Philippe Sands, Herta Däubler-Gmelin & Wolfgang Kaleck

Against the backdrop of the 20th century’s violent history, the idea of a universal system of international criminal law emerged in response to genocide and crimes against humanity. Although they could not heal wounds or undo the suffering endured, the Nuremberg Trials marked a decisive moment: they established the truth and assigned responsibility – an indispensable step for the affected societies and the survivors of mass crimes.

Today, authoritarian governments and other powerful actors are undermining the hard-won international legal order in order to secure impunity for wars waged abroad and oppression at home. How can civil society actors defend international law under these circumstances? And how can human rights be effectively enforced?

The 2026 winner of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade and lawyer Philippe Sands, former Federal Minister of Justice Herta Däubler-Gmelin, and human rights lawyer Wolfgang Kaleck discuss these issues in issue #11 of On Justice. Drawing on Philippe Sands’ latest book, “38 Londres Street. On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia”, they discuss the relationship between literature and law, the possibilities and limitations of international criminal law, and the significance of memory and testimony – 80 years after the verdict of the Nuremberg Trials.

Philippe Sands is a French-British lawyer and professor of international law at University College London, as well as a visiting professor at Harvard Law School. He has acted as one of the leading human rights lawyers of our time in high-profile cases, including before the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Among other things, he drafted the indictment against former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. In addition to legal texts, Sands also publishes literary nonfiction. He became particularly well known for East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity (2016). For his latest book, 38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia (2025), he received the Peace Prize of the German Booksellers Association, among other honors. In his writing, he combines personal life stories with questions of international law and memory.

Herta Däubler-Gmelin is a lawyer and political scientist. She began practicing law in Berlin in 1974.  From 1972 to 2009, she was a member of the German Parliament, where she chaired committees on legal policy and human rights, among others. She was the first woman to serve as deputy chair of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and was Federal Minister of Justice from 1998 to 2002. She currently teaches at various universities; in 1995, she was appointed honorary professor at the Otto Suhr Institute for Political Science in Berlin. As a lawyer, she has advocated for equality, victim protection, and human rights. In 2022, she assumed the chair of the Expert Commission on the socialization of large housing companies, which was established by the Berlin Senate following the referendum initiated by the Deutsche Wohnen & Co. Enteignen initiative.

Wolfgang Kaleck co-founded the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) in Berlin in 2007 with a group of internationally active lawyers, and has served as its executive director ever since. Prior to that, he had been practicing as a criminal defense attorney since 1991. Together with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) in New York, Kaleck filed criminal complaints from 2004 to 2008 against U.S. military officials, including former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. He also worked to hold accountable those responsible for the murders and enforced disappearances of Germans during the Argentine military dictatorship. In addition to his work as a lawyer, Kaleck is an author; his most recent book is The Power of Law (2026). He has received numerous awards for his work.

Siri Keil lives in Hamburg, is a member of the Neue deutsche Medienmacher*innen (NdM), and works as a cultural journalist and author for radio, as a voice-over artist for audio and film productions, and as a host for various stage events. As a cultural educator specializing in the pluralization of cultures of remembrance in a post-migrant society, she designs events and educational programs. She also works as a communications officer in the labor union sector.