Dr Andrew Sanger

Contact Andrew: andrewsanger@matrixlaw.co.uk | +44 (0)20 7404 3447

Contact Andrew's Practice Team (Team T): TeamT@matrixlaw.co.uk

Andrew is a recognised expert in international law, teaching, publishing and practicing at the intersection of international law, public law and human rights. As an Associate Professor at the University of Cambridge, and Fellow of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, he specialises in particular in the responsibility of corporations for breaches of international law and human rights, state responsibility for genocide, international law in domestic legal systems, state and diplomatic immunities, the law on the use of force, international humanitarian law, and international dispute settlement.

Andrew is routinely instructed to act as legal adviser in proceedings before domestic and international cases involving issues of international law, including the ongoing proceedings in the International Court of Justice brought by South Africa against Israel for breaches of the Genocide Convention. He was previously Junior Counsel for Timor-Leste in Questions relating to the Seizure and Detention of Certain Documents and Data (Timor-Leste v. Australia) before the International Court of Justice, and a Member of Legal Team for the (then) Republic of Macedonia in Application of the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995 (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia v. Greece), also before the International Court of Justice. He is widely published, with his publications being cited with approval by senior courts, including the UK Supreme Court and the High Court of England and Wales. He was responsible (with Sir Michael Wood KC) for a major review of special mission immunity to assist the Council of Europe’s Committee of Legal Advisers on Public International Law.

Andrew regularly gives talks on questions of international law and corporate responsibility, including on the application of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, on the treatment of international law by English Courts, on corporate responsibility for the use of algorithms and big data, on Palestine and international law, and on reparations from private actors for historic injustices.

Andrew is also a Senior Fellow (Melbourne Law Masters) at Melbourne Law School and has won awards for his teaching in international law, including the University of Cambridge’s Pilkington Prize for Excellence in Teaching (2024). He was also a finalist for the Oxford University Press Law Teacher of the Year Award (2023).

Expertise

Current Positions

• Associate Professor of International Law, University of Cambridge.
• Fellow of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge.
• Fellow, Dean of College, Director of Studies and Supervisor in Constitutional Law and International Law, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
• Senior Fellow (Melbourne Law Masters), Melbourne Law School.
• Research Collaborator, Laureate Program in Global Corporations and International Law, Melbourne Law School.
• Faculty Member, The Transnational Association of Legal Scholars.
• Co-Convenor of the Cambridge Research Group on Private Actor Responsibility.

International Legal Practice

• Legal Expert and Adviser for South Africa in Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel) (ongoing)
• Counsel for Montenegro, Knežević et al v. Montenegro, UNCITRAL Arbitration.
• Junior Counsel for Timor-Leste, Questions relating to the Seizure and Detention of Certain Documents and Data (Timor-Leste v. Australia) before the International Court of Justice.
• Member of Legal Team for Timor-Leste in In the Matter of the Timor Sea Arbitration between The Democratic Republic of East Timor and the Commonwealth of Australia arbitration between Australia and Timor-Leste.
• Member of Legal Team for the (then) Republic of Macedonia in Application of the Interim Accord of 13 September 1995 (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia v. Greece) before the International Court of Justice.
• Member of the Legal Team in Khurts Bat and Mongolia (intervening) v Investigating Judge of the German Federal Court and Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (intervening) [2011] EWHC 2029 (Admin) before the English High Court (2011).

International Advisory Work

• Advised NGO and solicitor clients on possible legal claims and legal strategy for public interest litigation on the training and deployment of algorithms on digital platforms.
• Advised and provided training to governments, NGOs, and practitioners on questions of international law, including the law of treaties, the law on immunity (including to high-profile individuals subject to arrest warrants), the law on the use of force, issues relating to the occupied Palestinian territory, cases against corporations under the United States’ Alien Tort Statute for breaches of international law, and business and human rights litigation in the Courts of England and Wales.
• Co-author and expert for the Council of Europe’s Committee of Legal Advisers on Public International Law (CAHDI) project on special mission immunity.
• Member of an international legal delegation to the Israeli Miliary Courts in the occupied Palestinian Territory.

Professional and Educational Background

Andrew went to a state comprehensive secondary school before reading Philosophy and Law at Cambridge (Selwyn College). He went to the London School of Economics for an LLM in Public International Law before returning to Cambridge for a PhD (supervised by Professor James Crawford SC and Professor Zachary Douglas KC). He was previously a Junior Research Fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law and a Junior Research Lecturer at Newnham College. In 2016, he was a Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. He presented his research at the Tenth Annual Penn-Stanford International Faculty Forum, Stanford Law School and the NYU/Nottingham/Melbourne, Fifth Annual Junior Faculty Forum in International Law.

From 2020-2022, Andrew was the Academic Secretary of the Faculty of Law and a Faculty Officer. In 2022, he was awarded the Student-Led Teaching Award for Small-Group Teaching (Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences); in 2023, he was a Finalist for the Oxford University Press Law Teacher of the Year Award; and in 2024, he was awarded the University of Cambridge Pilkington Prize for Excellence in Teaching.

Andrew is a Senior Fellow at Melbourne Law School and teaches on the Melbourne Law Masters (from 2022). He is also a Research Collaborator on the Laureate Program in Global Corporations and International Law, a member of the Transnational Association of Legal Scholars, and a Note Editor for the Cambridge Law Journal.

Andrew teaches and supervises in the areas of international law and global governance, including the regulation of global corporations, business and human rights, and the law on the use of force.

International Law Publications

Books

• Harris’ Cases and Materials on International Law, 10^th edition (Sweet and Maxwell, 2026) (with Professor Sandesh Sivakumaran)
• Oxford Handbook on Corporations and International Law (ed with Andreas Kulick and Doreen Lustig) (Oxford University Press, 2028)
• Everywhere and Nowhere: The Global Corporation in the International Legal Order (Cambridge University Press, 2028)
• Great Debates in International Law (Palgrave MacMillan, 2028)
• Gray’s International Law and the Use of Force (with Christine Gray), 5th ed (Oxford University Press, 2026)

Corporations and International Law

• ‘Recognition without Responsibility? The Corporation in International Law’ (forthcoming).
• ‘Duties owed by Corporations to the International Community’ in Yotova and Foster (eds), Preventive Duties in the Common Interest (forthcoming).
• ‘Borges’ Lottery of Babylon: Enduring Embeddedness of the Corporate Form’ in Pahuja and Connor (eds), Rethinking the Corporate Form (2027).
• ‘Corporate Governance and International Law’ in Oxford Handbook on Global Corporations and International Law (Oxford University Press, 2027).
• ‘The Cape Town Convention and Private Enforcement of Property Rights in Public International Law’ (2024) 9(1) Cape Town Convention Journal 18–35.
• ‘Piercing the State’s Corporate Veil: Using Private Actors to Enforce International Norms’, EJIL Talk!, March 2022.
• ‘Transnational Corporate Responsibility in Domestic Courts: Still Out of Reach?’ (2019) 113 American Journal of International Law Unbound 4–9.
• ‘Corporations and Transnational Litigation: Comparing Kiobel with the Jurisprudence of English Courts’ (2013) 107(4) American Journal of International Law Unbound 23–28.
• ‘Corporate Liability for Breaches of International Law Abroad: Canadian Supreme Court Opens the Door, but Questions Remain’ (2020) 79(3) CLJ 381–84.
• ‘Parent Company Duty of Care to Third Parties Harmed by Overseas Subsidiaries’ (2019) 78(3) CLJ 486–90.
• ‘Corporate Liability for Human Rights Abuse: For Congress, Not Courts’ (2018) 77(3) Cambridge Law Journal 441.
• ‘Daimler v Bauman—Kiobel’s younger brother?’ (2014) AJIL Unbound (27 Jan 2014).
• ‘Transnational Human Rights Cases? Not in our Backyard!’ (2013) 72(3) Cambridge Law Journal 487.
• ‘Crossing the Corporate Veil: The Duty of Care Owed by a Parent Company to the Employees of its Subsidiary’ (2012) 71(3) Cambridge Law Journal 478.

International Law in Domestic Legal Systems

• ‘Review of Executive Action Abroad: the UK Supreme Court in the International Legal Order’ (2019) 68(1) ICLQ 35–66.
• ‘Russian Threats of Force Against Ukraine May Constitute Duress in English Contract Law’ (2024) 83(1) Cambridge Law Journal (with Janet O’Sullivan).
• ‘Deference and Dualism Are Not Friends of the Earth’ (2023) 82(2) Cambridge Law Journal 195 (with Alison Young).
• ‘An Involuntary Union? Supreme Court Rejects Scotland’s Claim for Unilateral Referendum on Independence’ (2023) 82(1) Cambridge Law Journal 1 (with Alison Young).
• ‘From Ambition to Obligation: Royal Dutch Shell Ordered to Reduce Co2 Emissions in Line with Paris Agreement’ (2021) 80(3) CLJ 425–28.
• ‘Who Controls Venezuela’s Gold? De Facto and De Jure Recognition of a Foreign Head of State’ (2021) 80(1) Cambridge Law Journal 11.
• ‘Decisions of British Courts During 2017 Involving Questions of Public International Law’ (2019) 88 British Yearbook of International Law. Page 5 of 6
• ‘UK Government Cannot Hide from Complicity in Human Rights Abuses’ (2017) 76(2) Cambridge Law Journal 223.
• ‘Decisions of British Courts During 2016 Involving Questions of Public International Law’ (2018) 87 British Yearbook of International Law 298.
• ‘Decisions of British Courts During 2015 Involving Questions of Public International Law’ (2017) 86 British Yearbook of International Law 239.
• ‘Decisions of British Courts During 2014 Involving Questions of Public International Law’ (2015) 85 British Yearbook of International Law 197.
• ‘Decisions of British Courts During 2013 Involving Questions of Public International Law’ (2014) 84 British Yearbook of International Law 395.

Immunities in International Law

• ‘Treasure Hunters Beware! Sovereign Immunity Protects States in Salvage Proceedings’ (2024) 83(3) Cambridge Law Journal 397 (with Dominic Bielby).
• ‘State Immunity and the Right of Access to a Court under the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights’ (2016) 65(1) ICLQ 213–28.
• ‘Immunity of State Officials from the Criminal Jurisdiction of a Foreign State’ (2013) 62(1) ICLQ 193–224.
• ‘The Immunities of Members of Special Missions’ (with Michael Wood) in Ruys, Angelet & Ferro (eds) Cambridge Handbook on Immunities & International Law (CUP 2019) 452–80.
• Identification of Special Mission Immunity and the Reception of Customary International Law into English Law’ (2019) 78(1) Cambridge Law Journal 1.
• ‘The Limits of State and Diplomatic Immunity in Employment Disputes’ (2018) 77(1) Cambridge Law Journal 1.
• ‘The State Immunity Act and the Right of Access to a Court’ (2014) 73(1) Cambridge Law Journal 1.

Use of Force, International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law

• ‘Rules For the World: International Court Advises States on Climate Change Obligations’ (2026) 85(2) Cambridge Law Journal (forthcoming).
• ‘Relief For UNRWA? Israel Must Ensure Essential Humanitarian Aid Reaches Palestinian Population’ (2026) 85(1) Cambridge Law Journal 1.
• ‘Inherent Illegality: Israel’s Presence in Occupied Palestinian Territory Violates Fundamental Rules of International Law’ (2025) 84(1) Cambridge Law Journal 1.
• ‘Genocide Cases Before the International Court: Community Action to Enforce Fundamental Norms’ (2024) 83(2) Cambridge Law Journal 199.
• ‘The Use of Force and the International Legal Order’ in Evans (ed), International Law (with Christine Gray) (Oxford University Press, 2024).
• ‘False Claims of Genocide Have Real Effects: ICJ Indicates Provisional Measures in Ukraine’s Proceedings Against Russia (2022) 81(2) Cambridge Law Journal 217.
• ‘The Contemporary Law of Blockade and the Gaza Freedom Flotilla’ (2011) 13 Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law 397–446.
• ‘Property Rights in Occupied Territory’ (2011) 70(1) Cambridge Law Journal 7.
• ‘Force of Circumstance: The European Arrest Warrant and Human Rights’ (2010) 6(1) Democracy and Security 17.
• ‘Human Rights Act 1998—Horizontality: Questioning the Concept’ (2008) 4(1) Cambridge Student Law Review 120.