6:30 p.m.
Leading international lawyer and bestselling author Philippe Sands听reflects on听a landmark career on international crimes and human rights. Moving seamlessly between personal听memoir, international courtrooms and historical archives, Sands offers a profound look听at听the construction of the global legal order, how it is tested and challenged in our times, and why it听remains听惫颈迟补濒.
Registration opens December 9, 2026.
Biography:
Philippe Sands KC is Professor of the Public Understanding of Law at University College London and Samuel and Judith Pisar听Visiting听Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.听
He is a practicing barrister at 11 Kings Bench Walk, who appears as counsel before international courts and tribunals. He sits as an arbitrator in international investment disputes and on the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and served as a CAS arbitrator at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.听
He is author of Lawless World (2005) and Torture Team (2008) and numerous academic books on international law, and writes occasionally for publications, including the New York Review of Books, the Financial Times, The Guardian, The Observer and The New York Times.听
His recent books include the Lviv trilogy – East West Street: On the Origins of Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide (2016) (winner 2016 Baillie Gifford Prize, the 2017 British Book Awards Non-Fiction Book of the Year, and the 2018 Prix Montaigne); The Ratline: Love, Lies and Justice on the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive (2020); 38 Londres Street: On Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia (2026) – and The Last Colony: A Tale of Exile, Justice and Britain鈥檚 Colonial Legacy (2022).听
Philippe served as President of English PEN (2018-2023) and as a member of the Board of the Hay Festival of Arts and Literature (2018-2024).听
Department Sponsors:听The Graduate School,听School of Law, Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, UW Bothell,听Department of Law, Societies & Justice听