Law stories, blogs and videos
Law stories
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Professor Bruno de Witte is saying goodbye to Maastricht University, but not to European Law. He will continue to deliver his razor-sharp legal analyses at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence.
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After years of meaningful work at our university, Prof. Fons Coomans gave his farewell address to the Faculty of Law on 2 September, where he examined important human rights questions. How do they impact our daily lives? And how do they affect people on a personal level? Will future generations...
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Both work on their projects at Maastricht University’s Faculty of Law on a Hestia Grant. With that, their paths towards settling in Dutch academia and enriching the knowledge and skills in their home countries might look parallel moving towards the future. But Nasrat Sayed’s and Arif Aksu’s...
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The European rule of law is under siege in Poland. On October 7th, 2021, the Polish Constitutional Tribunal declared that the Polish Constitution is more important than any EU treaty. The rest of Europe is keeping a close eye on the situation; how is it going to develop? Is there any chance that the...
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The UM Faculty of Law’s post-academic education has been high-level for years, but we can always do better. The corona pandemic was a catalyst for new initiatives to be launched. We had to make changes. Not only practical but also in terms of content. One of our ambitions? To showcase the...
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She was a criminal lawyer for many years and a member of the Dutch Senate for the GroenLinks (green left) party. Since 2019, she has been professor of Legal Professions & Ethics at Maastricht University. And in her latest novel, De Juiste Houding [The Right Attitude], her fascination with the grey...
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It is 1986. The time of Grandmaster Flash and Run-D.M.C., but also of Billy Oceans' When the going gets tough, the tough get going and a harsh Elfstedentocht’. In Leiden, Jan Smits starts studying law at a sizeable faculty with 1200 first-year students. It’s a big contrast to the small-scale law...
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Abazi’s potential is easy to recognise, which is reflected in the reactions from several mentors and juries in her academic career thus far. She is lucky (or is it foresight?) that her research topics, such as her work on the legal protection of whistleblowers, often appear in the news. Recently...
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It was a long-held desire: redesigning the curriculum for the bachelor's programme in Rechtsgeleerdheid (Law).' It is a return to the thematic approach, but in a 21st century context. There are no more short cases, but one big project per semester that involves the different types of law. After two...
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Imagine you live in Belgium and have been working in the Netherlands for years. But unlike your Dutch colleagues, you can’t access your pension information online. That is because you are not entitled to a DigiD, which is the identity verification service of the Dutch government. To help make life...
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One from Italy. One from Romania. Both sharing a house in Maastricht while getting their PhDs. Both earning their degrees with the distinction cum laude. Matteo Bonelli and Daniel On share about their life and research at the Maastricht University Faculty of Law.
Law stories in UMagazine
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They can do it already: deliver pizzas and medicines, inspect windows for cleanliness, monitor crowds. And all that autonomously, without a human driver. But how do you ensure that drones comply with laws and regulations? Professor of Private Law and technology expert Gijs van Dijck translates legal...
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It could come straight out of Stanley Kubrick’s dystopian movie A Clockwork Orange: using direct brain stimulation to reduce aggressive behaviour. For PhD student Ruben Knehans, it’s his daily business. Aside from the medical complexity, it raises all sorts of questions. Is it ethical, for example...
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The Facebook Papers, a series of documents leaked by whistleblower Frances Haugen, brim with revelations. The company appears to have been fully aware of its role in the dissemination of false information and anger-inducing content. Moral philosopher Katleen Gabriels and data protection lawyer Paolo...
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After 35 years at Maastricht University, Constitutional Law Professor Aalt-Willem Heringa will hold his farewell lecture on 25 March. Here he looks back on a successful career and ahead at the role of courts in the Netherlands and Europe.
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Hildegard Schneider is set to say goodbye. As professor of European Migration Law and former dean of the Faculty of Law, her career coincided with the foundation and pioneering years of the law faculty. She herself made an important contribution to the profiling of Maastricht University as a...
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Sexual harassment in public is becoming a punishable offence. It’s a good idea, says Suzan van der Aa, professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure, but one that doesn’t go far enough. “Sexual harassment in the workplace is common too, and usually has a greater impact on the victims.”
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The pandemic has called into question the idea of a Europe without frontiers. Sarah Schoenmaekers and Martin Unfried—specialists in EU law and Euregional cooperation, respectively—search for answers.
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Robert Horselenberg has been in charge of the Maastricht cold-case team since its creation about 10 years ago. Ten students, mostly from the master’s degree in Forensics, Criminology and Law, are given six months to study an existing cold case and come up with recommendations for the Public...
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A peek inside the kitchen of Mark Kawakami. Mark, assistant professor of Private Law, grew up in Japan and Hawaii. Omotenashi, Japanese hospitality, was drilled into him from an early age, but when it comes to food, he prefers the spicy cuisines of Thailand or Mexico to that of Japan.
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Anna Goldberg is currently writing her dissertation on the role of addiction in criminal law from a neuroscientific perspective under the supervision of David Roef, endowed professor of Criminal Law.
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It started with an international phone call from the lawyers of the Norton Simon Museum in California. Not long after that, assistant professor Lars van Vliet served as an expert witness in a important court case. The stakes: a diptych by Lucas Cranach the Elder, which the heiress of the Jewish art...
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Research on the legal issues surrounding new technologies has become a fixture at most universities. What has received less attention is how AI itself can be applied in the study and practice of law. This is where the Maastricht Law and Tech Lab comes in.
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Soul kitchen: a peek inside the kitchens of UM employees
Catalina Goanta, assistent professor of Privat Law, is the ultimate host: “In Romania we see that as normal. If you pay someone a visit and don’t get anything to eat, that’s a reason never to go back. It’s a sign of respect.”
Law blogs
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The EU-funded project FullCompensation aims to make the compensation of pain and suffering damages more equitable and efficient. To this end, the project led to the development of a model legislative proposal and guidelines, based on comparative and empirical evidence. These documents are intended...
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The EU-funded project FullCompensation aims to make the compensation of pain and suffering damages more fair and efficient. To offer judges better guidelines for this, it is essential to understand how judges actually award pain and suffering damages. Reading the case law and interviewing judges...
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The scientific study of law–when consisting of the drafting of a research paper–undergoes a series of stages, running a cycle that matures and evolves. Four stages can be identified in that cycle, namely those related to the researching, writing, reasoning, and testing processes. Researchers can...
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Law students have to be global citizens and curious. Students have to be open-minded and eager to engage with otherness, going places. They have to start by visiting the library – it is free and takes readers to many places. Global citizens can benefit significantly from embarking in a study tour...
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ChatGPT’s rapid virality sparks both enthusiasm for using the product and concerns about consumer protection. Protecting consumers in the age of AI was also a central topic at the AI-Assisted consumer seminar, co-organized by MaRBLe, GLaw-Net, and IGIR.
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The IMCO Committee is trying to amend the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29) to include a ban on dark patterns. The proposed amendments are part of the EU’s plans to empower consumers for the green transition and the Parliament is expected to address the proposed amendments on 17 April...
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Over the weekend of March 25-26, TikTok users started sharing videos of their experiences trying to delete their Instagram accounts on Android devices. Users took issue with not being able to delete their accounts via the Instagram app and having to use a desktop/mobile browser to complete the...
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Technological developments challenge consumer protection in the digital sphere. One adaptation that could make the digital environment become safer and more trustworthy is to provide consumers with explanations of AI-based algorithm mechanisms used by intermediary platforms.
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In scientific research, transparency is key.
This is why I have made the study design and protocols for my project FullCompensation - Rationalising Full Compensation of Non-Pecuniary Damages to Reconcile Equal Treatment and Personalisation publicly available on Dataverse and the Open Science...
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We Write to be Read, should always resonate in the mind of authors of research papers. The contents of Student-Edited Law Reviews (SL Reviews) is decided by students. These reviews offer a forum for outstanding research papers by law students. SL Reviews have strengths, while they face challenges...
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How does EU consumer laws address dark patterns on the Internet? This topic has been part of the scholarly debate during the panel discussion “The AI-assisted consumer”, organized on 6 December 2022 in collaboration with Glaw-Net and IGIR.
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The widespread use of AI-assisted technologies in the digital sphere has given rise to the concept of digital vulnerability, as a contextual vulnerability experienced by internet users. This phenomenon sparks debate about whether the current legislative framework is sufficient to ensure effective...
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Content creators, exercising their freedom of expression, may use trade marks in their content in a way that might damage the interests of trade mark proprietors (e.g. use of Nike shoes in a porn movie). How does EU trade mark law address these different interests?
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The European Patent Convention defines subject-matter that is not eligible for patent protection, such as methods for doing business. However, when implemented by a computer, non-eligible subject matter becomes eligible for patent protection. Is this desirable?
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Only a short drive from Maastricht, border stones still mark the borders of Neutral Moresnet, a small condominium that was the result of a very peculiar round of border negotiations and for over a hundred years was a tax haven, a gambling paradise and a would-be Esperanto state.
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EU trade mark law excludes certain signs from becoming registered trade marks. In particular, shapes cannot be registered if they are necessary for achieving a technical result. In 2015, the amended Regulation broadened this exclusion to ‘another characteristics'. But what is now covered exactly?
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In this piece, I will use two memes to begin to unpack what I think is the common denominator of contemporary populist rhetoric. I will explain that the real substance of this rhetoric is the creation of a false moral equivalence, revealing a nihilism. Finally, I will suggest how this false moral...
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Throughout the EU, the rights of asylum seekers come under pressure. Overdue policy changes remain stuck in negotiations because of lacking political will. It is up to the European Commission to step up and protect the fundamental rights of asylum seekers.
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The debate on the implications of Dutch colonial rule in Indonesia recently intensified after a report concluded that the Dutch forces had used extreme violence. Reactions to the report reveal that the issue remains controversial and challenging to discuss. The findings in the report do however...
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Frank Dobbin and Alexandra Kalev’s new book, Getting to Diversity, offers data-backed evidence to substantiate what I have long suspected to be true: Many diversity and inclusivity trainings (e.g. mandatory implicit bias training, active allyship training, etc.) not only have little to no effect...
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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...
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This blog includes a brief description of a METRO seminar held on 30 May 2022, where a draft research design of FullCompensation was shared for feedback. This seminar was the first scientific deliverable of the project and set the ground for its further development.
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Suppose that you get injured in an accident. In that case, you are entitled to damages. Damages are money that the injurer (or their insurer) must pay to you to make you ‘whole’. The aim of damages is, basically, to fully compensate you. Sounds easy? Believe me, it’s not!
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Digital platforms are one of the key developments in facilitating industry 4.0 and are at the center of the multifold benefits the consumers derived through this. An important feature of the digital platforms is the presence of high sunk costs and low marginal costs (UNCTAD, 2019). This occurs since...
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Digitalization has gradually changed business models and reshaped human lifestyles. The rise of business models based on the collection and processing of consumer data allows undertakings to charge business customers and final consumers different prices for the same goods or services, offered at...
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The drafters of EU Computer programmes Directive were aware of the competition law implications of extending protection to the interfaces necessary to enable interoperability of programs and devices. Neither the U.S. Congress nor the CONTU seemed to think of interoperability. So the U.S. Copyright...
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In April 2020, the French competition authority adopted an interim decision against Google obliging it to enter into negotiations with press publishers to establish the amount of remuneration for the use of publications protected by the related right for press publishers, as foreseen by the DSM...
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Can firms undertake costly litigation to protect its brand's core market against infringers? Trademarks are an important intellectual property that plays a significant role in commercialization of a product. Despite several international treaties that aim to protect this right for a firm...
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On 15 December 2021 the European Parliament has adopted in 1st reading the long-awaited Digital Markets Act – a regulation, aiming to recalibrate competition in the most important sectors of the EU digital economy. As this law and this new regulatory modality are indeed capable to have a...
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The disputes concerning FRAND licensing of standard-essential patents (SEPs) are critical legal issues that dominate the development of the standard-implementing industries like the telecommunication industry. Recently, the patent owners of standard-essential patents tend not to license to rival...
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This blog analyses the obligation of Albania to approximate its existing and future competition law with the EU competition acquis, including the need to transpose the ECN + Directive in the pre-accession stage. Then, the blog discusses the approach taken by the Albanian Competition Authority (ACA)...
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Data is intangible, non-rivalrous, and produced in vast quantities with little to no incentive. How then can it be a source of competition issues in digital markets? This blog seeks to explain.
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In the digital economy, algorithms are the new air- they are everywhere, essential for survival online. Algorithms manage every keystroke, every search, every step on the web. Algorithms are a sequence of instructions to solve a problem and take decisions. Online platforms use algorithms in every...
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As we all can experience in our daily basis, we are living through the age of digitalization. Goods that were formerly tangible (as paperback books) or that at least had a tangible medium (as cartridge-based videogames), are now available in full-digital versions. Moreover, many physical goods are...
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Disruptions of supply—as opposed to refusals to supply—are a suitable qualification for the ‘open early, closed late’ scenarios often observed in the digital economy. The case law, however, does not always distinguish clearly between the two types of conduct. This blog post traces the evolution of...
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Some conducts encountered in digital markets, e.g. killer acquisitions, self-promotion and marketing strategies, non-transparent and discriminatory interfaces, signify a need for ex ante regulation, as widely acknowledged. The European Commission, UK Government and US Senators proposed legislative...
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Representing the prototype of multi-sided platforms, app stores are at the forefront of the debate on digital markets. Several regulatory proposals place on app stores neutrality obligations vis-à-vis third parties. Are EU and US competition laws utterly unfit to tackle platform-related behaviours...
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As Big Tech Platforms increasingly become unavoidable actors in digital markets, there seems to be a consensus in the EU, UK and USA that legislative action must be taken to tame their power. However, there are several notable differences in the way in which they suggest to design this regulatory...
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With its judgment in case Stichting Rookpreventie Jeugd and Others (C-160/20) of 22 February 2022, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (Court of Justice) has set a fundamental milestone on the legal status and consequences of incorporating global standards in EU...
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On 23 February 2022, the European Commission released the much anticipated proposal for the Directive on Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence. The aim of this Directive is to reduce human rights violations and environmental harms across the global value chain by making large companies carry out...
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As course coordinator and tutor for the only mandatory law course in the Bachelor in European Studies, I typically start the course with a clear message to students: Law as a discipline has its own language and logic and you can only get the hang of it by doing it. This means attending and...
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Recently I was interviewed by Dutch news radio station BNR on the question whether there are legal or economic arguments to split up Big Tech companies like Facebook, Google, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft. Because the interview was short, I could not give a truly balanced answer. Rather, from my Law &...
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In Part I we explained the outstanding profile of the Facebook Whistleblower Frances Haugen. We now discuss the factors showing whether Haugen’s whistleblowing experience is an outlier or whether it is indicative of what we will be seeing in other whistleblower cases in the future.
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Not out of possibility, but out of necessity
The last couple of weeks of 2021 were dominated by the cross-border nature of the COVID-19 crisis, and the fight against it. While the Netherlands went into the holiday season under a lockdown, complete closures were largely absent in Germany and...
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In early 2021, Europe’s twelve leading football clubs joined hands to create the European Super League. Despite the presence of notable clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester United, Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid, the League soon fell apart. Unable to convince those on the football field, the three...
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“I don’t hate Facebook. I love Facebook. I want to save it”, wrote Frances Haugen as she resigned from Facebook and revealed tens of thousands of documents alleging Facebook has time and again prioritized profit over people.
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Can consumers with suspicion of unfair commercial practices linked to the voluntary compensation scheme make the aviation sector more sustainable? Does the EU Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices play a role in this?
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The EU recently introduced text and data mining exceptions to copyright infringement. However, they are too narrow and situation-specific to enable scientific development. In my master thesis, I suggest adopting a non-enjoyment exception for new technological uses, including text and data mining.
