Maastricht Centre for Human Rights

Maastricht Centre for Human Rights

Research Institute

The Maastricht Centre for Human Rights brings together researchers with different disciplinary backgrounds from law and other academic fields, to conduct cutting edge human rights research. The Centre focuses on research themes that contribute to a fair and equitable society, and that raise fundamental questions about human rights. Human rights research carried out within the Centre takes a normative approach, reflecting an integrated view of both economic, social and cultural rights, as well as civil and political rights. Research conducted by Centre members incorporates doctrinal and applied methodologies, and is sometimes interdisciplinary in nature. The main focus of the Centre’s research lies in the legal field (including public international law and criminal law), but this research is combined with research from the social sciences (including criminology, political science, international relations) and at times philosophy and history (the humanities). Currently the Centre focuses on the following three areas of research.

Regional human rights systems and comparative human rights law

The members of the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights share a strong interest in comparative research and the examination of human rights issues arising in domestic, regional and international legal systems. This interest is reflected in the Centre’s research, which explores the intersections between jurisprudential developments emerging from various national and supranational courts as well as bodies involved in interpreting and implementing human rights norms.
 

Human rights, non-discrimination and inclusion

The theme ‘’human rights, non-discrimination and inclusion’’ brings together research on groups or individuals suffering from unjustifiable differential treatment and ingrained patterns of discrimination in society. Members investigate how legal rules and instruments can be used to address political, economic, criminal, environmental and social challenges by promoting equality and inclusion in society. Some of the research under this theme also tends to be comparative in nature, focusing on the integration and interaction between different legal orders operating at the national, supranational (European Union) and international levels.
 

Human rights, conflict and transitional justice

The perpetration of international crimes, such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression usually cause extensive harm to individuals, communities and societies more broadly.  Such crimes have occurred in different parts of the world since time immemorial, and they are likely to reoccur. Therefore, research on the relations and interplay between human rights, conflict and transitional justice (i.e., the full range of processes and mechanisms associated with society’s attempts to come to terms with a legacy of large-scale past abuses) is crucial to achieving accountability, promoting reconciliation and preventing future harm.


 Visit MCfHR's research

MCfHR’s research mainly takes place
in the following Faculty research stream:

1. Values

Institute visual Human Rights

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

You can find our episodes on

 YouTube

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News

Niels Philipsen appointed as Professor of Law and Economics

Dr Niels Philipsen has been appointed professor of Legal Economics at Maastricht University's Faculty of Law with effe

Niels Philipsen

Lilian Tsourdi appointed as Professor of European Migration Law and Governance

The Executive Board of the Faculty of Law has appointed Dr Lilian Tsourdi Professor of European Migration Law and Gove

Lilian Tsour

Gabriel Esquivel appointed as Professor of Transforensic Psychiatry

The Executive Board of the Faculty of Law has appointed Dr Gabriel Esquivel as Professor in Transforensic Psychiatry w

Gabriel Esquivel

Faculty of Law team secures second place in regional round of the Helga Pedersen Moot Court Competition

A team of talented students from the Faculty of Law at Maastricht University has delivered an outstanding performance, securing second pl

Our student team proudly showing their results in the Helga Pedersen Moot Court Competition

Maastricht University launches Friends of the Law Faculty

Maastricht University's Faculty of Law recently launched the Friends of the Faculty of Law initiative. 

Friends of the Law Faculty Maastricht University

Blogs

The EU’s race to the bottom on asylum seekers’ rights

Law

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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How do the Dutch deal with their colonial past?

Law

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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Hurbain v. Belgium: towards a fairer balancing exercise between the right to freedom of expression and the right to privacy?

Law

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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How many times can the ECtHR turn its head

Law

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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Part II: time for the Commission to act - Let us not forget about EU fundamental rights

Law

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.

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Events

Maastricht Centre for Human Rights​ introduction

This short introduction tells about the interdisciplinary character of the centre for human rights​.

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.