UK should stop arming Israel after ICJ advisory ruling, top lawyer says
Exclusive: Philippe Sands KC says non-binding opinion will nevertheless be seen as ‘authoritative statement of law’
December 2022
Top 10s
Top 10 books about freedom
Authors as radically different as Julia Donaldson, John Rawls and Ayn Rand can make us appreciate the value of freedom, and the terrible jeopardy of losing it
September 2022
Evicted Chagos Islanders’ descendants to get British citizenship
Home Office announces applications for children of those forcibly evicted by the British in 1970s will open in November
August 2022
Observer book of the week
The Last Colony by Philippe Sands review – Britain’s Chagos Islands shame
The Chagossians were forced from their archipelago in the 1970s. Philippe Sands relates the wider tragedy of the scandal with nerve and precision
January 2022
Other lives
Louise Rands Silva obituary
Other lives: Assistant on legal matters, international courts and tribunals, including at The Hague, and educator
May 2020
The best books and audiobooks of 2020 so far
The Ratline by Philippe Sands review – on the trail of the Nazi who got away
April 2020
Observer New Review Q&A
Philippe Sands: 'When the virus crisis is over, nationalism could be rampant'
The barrister and writer discusses his gripping new book, about Nazi Otto von Wächter’s postwar years on the run, and the ever-present threat of antisemitism
On the trail of a Nazi war criminal: 'It's my duty as a son to find the good in my father'
East West Street author Philippe Sands uncovers secrets and lies on the trail of Otto Wächter, his devoted wife – and the son brought up to believe his father was a decent man
'I was a Nazi boy - then everything was gone': Philippe Sand's The Ratline - audio extract
In this extract of Sands’s new book, he meets Horst Wächter, the son of a senior Nazi who was never caught
November 2019
Gambia files Rohingya genocide case against Myanmar at UN court
Application seeks punishment for culprits, compensation for victims and end to attacks
September 2019
Jailed Turkish writer Ahmet Altan: My words cannot be imprisoned
Newly nominated for a Baillie Gifford literary prize, the political prisoner has written a novel from behind bars
February 2019
UN court rejects UK's claim of sovereignty over Chagos Islands
Judges advise Britain that separating archipelago from Mauritius in 1960s was wrong
August 2017
Reformation 2017
Philippe Sands: ‘We are citizens of the world – we need a global passport’
On the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, the professor of law calls for an end to the ‘absurd, monopoly power’ of the national passport
December 2016
Philippe Sands uses book prize to raise £60,000 for charity
Best books of 2016
The best history books of 2016
November 2016
Books blog
Book prizes: real winners give it all away
Philippe Sands: 'Alarm bells are ringing in this country'
Philippe Sands wins the 2016 Baillie Gifford prize for nonfiction
A life in ...
‘We’re on a xenophobic path – someone needs to press pause’: Philippe Sands in conversation with Hisham Matar
