RocaJunyent awards Philippe Sands the X Premio Derecho y Sociedad

RocaJunyent has awarded this Friday the X Law and Society Award, which has gone to the lawyer, professor and writer Philippe Sands.

This award, which is part of RocaJunyent’s Social Responsibility of Lawyers program, was presented in the auditorium of the Rafael del Pino Foundation in Madrid, in a ceremony attended by authorities from the Spanish Government, the Community of Madrid, the Madrid City Council, as well as numerous Spanish magistrates and business leaders. Miquel Roca, honorary chairman of the firm, and Joan Roca Sagarra, executive chairman of RocaJunyent, presided over the ceremony.

Philippe Sands’ work

The Jury of the Prize has considered that “Sands’ works set a very important standard by relating and building around great debates of our history, related to great international conflicts of our past. Also in the dimension of war as an expression of failure or of decolonization processes, controversial and difficult to carry out, Philippe Sands has demonstrated the importance of law and jurists to channel the consequences of these situations, seeking how to draw from these dramas rules that can ensure greater respect for human rights and peace in the world”.

Lawyer

The award winner’s field of activity is focused on international law. Throughout his professional career, he has participated in important trials at the Court of Justice of the European Union and the International Criminal Court in The Hague, including the Pinochet case, the war in Yugoslavia, the Rwandan genocide, the invasion of Iraq and Guantanamo. He is also Professor of Law and Head of the Centre for International Courts and Tribunals at University College London. Philippe Sands is also a member of the panel of arbitrators of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Writter

In addition to his work as a lawyer and academic, Philippe Sands is the author of seventeen books. He is the author of the essays Lawless World, on the illegality of the Iraq war, and Torture Team, on the Bush administration’s use of torture. Sands is also the author of acclaimed novels, such as East Street West, Escape Route, and the recent The Last Colony, all published in Spain by Anagrama. Tenth Lawyers’ Social Responsibility Contest for high school students.

During the event, awards were also presented for the tenth RocaJunyent Lawyers’ Social Responsibility Competition (RSA), which recognizes the best work of high school students on the value of law and the impact that laws have on everyday life.