and Chagossian Liseby Elysé to the International Court of Justice at The Hague.
In this talk, Philippe will take us from Chagos to Ukraine through the law cases he has been involved in and written about, considering the law-court as a place not just of justice, but of commemoration.
About the speaker
Philippe Sands studied Law at the University of Cambridge. As a barrister, he has litigated cases before the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, and the European Court of Justice. He is Professor of the Public Understanding of Law at University College London, where he directs the Centre on International Courts and Tribunals. He is also the Samuel and Judith Pisar Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.
Philippe has published five books, is on the board of the Hay Festival of Arts and Literature, and is a regular commentator for the BBC, CNN, and leading newspapers.
