of fundamental human rights, in which every human being has basic minimum rights." On 17 September 2015 Sands gave a public lecture at the UK Supreme Court entitled "Climate Change and the Rule of Law: Adjudicating the Future in International Law". He expressed the view that a ruling by an international judicial body, such as the International Court of Justice, could help resolve the scientific dispute on climate change and be authoritative and legally dispositive. In December 2015, Sands (and two colleagues at Matrix Chambers) drafted a Legal Opinion on the legality of UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia for Amnesty International, Oxfam and Saferworld. The Opinion concluded that by authorising the transfer of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the UK government was acting in breach of its obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty, the EU Common Position on Arms Exports and the UK's Consolidated Criteria on Arms Exports. On 16 April 2018, Sands co-authored a piece in The Times in which it is argued that the UK had no established legal basis for the 2018 missile strikes against Syria. In November 2020, a panel of international lawyers chaired by Sands and Florence Mumba started drafting a proposed law criminalising ecocide, the destruction of ecosystems. Writing, theatre and film Sands is a contributor to the Financial Times and The Guardian and occasional contributor to the London Review of Books and Vanity Fair. Sands frequently comments on issues of international law and is a contributor to BBC programmes, Sky News, CNN, Al Jazeera and national radio and TV stations around the world. His written work has formed the basis for four staged productions exploring the public and historical impact of international law: Called to Account, a staged inquiry into the legal issues surrounding the Iraq War (performed at Tricycle Theatre in April 2007); Staged readings of Torture Team (performed at the Tricycle Theatre in 2009, Hay Festival in 2010, and the Long Wharf Theatre in 2011); A Song of Good and Evil (performed at South Bank's Purcell Room on 29–30 November 2014, Stockholm's Berwaldhallen on 14 January 2015, Nuremberg Courtroom 600 at the invitation of the German Government to mark 70th anniversary of the opening day of the Nuremberg Trials on 21 November 2015, and Montauban's Théâtre Olympe de Gouges on 28 November 2015). It has also been performed at Kings Place in London, and in Australia, Istanbul, Brussels, The Hague and