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Lawless World? International Law after 9/11 and Iraq

6 May 2005

Diary Notice: Thursday 12 May 2005 - "Lawless World? International Law after 9/11 and Iraq," Mishcon Lecture by Professor Philippe Sands QC at UCL.

Philippe Sands' best-selling book Lawless World ignited the debate about the legality of the war in Iraq and the Attorney General's legal advice, setting out how America reneged on agreements governing war, torture and the environment - with Britain often turning a blind eye or colluding in some of the worst violations. In recent years America has abandoned the Kyoto Protocol and the Statute of the International Criminal Court, ignored human rights standards at Abu Ghraib and disregarded the UN's prohibition on pre-emptive force. Professor Sands' book asked whether we are on the verge of a new world order where the most powerful nations can put aside the rules that no longer suit them.

In the annual Mishcon Lecture, to be delivered at UCL on 12 May 2005, Professor Sands takes the story forward. He will examine prospects for global rules under the second Bush Administration and after the British election and ask what the future holds. His lecture will look at lessons and consequences of the Iraqi experience, for British politics and international law.

Philippe Sands QC is a practising barrister in the Matrix Chambers and a Professor of Law at UCL. He has been involved in leading cases before English and international courts, including those concerning Senator Augusto Pinochet and the Guantánamo and Belmarsh detainees. He appears regularly on news and current affairs programmes in the UK and abroad, and reviews and writes for the British broadsheets.

Media representatives are welcome to attend the Mishcon Lecture at 7pm on Thursday 12 May 2005 in the Cruciform Lecture Theatre, UCL, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT. The lecture is preceded by a reception at 6pm in the South Cloisters at UCL. Journalists wishing to attend should respond to Lisa Penfold, tel. 020 7679 1514 or email lisa.penfold@ucl.ac.uk.