Latest blog articles

In its judgment of 19 September 2019, the ECJ ruled that Dutch legislation excluding frontier workers residing in the Netherlands but working as a mini-jobber in Germany from the Dutch social security system is compatible with EU law. If the Hoge Raad follows the approach taken by the ECJ, the...

Een levende cursus constitutioneel recht en tevens een Shakespeareaans drama of Griekse tragedie. Dat is het schouwspel in het Verenigd (of: Verdeeld) Koninkrijk. 

With Prime Minister Boris Johnson facing stiff opposition to his signature Brexit policy, he suffers a momentous defeat in the United Kingdom Supreme Court. How did it happen? What was the reasoning of the judges, and what are the implications of the verdict?

Last week, a court in The Hague acquitted a doctor accused of administering “unlawful euthanasia” to a severely demented patient back in 2016.

In European societies, Female Genital Mutilation/Cutting FGM/C is regarded as an alien cultural practice that should not be part of society. It is seen as a barbaric tradition that is associated with refugees and immigrants from African and Muslim States who have brought this custom to Europe.

The Swedish Data Protection Authority recently launched an investigation into Umeå University’s handling of sensitive personal data, specifically data obtained from the Danish Police Authority for research purposes.

The development of human rights law is part of a fundamental shift in the nature and purpose of the international legal order. Where once international law was considered to regulate purely inter-state concerns, we now talk of the existence of international community interests and a shared...

Opening speech Opening Academic Year 2019-2020

The purpose of the opening of the academic year is to project optimism and discussing the way ahead. This is more  difficult this year as we have experienced or expecting some dramatic changes to the higher education landscape in the Netherlands. First...

This summer we have witnessed the birth of the “European university”. In June, the European Commission announced the 17 successful bids for this status from consortia of institutions across the continent. Given that UK universities are among the best in the world, you would have expected them to be...

‘Police, open the door!’ A sentence often heard when police arrest people at their houses. These arrests are often carried out by heavily armed police teams and accompanied by noise, shouting and violence. In this often chaotic situation, one party is often forgotten: the child(ren) of the arrested...