Projects and collaborations

The Shifting Paradigms of International Law through Adjudication and Normative Interplay

Funding: Maastricht University Starting Grant
PI: Alexandre Skander Galand
Examines how international courts and treaty bodies reshape legal paradigms through interpretive interaction between human rights law, international criminal law and general international law.

La Contribution du Droit International Public dans la Promotion et la Protection des Droits

Researcher: Emmanuel Djimtouloum

Oxford Reports on International Human Rights Law – UN Treaty Bodies

Editor-in-Chief: Alexandre Skander Galand
A leading reporting service analysing the jurisprudence of UN human rights treaty bodies, enabling comparative research and cross-fertilisation across systems.

Nordic Journal of Human Rights

Editorial Board Member: Andrea Broderick

Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research (NNHRR)

Steering Committee Member: Andrea Broderick

European Disability Expertise (EDE) Network

Role: Lisa Waddington – Senior Research Team & Legal Research Coordinator
Role: Andrea Broderick – Senior Legal Expert
European Commission-supported network providing comparative analysis and expertise on disability rights implementation across EU Member States and a number of associated states.

Demarginalizing Intersectionality within Equality Law: Critically Analyzing the EU Equality Framework

Researcher: Nozizwe Dube

Strengthening Social Europe: The Potential of the (Revised) European Social Charter in Furthering Social Rights in EU Law

Researcher: Saskia von Landenberg
Assesses the current protection of social rights under EU law and the possibility of strengthening such protection through closer cooperation with, and possible accession to, the Council of Europe's (Revised) European Social Charter.

Between Heritage and Concealment: Redefining Adoptees' Right to know their Origins

Researcher: Vivian Salles Vieira Pinto
Examines the legal position of adoptees, including access to origins, identity rights, and the intersection of family law and international human rights standards.

Berkeley Center Disability Rights Working Group

Co-Coordinator: Lisa Waddington
International comparative research initiative advancing disability rights scholarship and collaboration which is part of the Berkeley Centre on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law.

Global Campus of Human Rights

Role: Andrea Broderick 
Member; Dutch Director of the European Master’s Programme in Human Rights and Democratisation (Venice) and Member of the Executive Committee.

CHILD-WAR: Children and Armed Conflict

Funding: NWO
PI: Marieke Hopman
Research on children’s agency, protection and participation in contexts of armed conflict.

Never the twain shall meet? At the crossroad of jus ad bellum and jus in bello

Funding: Maastricht University Starter Grant
PI: Laura Visser
Examines the intersections between the law on the use of force and the law applicable during armed conflicts.

CHILD-NORMS

Lead: Marieke Hopman
Theoretical and empirical research developing a model for the structural realisation of children’s rights.

CHILD-PEACE (Fundraising Phase)

Explores children’s participation in peacebuilding in post-conflict de facto states.

Children’s Rights Research Group

Director: Marieke Hopman
Advisory Board Member: Andrea Broderick
Umbrella research group hosting multiple projects on children’s rights in conflict and fragile contexts.

DNA of Genocide Denial

Researcher: Roland Moerland
A research project developing a data set to perform a computer assisted discourse-network analysis with the aim to map and visualize genocide denial networks in graphs.

The Moral of the Story

Researcher: Roland Moerland
A research project on how narrative affects the persuasiveness and organisation of genocide denial.

Addressing the Character of the 1945–49 Indonesia–Netherlands Armed Conflict

Researcher: Noer Nurhidayatuloh
Examines the legal characterisation and post-conflict consequences of interstate armed conflict.

Weaponising the Economy: Unilateral Sectoral Sanctions

Researcher: Gaia Zoboli
Analyses the international legal framework governing unilateral sanctions and economic coercion.

ICRC Commentaries on the Geneva Conventions (Revision)

Editorial Board Member: Liesbeth Lijnzaad
Revision of the authoritative ICRC commentaries on the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols.

Revision of the San Remo Manual on Naval Warfare

Expert Group Member: Liesbeth Lijnzaad
Updating the 1994 Manual to reflect contemporary naval warfare and legal developments.

ILA Committee on Use of Force: Military Action with Consent

Member: Laura Visser
Examines the legal framework governing military intervention undertaken with state consent.

ILA Committee on Urbanisation and International Law: Potential and Pitfalls

Member: Wim Muller
Examines and clarifies how international law evolves in urban contexts and, in turn, why and how cities engage in international law and governance.

ILA Committee on Comparative Diplomatic and Consular Immunities Privileges and Inviolabilities

Member: Fabián Raimondo
Examines and analyzes how domestic courts worldwide interpret and apply international laws regarding the protections afforded to diplomats and consular staff. 

ESIL Interest Group on International Criminal Justice

Chair: Alexandre Skander Galand
Forum for scholarly analysis of developments in international criminal justice.

International Court of Justice

Counsel and advocate: Fabián Raimondo

International Criminal Court

Counsel and advocate: Fabián Raimondo

Since 2015, Maastricht has served as a temporary safe haven for human rights defenders facing threats, pressure, or persecution in their home countries. The Shelter City network—an initiative of Justice & Peace Netherlands—has grown into a global community of more than twenty participating cities worldwide, including fourteen in the Netherlands. Together, these cities offer essential protection and space for reflection to those on the front lines of defending human rights.

Over the past decade, thanks to strong local collaboration between the Municipality of Maastricht, Maastricht University, Mondiaal Maastricht, and Amnesty Maastricht, almost twenty human rights defenders have been welcomed to the city. During their stay, they have had the opportunity to rest, rebuild, expand their networks, and continue their crucial work in safety.

Prof. Fons Coomans, former director of the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights. Prof. Coomans has been closely involved with Shelter City Maastricht since its establishment. 

The Maastricht Centre for Human Rights is proud to be part of this meaningful initiative and looks forward to continuing this important work in the years to come.

The Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research aims to unite researchers in the field of human rights and provides a joint training programme for Ph.D. researchers  and annual human rights conference.

The Network is an inter-university alliance of universities and research institutes – a joint effort of Utrecht School of Law, and the Faculties of Law of Maastricht University, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Tilburg University, Leiden University, Groningen University and the University of Amsterdam. The T.M.C. Asser Institute in The Hague hosts the secretariat and management of the Network.

The Maastricht Centre for Human Rights is one of the core institutes participating in the research alliance.

The Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI), is a network of over 80 (and growing) member institutes that carries out research and educational activities in the field of human rights. The member institutes are from over 30 different countries spanning all continents. AHRI’s objective is to bring together human rights researchers from across the disciplines, to facilitate the exchange of ideas and collaboration, and to promote research, education and discussion in the field of human rights.

The Maastricht Centre for Human Rights is proud to be one of the member institutes.