Latest blog articles

  • How Germany Almost Legalized Cannabis

    The 1st of April 2024 marks the day when Germany adopted the most progressive legal approach to cannabis in Europe. While for the Dutch, this may sound like an April’s fool prank, it is far from it: The new German CanG (Cannabis Law) regulates the consumption, possession, and supply of the soft drug...

    Cannabis plant
  • 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...

    international law
  • Logic of International Law

    On 14 and 15 November 2022, UM’s Faculty of Law held the “Logic of International Law Conference.” Henrique Marcos (UM & São Paulo Univ.) and Antonia Waltermann (UM) organised the conference under the auspices of the Globalization and Law Network (GLaw-Net) and the International Law Discussion Group...

  • 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...

  • Constitutive and constituted sovereignty

    Sovereignty is invoked in many discussions today, from Brexit to Catalan independence, but it is rarely clear what, exactly, those who invoke sovereignty mean by it. For the purposes of understanding, analyzing, and understanding legal phenomena, however, a more precise understanding is necessary.

    law_reconstructing_sovereignty_antonia_waltermann
  • Ensuring compliance with sustainable development provisions in EU FTAs

    The trade and sustainable development chapters included in recent EU FTAs have been criticized for lacking an effective enforcement mechanism, and in particular for the absence of sanctions to ensure compliance. This has been blamed for the poor implementation of their commitments by partner...

    Entrepreneur blog IGIR trade and compliance