Philippe Sands on Britain’s Living Colonial Legacy

A conversation between Philippe Sands and Alice McCrum at the American Library in Paris. Filmed on 08/03/2023 with a live audience both in person and on Zoom.
Human rights lawyer Philippe Sands speaks on British colonialism, international law, and his time before the International Court of Justice defending the Chagossian population.
In the immediate post-World War II period, the founding of the International Court of Justice heralded a new age of international cooperation according to a shared code of human rights. Thirty years later, in flagrant violation of these rights, the UK forcibly removed the population of the Chagos Islands in order to found the British Indian Ocean Territory. In new work The Last Colony, human rights lawyer Philippe Sands exposes the heart of this scandal and his experience defending the case of Chagossian repatriation in 2018 in the court of The Hague itself. Sharing stories from Chagossians forced into exile and demystifying the legal framework, Sands uncovers a hidden history of British colonialism unfolding in the present day.
About the speaker:
Philippe Sands KC is Professor of Law at University College London and Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard. He is a practicing barrister at 11KBW, appears as counsel before the International Court of Justice and other international courts and tribunals, and sits as an international arbitrator. He is a Board Member of Hay Festival and President of English PEN. His latest books are East West Street: On the Origins of Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide (2016), The Ratline: Love, Lies and Justice on the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive (2020) and The Last Colony: A Tale of Exile, Justice and Britain’s Colonial Legacy (2022).
Evenings with an Author is generously sponsored by GRoW @ Annenberg.

[@ajarnwordsmith628]

Bonjour. I know this eminent silk from attending the Bar Council's course in Holborn in the 1980's. We used to lunch together in between lectures and chat in French.

[@vivalaleta]

I'm glad he is telling their story.

[@vivalaleta]

The video is very quiet.

[@ajarnwordsmith628]

Hello