How can the law respond to mass violence and the gravest crimes? The question is an old one—but in the face of today’s wars, it is being asked again with renewed urgency. This year’s Peace Prize of the German Book Trade laureate, British-French lawyer, human rights advocate and writer Philippe Sands, offers some answers. The prize recognises Sands as an important voice for justice, peace and the defence of international law.

In his books—most notably the celebrated East West Street trilogy—Sands explores the origins of modern international criminal law; legal concepts such as “genocide” and “crimes against humanity”; immunity and human rights; and questions of colonialism. He combines questions of international criminal law with extensive historical research and personal stories. In his new book, due to be published in spring 2027, he turns to “ecocide” and asks how the law can respond to the most severe destruction of ecosystems and the natural foundations of life—through warfare, industrial extractivism and the escalating climate crisis. This also raises the question of whether, and how, such forms of destruction can be recognised as international crimes and prosecuted under international criminal law.

At the Frankfurt Book Fair, Philippe Sands will speak with peace researcher and historian Hendrik Simon about the history, present and future of international law; ecocide; and the role the law can play in a world shaped by mass violence and global destruction—from East West Street to the Anthropocene.

A collaborative event organised by Frankfurter Buchmesse, the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, the Research Institute Social Cohesion (FGZ) at Goethe University Frankfurt, and the Leibniz Institute for Peace and Conflict Research (PRIF).