Latest blog articles
-
The corona virus is causing education to move from offline to online. In the Netherlands, the government and higher education institutions announced last Thursday (12 March 2020) that all in-person education has to be replaced by online education. Online means more reliance on technology. So here...
-
Over the years, I have heard various colleagues say they thought empirical legal research (ELR) has been on the rise. Some see this as a positive development, making law and legal research more evidence-based and diverse.
-
This post will focus on the Article 34(1) ICJ Statute requirement that ‘[o]nly states may be parties in cases before the Court’.
-
The internationalisation of higher education (IoHE) relates to sensitive topics of public concern. Considering the ongoing debate in the Netherlands regarding the challenges related to the internationalisation of higher education, it is time to take a step back and remember the many benefits as...
-
My message is, however, that next to the main lines of law’s contents, law students should learn about the ways in which law affects society and its participants. In this connection, they should study selected topics from sociology, but also – and that is the main message here – the cognitive...
-
On 10 October 2017, Catalonia issued and then immediately suspended its declaration of independence, and urged Spain to negotiate. Spain does not want to negotiate.
-
In July 1995, thousands of Muslim Bosniak men were deported from the enclave Srebrenica and subsequently killed by the Bosnian Serb army under the command of Ratko Mladić. The UN had declared Srebrenica a “safe area”, but the Dutchbat soldiers were not able to prevent the capturing and killing of...
-
A little bit of provocation sharpens the mind. Let me therefore start with a provocative thesis: Most lawyers have no idea what law is.
-
From illegal but legitimate to legal because it is legitimate? This post argues that, analogous to the concept of defences in municipal legal systems, international law on the use of force should adopt a systematic distinction between justifications and excuses.
-
Is there such a thing as ‘European private law’? In my opinion there is not, just as there is no Dutch, French, English, or Chinese private law. Let me explain. Legal rules, including rules of private law, have many characteristics.