Latest blog articles

  • SMECC stands for School, Minimum standard, Education, Child-friendly policy and care-Continuum. Imagine SMECC as a flat drawing of a house. The regulatory backstop is the minimum standard in family litigation for competent parenthood – far on the horizon, however, a necessary fundament of human...

  • Asylum seekers usually do not cross borders with a bag of documents. They have lost their personal belongings or have been confiscated by smugglers. Oral statements are therefore the only proof of origin. (Dutch only) 

  • No matter what, cohabitation will highly frustrate LePen in case of her presidency, and reduce the possibilities of Macron, if it does occur.

  • 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.

  • When Trump tweeted "See you in Court, the security of our nation is at stake" he was absolutely right, but not as he intended it to mean. Because yes, courts are essential for the security of (the citizens of) the state.

  • Published on LBM. Here is a fun word that you may have come across recently: Kakistocracy. Based on the Greek word kakistos (meaning “the worst”), kakistocracy is a system of governance run by the least qualified, most “deplorable” citizens that the State has to offer. 

  • Is the Wilders trial a political process - like his attorney Geert-Jan Knoops argues? Is it an impossible task for the judge because, like he said, it is in fact about the party programme of the PVV - and therefore encroaches on the political decision-making process?... This blog is only available...

  • It took quite a while before the European countries realized and recognized that the influx from asylum-seekers via the Mediterranean Sea and Turkey into the European Union is not just a matter of controlling the outside borders of the Union, but also a humanitarian and human rights issue. Some...

  • This year we have witnessed an extraordinary and tragic series of events. Hundreds of thousands of migrants have tried to cross the Mediterranean to reach Europe. The UN estimates that over 2,500 people have lost their lives in the process. In the last few weeks, the focus has shifted to the EU’s...

  • An older post, but still up-to-date.

    The long-debated exit of Greece from the Eurozone as a consequence of the current financial crisis has re-emerged in January 2015 when German finance minister Schäuble indicated that a so-called ‘Grexit’ would be a scenario no longer unimaginable for the other...