Macau, an island constituting one of the "Special Administrative Regions" of the People's Republic of China, has a unique patent system, which is notoriously advantageous for applicants. What is the benefit exactly and who benefits?
The European Environmental Agency (EEA) has recently published its latest ‘State of the Environment’ report (SOER 2020). Published every 5 years as part of the tasks of EEA’s mandate, the report contains a comprehensive assessment on the state of, trends in, and prospects for the protection of the...
Since the establishment of the WTO, the promise was made that the world would finally have an effective system of enforcement for trade and IP law. Peter van den Bossche discusses the American boycott of the Dispute Settlement System (DSS) under the WTO, in light of the TRIPS Agreement, at the IGIR...
The very recent ruling of the CJEU in DK (C-653/19 PPU, 28 November 2019) came to verify two quite depressing suspicions about the current status of European criminal law. First, Directive 2016/343 on the presumption of innocence remains an instrument with staggeringly limited applicability...
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 entire Faculty community helped to find names for our tutorial rooms. Naming them ensures we are better able to find them. It also makes clear it is the Law Faculty making use of our building.
National laws or ‘legal traditions’ are not the main obstacle to realising the ideal of ‘effective legal assistance’ embedded in the EU procedural rights’ Directives. The resistance to realising this ideal originates mainly from the professional cultures of relevant actors, including criminal...
On December 10th 2019, the Appellate Body (AB) of the WTO will remain with one judge only, Ms. Zhao Hong (China). This will impair the functionality of the AB as it requires three judges to operate. At the IGIR – IEEM IP Seminar in Macao, Peter van den Bossche discussed potential alternatives to a...
When the three main institutions adopted the Common Approach on EU Decentralised Agencies in 2012 one of the few innovative elements in this otherwise disappointing non-binding interinstitutional agreement were the provisions dedicated to the selection of the seat of EU agencies. As many EU-watchers...
When the European Council, on 29 October 2019, decided to extend the withdrawal negotiation period until the 31st of January 2020, it became clear that this extension would bear implications also for the composition of the new Commission. Indeed, in recital 11 of the European Council’s decision, it...
