Latest blog articles

  • international law

    Genocide in Gaza?

    A brief explainer about the ICJ case brought by South Africa against Israel

    On 29 December, almost three months after the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel and the ensuing Israeli military strikes on the Gaza Strip, which had by then resulted in the deaths of more than 21,000 people and more than...

  • Every now and again, and especially when redesigning a curriculum, the question regarding the role and place of legal history in said curriculum is brought up. And rightly so. That is why the Open University Law School (UK) organized an online event on 15 December entitled Diversity, Dilemmas and...

  • An important part of becoming a fully-fledged academic is the development and curation of a research line. A research line is the main research topic and the thread throughout (large parts of) a career. It could be law and technology in private law, globalisation in public law, human rights in...

  • Hugo Grotius

    To any international lawyer, Hugo de Groot (10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), usually referred to by his Latin name as Hugo Grotius, does not need any introduction. He is generally seen as the “father of public international law”, often together with Francisco De Vitoria (1483-1546) and Alberico...

  • Today, on Human Rights Day, the Peace Palace in The Hague will be the venue of the somewhat ironic spectacle of a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and global icon of human rights leading her country’s defence against allegations of genocide, the most serious violation of human rights possible.

  • The biggest challenge of the 21st century is undoubtedly the question of how to tackle the effects of a rising population, expanding industrialisation and growing environmental degradation. Apart from an ever complex world, there are externalities that are the result of the way humankind has been...

  • During the Anniversary year 2016-2017 the Maastricht law faculty celebrated its 35th birthday. And when you have your birthday, you hand out treats. A book, because that is tradition among faculties celebrating their birthday. A book which tells the story of the faculty and which contains interviews...

  • If one formula one car hits another, and one of the parties is to blame, does that create liability to pay for the repairs of the other?

  • At the hearing of the parliamentary interrogation commission, investigating tax evasion,Toine Manders claimed at June 16th, that the government infringes people’s property rights by taxing. (Dutch only)

  • In his written answers to the European Parliament as well as orally during the hearing to establish his suitability to become first Vice-President of the European Commission, Commissioner Designate Frans Timmermans promises to ensure a common-sense test for all future legislation. I offer some legal...