Royal distinction for Professor Jaap Spier

On Friday 4 March, Professor Jaap Spier was awarded with the distinction of Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion by Mayor Penn-te Strake for his role in the development of liability law at national, supranational and international level. Spier also made an invaluable contribution to the legal obligation of states to participate in international climate control measures and the development of the Oslo Principles on Global Climate Obligations.

Spier was presented with this award on the occasion of his retirement as honorary professor of Comparative Aspects of Liability Insurance at Maastricht University. Spier is the Advocate General of the Supreme Court. 

Merits
Nearly twenty-five years ago, Spier established the European Group on Tort Law, consisting of several international scholars. He has published countless articles in his forty-year career, including the influential and innovative publications 'Shaping the Law for Global Crises' and 'Climate Change Remedies'. Spier has also made valuable contributions to the Civic Chamber of the Supreme Court in the field of liability law and other areas of civil law.

In the last decade, he has focused on addressing climate change. His commitment to the Oslo Principles on Global Climate Obligations deserve special mention. Spier has demonstrated exceptional commitment to the environment, in particular to climate change and the role played by private law. In 2011, Jaap Spier and Thomas Pogge, a professor at Yale University, brought together eminent lawyers from around the world to address the legal obligations associated with climate change. This group was known as the Expert Group on Global Climate Obligation. Spier is the driving force behind the ground-breaking nature of this project, which led to the development of the Oslo Principles.

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