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Philippe Sands on International Law -  a very relevant lecture

This is a very timely lecture which I would recommend to anyone who is following current and recent international events.It was delivered last month by Philippe Sands, KC on the occasion of the annual Alf Dubs Foundation lecture at the Battersea Arts Centre.The link: https://www.alfdubslecture.org.uk/2026-lecturePhilippe Sands covers the highly topical issues of presidential immunity, impunity and the challenges and possible consequences for those who seek to undermine or ignore international law.His words were delivered before the current conflict in Iran broke out, but reference not only the Nuremburg trials of 1945 but also the Pinochet immunity case from 1998 and the 2024 US Supreme Court judgement on presidential immunity.

Jonathan Callaway ● 4h3 Comments

My question, of course , was ironic. I heard Philippe Sands on the radio justifying handing over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. His argument was that if Britain held onto the islands it would be in breach of ‘international law’, given an advisory judgment by a panel of judges at the ICH and a vote at the UN. Paradoxically Philippe Sands is worried that Britain might be failing in a duty to ‘de-colonise’ the Chagos Islands but shows no concern for the native Chagossians, who having been colonised by the British now face colonisation by the Mauritians. Did he offer any justification for ignoring the wishes of 5he Chagossians in his lecture?

Steven Rose ● 1h

The very same one.  His take on the Chagos Islands saga is in his lecture.

Jonathan Callaway ● 3h

Is this the Philippe Sands, Jonathan, who was recently given Mauritian citizenship as a reward for helping Mauritius to acquire possession of the Chagos Islands, a territory over which they have a dubious claim, against the wishes of the native Chagossians? In this case he appears to have elevated a non-binding judgment by anti-colonialists judges of the ICJ  (who have no jurisdiction over a Crown Dependency) into International Law, which he (along with Lord Hermes and Keir Starmer) believes is more important than the human rights of the people who were unjustly banished from their homes sixty years ago.

Steven Rose ● 3h