Maastricht Centre for Human Rights
The Maastricht Centre for Human Rights facilitates and supports research in the field of human rights at Maastricht University’s Faculty of Law. Research conducted at the centre is interdisciplinary, with a focus on public international law, criminal law, criminology and other relevant social sciences. The centre favours research themes that contribute to a better society within the context of the process of globalisation and that raise fundamental questions about human rights (as opposed to mere technicalities).
Fast facts
- focus on public international law, criminal law, criminology, and social sciences
- close attention to gender issues
- established in 1993 by prof. Theo van Boven, former director of UN Division for Human Rights, and prof. Cees Flinterman
- all 25 members invest research capacity in human rights subjects, next to their teaching responsibilities
Research
The centre has two research programmes: Globalisation and Human Rights and Criminal Law and Criminology in an International Context. Research conducted within the centre takes a normative approach, reflecting an integrated view of economic, social and cultural rights on the one hand and civil and political rights on the other, with close attention being given to gender issues and rights of persons with disabilities.
Visit MCfHR's research
Let's talk human rights
Human rights issues affect us all. But sometimes there can be an unfortunate disconnect between the human rights research that goes on in universities, and the rest of the world. Let’s Talk Human Rights is a video and podcast series which aims to bridge that gap. We interview human rights experts at one of the primary hubs of human rights research in the Netherlands, the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights, in order to open a window to show what is actually happening in human rights research today. We discuss pressing issues, from human rights and social media to the rights of disabled persons.
We also talk to the researchers about themselves, their projects, and their research journey. Focusing mainly on early career researchers, we cast a light not only on human rights law and how it works, but also on what it means to be a human rights researcher.
Read more about our Let's Talk Human Rights initiative
News
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PhD thesis written by Giulia Giardi
This book draws on never-before used data on both crimes and enforcement to shed light on this murky world. Whether you are professionally or privately engaged in contrasting corporate crime or environmental harm, this book can enhance your perspective and toolset. -
This conference aims to compare and critically assess the developments in European Criminal Law and International Criminal Law. The conference sets out to analyse differences and similarities with regard to a variety of different aspects of criminal justice in a globalized world.
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The Consul Association has jointly decided to award a prize (value: 1000 euro) for the best master thesis in the field of EU law, written at the Faculty of Law of Maastricht University during the academic year 2022/2023. The Prize will be awarded to the student who wrote a thesis of outstanding quality.
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On 13 March 2023, the latest Globalization & Law seminar took place. We had the pleasure to listen to prof. Patricia Popelier speak about her ongoing research on “Trust in Multi-Tiered Systems”. Dr Šejla Imamović acted as a discussant.
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The topic of cross-border cooperation plays only a modest role in the party manifestos for the upcoming provincial elections, even in border provinces. This is one of the findings of a thematic analysis by researchers from ITEM, Maastricht University’s transnational expertise centre.
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On Wednesday 15 March 2023, there will be elections in the Netherlands. We will then vote for the Provincial Council and the District Water Board. Seven of the 12 Dutch provinces border a neighbouring country. Cross-border cooperation and special attention for border regions is therefore extra important. According to Eurostat's definition, the entire province of Limburg qualifies as a border region.
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Daan has investigated how employees communicate with each other in a multilingual metal foundry in Limburg, nearby the Dutch-German border. He worked in the metal foundry for 3.5 months to observe and experience to what degree multilingualism hindered efficient communication, and the role of different kinds of power dynamics in this regard.
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After short Christmas break, the Globalization and Law Network (GLaw-Net) resumed its bi-weekly seminars with invited experts who study the role of law in a globalizing world.
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PhD thesis written by Adriana Caballero Pérez
This study adopts an evidence-based approach and a mixed research design to explore the de facto realization of the right to vote by persons with disabilities, or the ‘opportunity’ to enjoy this right on an equal basis with others. -
Professor Bruno de Witte is saying goodbye to Maastricht University, but not to European Law. He will continue to deliver his razor-sharp legal analyses at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence.
Blogs
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Throughout the EU, the rights of asylum seekers come under pressure. Overdue policy changes remain stuck in negotiations because of lacking political will. It is up to the European Commission to step up and protect the fundamental rights of asylum seekers.
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The debate on the implications of Dutch colonial rule in Indonesia recently intensified after a report concluded that the Dutch forces had used extreme violence. Reactions to the report reveal that the issue remains controversial and challenging to discuss. The findings in the report do however raise many legal questions that so far have remained unaddressed. There is thus an important role for legal scholars to move the discussion forward.
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Admittedly, the right to erasure, or more colloquially, the right to be forgotten is nothing new in the European legal landscape. Indeed, this right can be found as far back as 1981 in the predecessor of the Modernised Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (CETS No. 108) (Convention 108+).
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Thank God for Judge Egidijus Kūris. In ECtHR ruling Ahmet Hüsrev Altan v. Turkey of 13 April, he showed that decontextualized analysis is not inherent to supranational judicial review. Once again saucing up his dissent with Bob Dylan, he asked “how many times can [the ECtHR] turn [its] head and pretend that [it] just doesn’t see” the “pattern and tendency” in the treatment of civil society and independent journalism in Turkey. Kūris was referring to the majority’s failure to find ulterior motive in the prolonged pre-trial detention of a journalist –itself a “pattern and tendency in the [ECtHR’s] determination of Article 18 complaints against Turkey” and beyond.
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About a year ago, this blog published my contribution “Let us not forget about EU fundamental rights,” which addressed the situation at the EU’s external borders. At the time, the decision of the ECtHR in the case of N.D and N.T v. Spain, was heavily criticised for failing to protect the right to request international protection.
Events
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12 Jun 13 Jun10:00 - 12:30
Symposium Virtual Criminal Trials
The aimed output of the symposium is to create the forum for setting up a future research agenda and create opportunities for international and interdisciplinary collaboration amongst multidsciplinary experts in thie field.
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14 Jun09:30 - 17:15
Globalized crime and criminal justice: European and international criminal law perspectives
This conference aims to compare and critically assess the developments in European Criminal Law and International Criminal Law. The conference sets out to analyse differences and similarities with regard to a variety of different aspects of criminal justice in a globalized world.
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16 Jun09:30 - 18:00
Conference “Law, Change, and Time in the Age of Cognitive Sciences”
*** THIS CONFERENCE IS CANCELLED ***
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20 Jun 27 Oct09:00 - 17:00
ICON-S BENELUX Chapter Inaugural Conference
CALL FOR PAPERS
Crises, Challenges, and the Future of Public LawThe newly founded ICON-S Benelux Chapter will organize its Inaugural Conference on 26-27 October 2023. The conference will take place in Maastricht (NL), hosted by Maastricht University - Faculty of Law, with a fully in-person program of panels and keynote sessions. The overarching theme of the conference is Crises, Challenges, and the Future of Public Law.
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20 Jun14:00 - 15:30
MCEL Seminars
The activities of the centre include regular organisation of academic conferences and workshops, as well as monthly research seminars to which high-level speakers are invited to discuss a specific topic in the field of EU law.
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21 Jun 31 Dec11:00 - 12:30
Globalization & Law Network Seminar Series
The Globalization & Law Network is composed by a group of researchers of Maastricht University, coming from different backgrounds, who study the role that law plays in a globalizing society from a holistic perspective.
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21 Jun16:00 - 18:00
Maastricht Foundations of Law Colloquia
Dr. Tamar de Waal, Associate Professor Legal Philosophy and Citizenship at the University of Amsterdam - Title: Unconditional Belonging: the case for welcoming refugees as if they will stay
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22 Jun 23 Jun09:00 - 16:30
COMIPinDigiMarkts2023
Sustainable & Digital Competition on the Merits: A Comparative and Interdisciplinary Perspective
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23 Jun10:00 - 16:00
Graduation Ceremonies
Graduation Ceremonies for Masters
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26 Jun 30 Jun00:00
CLEER Summer School 2023
8th CLEER Summer School on the Law of EU External Relations
Maastricht Centre for Human Rights introduction
This short introduction tells about the interdisciplinary character of the centre for human rights.
Maastricht Centre for Human Rights past events
Human Rights beyond borders conference
The etoconsortium.org, together with MCfHR and FIAN International organized a conference in September 2017. The meeting brought together 45 academics, representatives of human rights NGOs, civil society organisations and human rights practitioners. They analysed the human rights beyond border dimensions of issues in policy fields such as debt and austerity; climate and ecology; financial capture and land grabbing, the regulation of transnational corporations; investment and trade.
30 years Limburg principles and migrationy
Conference ESC rights and migration. In June 1986 a group of distinguished experts in int. (human rights) law convened in Maastricht, to deliberate the nature and scope of state parties’ obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). This meeting resulted in the agreement and adoption of the so-called Limburg Principles. In light of the 30th anniversary of these, MCfHR organised a conference in December 2016, in the area of ESC rights and migration.
More information on the ESC conference
Theo van Boven lecture 2016
Each year, the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights organises a lecture to honour one of the centre's co-founders and former Director of the United Nations Division of Human Rights (1977-1982) Theo van Boven. This year's lecture was combined with the conference (1-2 December 2016) to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Limburg Principles. Prof. Philip Alston delivered a keynote speech on 1st December '16.
More information on the lecture
Read about the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights past key events:
- Human Rights beyond borders conference
- 30 years Limburg principles and migrationy
- Theo van Boven lecture 2016
The Subversives
Documentary about the life of one of the most important advocates of human rights. Theo van Boven, a former Director of the United Nations Division of Human Rights (1977-1982), was among the first to defend international human rights responsibilities with courage and openness. He came face-to-face with some of the most repressive regimes of the 20th century. This documentary details the dramatic journey of Theo van Boven and his team, and their struggle to bring justice and change to the UN.
Video: Trailer for The Subversives, a documentary about van Theo van Boven's time at the UN.
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