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...

  • 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...

  • Officially supported export credits are instruments that governments can use to boost or support their exports, either through insurances, loans or guarantees. Most governments provide this support through Export Credit Agencies (ECAs), the first of which were founded in the 1920s (Stephens, 1999).

  • In her recent book “The Deficit Myth” star economist Stephanie Kelton tells us why economists should not worry too much about sovereign debt and deficits. But is that the same for lawyers? And are all countries truly treated equally?

  • 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...

  • 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...