Profile
Philippe Sands joined the Faculty in January 2002. He is Professor of Law and
Director of the Centre on International Courts and Tribunals in the Faculty,
and a key member of staff in the Centre for Law and the Environment. His teaching
areas include public international law, the settlement of international disputes
(including arbitration), and environmental and natural resources law.
Philippe is a regular commentator on the BBC and CNN and writes frequently
for leading newspapers. He is frequently invited to lecture around the world,
and in recent years has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Toronto
(2005), the University of Melbourne (2005) and the Universite de Paris I (Sorbonne)
(2006, 2007). He has previously held academic positions at the University of
London's School of Oriental and African Studies, Kings College London and ,
University of Cambridge and was a Global Professor of Law at New York University
from 1995-2003. He was co-founder of FIELD (Foundation for International Environmental
Law and Development), and established the programmes on Climate Change and Sustainable
Development. He is a member of the Advisory Boards of the European Journal of
International Law and Review of European Community and International Environmental
Law (Blackwell Press). In 2007 he served as a judge for the Guardian First Book
Prize award.
As a practicing barrister he has extensive experience litigating cases before
the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of
the Sea, the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes,
and the European Court of Justice. He frequently advises governments, international
organisations, NGOs and the private sector on aspects of international law.
In 2003 he was appointed a Queen's Counsel. He has been appointed to lists of
arbitrators maintained by ICSID and the PCA.
Research Professor Sands directs the Project on International Courts
and Tribunals (www.pict-pcti.org).
The project has the following aims and objectives:
- to facilitate access to and transparency in the work of international courts
and tribunals;
- to enhance the effectiveness of international courts and tribunals;
- to promote greater knowledge about international courts and tribunals; and
- to promote international peace through international justice and rule of
law.
The project is doing research into policy, legal and operational, issues in
the administration of international justice in the twenty-first century, such
as the composition and independence of the international bench. In 2006 the
Centre for International Courts and Tribunals was awarded an AHRC grant of £250,000
to examine the appointment of international judges.
Publications
Torture Team: Cruelty, Deception and the Compromise of Law (Penguin, May
2008) [See: www.tortureteam.com]
Lawless World: America and the Making and Breaking of Global Rules (Penguin,
2005) (translated into Arabic (2006) and Farsi (2007), Chinese translation
forthcoming(2008))..
Documents in International Environmental Law, Cambridge University Press,
2004 (edited with Paolo Galizzi)
From Nuremberg to The Hague: The Future of International Criminal Justice,
Cambridge University Press, 2003 (editor)
Principles of International Environmental Law, Second Edition, Cambridge
University Press, 2003
Justice for Crimes Against Humanity, Hart Publishing, 2003 (edited with
Mark Lattimer)
Bowett's Law of International Institutions, Sweet & Maxwell, 5th edition,
2001 (co-author with Pierre Klein, Universite Libre de Bruxelles)
Environmental Law, The Economy and Sustainable Development (co-edited with
Richard Stewart and Richard Revesz) Cambridge University Press, 2000
The Manual of International Courts and Tribunals (with Shany and Mackenzie),
Butterworths, 1999
The International Court of Justice and Nuclear Weapons (collection of essays
edited with Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, Cambridge University Press, 1999)
Principles of International Environmental Law, Manchester University Press,
1995 (Vols. I, II and III); 2nd edition to be published by Cambridge University
Press in 2003.
Greening International Law (editor), Earthscan, 1993
Chernobyl: Law and Communication, 340 pp. (Grotius Publications/Cambridge
University Press) 1988.
Plus articles on international, environmental and natural resources law.
Debate with Professor John Yoo, World Affairs Council of Northern California,
31 October 2005 (America is Undermining Global Legal Order ... Or Not?), at
http://wacsf.vportal.net/?fileid=4131
Public Lecture
JUSTICE International Rule of Law Lecture
Professor Philippe Sands QC, of University College, London and Matrix
Chambers, "Extraordinary Rendition: complicity and its consequences"
Monday 15 May 2006. Download Draft Text
