Latest blog articles

  • 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...

  • 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.

  • What does sovereignty mean in today’s world, given trends of globalisation, Europeanisation and also polarisation?

  • The wishes of the Spanish government and those of the Catalan people are diametrically opposed: 90% of voters in the referendum were for independence - but keep in mind also that only about half of the Catalan people voted.

  • Yesterday’s elections marked the beginning of an outstandingly important election year for Germany and is considered a first test run for the federal elections in September.

  • Last week, the Members of the European Parliament decided by a large majority to waive the parliamentary immunity of Marine Le Pen upon a request by French prosecution services.

  • Do the people still have power? Some might feel forgotten and turn to populism promising to give the country back to them. But popular sovereignty is not dead.

  • There is a lot of consternation about Donald Trump and his remark about only accepting the results of the presidential election "If I win". According to Trump, the election is 'rigged' if he looses... This article is only available in Dutch. 

  • The day after the “Brexit”-referendum, with a majority of 51.9% voting to leave the European Union, some speak of the success of democracy (“the people have spoken”). Already, there are calls for referenda in other countries to let the people speak there, too. This suggests that independently of our...

  • In communications the medium is the message. Don’t mail if you can call. Don’t call if you can visit. That is my motto, also in 2015. Of course you can wish your friends a happy New Year via a post on Facebook or LinkedIn, a 140 character Tweet, or by sending an e-mail to all your relations. Some...