Research institutes
Montesquieu Institute
The Montesquieu Institute Maastricht is a research centre dedicated to European and comparative parliamentary studies. Montesquieu's 'formula' for the organisation of a sustainable and democratic society has to a large extent determined the organisation of many 'modern' parliamentary democracies. However, this formula provides some challenging questions: is it still applicable nowadays? One of the objectives of the inter-university Montesquieu Institute is to stimulate both Dutch and foreign scientiok for answers to this kind of questions. It is a collaboration between, amongst others, UM, Leiden University and the University of Groningen.
Fast facts
- European and comparative study of liberal democracies, parliamentary systems and the rule of law
- participates in the interuniversity Montesquieu institute
- main seat: Maastricht Faculty of Law
- led by Prof. Aalt Willem Heringa
Research
The Montesquieu Institute Maastricht focuses on parliamentary systems of government in Europe and in the European Union, on aspects of separation of power, democracy and the rule of law and human rights. The Institute’s aim is to contribute to the academic and public debate on democracy and governance in the European Union and its member-states by deepening the understanding of the constitutional structures and political practice of national systems of parliamentary government and rule of law and democracy. It takes a thoroughly comparative approach to parliamentary studies in a European context and analyses national systems in a vertical multi-layered perspective.
With its focus, the constitutional law research is well suited to the faculty and university themes related to globalisation, Europeanisation and comparative law, as laid down in the two research pillars about Global Justice and Institutional Transformation.
Montesquieu’s research mainly takes place in the following pillars:
1. Global Justice
2. Institutional Transformations
Montesquieu news
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Withholding EU subsidies is no panacea for Hungarian rule of law
Tuesday, April 26, 2022Read moreEarlier this month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in the European Parliament that the Commission will launch a procedure to withhold EU subsidies to Hungary for violating the rule of law.
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Research grant for Monica Claes and Maarten Stremler
Tuesday, March 22, 2022Read moreProfessor Monica Claes and assistant professor Maarten Stremler have received a grant from the Statesman Thorbecke Fund of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts & Sciences.
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National parliaments in the European Union
Thursday, February 3, 2022Read morePhD thesis written by Sofie Wolf.
A legal comparison between the Dutch and the German parliament in EU affairs. The purpose of this dissertation is to compare the activities of the Dutch and German parliament in EU affairs.
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Conflict or Concord?
Wednesday, February 2, 2022PhD thesis written by Prashant Sabharwal.
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The Jurisprudential Response of the National Constitutional Courts of Germany, France and the United Kingdom to the Primacy Doctrine of the Court of Justice of the European Union from 2005 to 2015 – and the Lessons to be Learnt. -
Staatsrecht begrepen
Friday, May 1, 2020This publication is only in Dutch.
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Staatsrecht begrepen is een gestructureerde en systematische inleiding in het Nederlandse staatsrecht. Lichamen, organen, bevoegdheden, wetgeving, de verhouding regering en parlement, rechtspraak, grondrechten, bestuur, decentralisatie, de doorwerking van EU-recht en van internationaal recht worden beschreven en uiteengezet. -
Populism and Democracy
Tuesday, April 7, 2020This volume is part of a research project on populism and democracy conducted at Maastricht University, Faculty of Law, and funded by the Statesman Thorbecke Fund at the Dutch Royal Academy of Sciences (knaw).
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SAVE THE DATE: Conference 'Populism and Democracy'
Friday, October 11, 2019The conference 'Populism and Democracy' brings together scholars of constitutional law and political science from around the world to discuss the influence of populist politics on constitutional developments, the reasons for success or failure of constitutional defences, and potential ways out of the global crisis of liberal democracy. The conference will take place on Friday, 24 April 2020 at UM Campus Brussels.
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Better Legal Education in Indonesia
Friday, September 20, 2019The Faculties of Law of Airlangga University in Surabaya and Maastricht University, the Netherlands, in collaboration with the Maastricht School of Management (MSM) have been awarded a grant under the Orange Knowledge Programme to embark on the important mission of strengthening skills, ethics, and integrity in Indonesian legal education. This newsletter aims to provide you with the latest update on the project.
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Constitutions compared
Friday, September 13, 2019The 5th edition of this handbook provides a user-friendly introduction to comparative constitutional law. For each area of constitutional law, a general introduction and a comparative overview is provided, which is then followed by more detailed country chapters on that specific area. The author has expanded several chapters to provide for even more detail on national legal systems and constitutional comparison.
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Comparative Constitutional Law Documents
Friday, September 13, 2019Comparative Constitutional Law Documents contains a selection of constitutions and fundamental legislative instruments from five Western democracies: the United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
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Montesquieu bundel: Groot onderhoud of kruimelwerk
Friday, July 5, 2019Dutch only.
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Heeft de Nederlandse democratie en rechtsstaat groot, achterstallig onderhoud nodig, of blijft het beperkt tot kruimelwerk? Zorgt het advies van Staatscommissie Remkes voor te hoge constitutionele verwachtingen? Dit is de vraag die centraal staat in de nieuwste bundel van het Montesquieu Instituut die op 3 juli werd uitgereikt aan minister Ollongren van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties. -
“Better less control over more than the other way around”
Monday, July 1, 2019As part of our series Maastricht, reflecting on Europe, Aalt Willem Heringa, professor of (Comparative) Constitutional and Administrative Law, calls for more powers to the European Parliament.
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Indonesia legal education and legal society project (OKP)
Monday, June 17, 2019We are happy to report that a large project, Indonesia legal education and legal society, under NUFFIC’s Orange Knowledge Programme has been awarded to our faculty.
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Europa, Europa: op weg naar de verkiezingen van mei 2019
Tuesday, May 7, 2019The newest edition of the Montesquieu reeks no 12 "Europa, Europa: op weg naar de verkiezingen van mei 2019" ("Europe, Europe: on the way to the May 2019 elections") is out!
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An uneven balance? A legal analysis of power asymmetries between national parliaments in the EU
Monday, March 25, 2019The book provides a comprehensive legal analysis of power asymmetries that exist between national parliaments in the EU.
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New book: Bevrijdende en begrenzende soevereiniteit
Tuesday, December 11, 2018New book: Bevrijdende en begrenzende soevereiniteit. The book brings together many of the annual conference contributions (both English and Dutch). The contributions focus in particular on the meaning of sovereignty and the relationship between the nation state and the European Union.
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Launch of Montesquieu volume 11 'Een goede raad'
Tuesday, October 16, 2018This information is only available in Dutch.
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Comparative Government ook in Luzern
Thursday, August 4, 2016De staf van het Maastrichtse MI zal dit najaar voor de tweede keer de mastercursus Comparative Government verzorgen aan de rechtenfaculteit van de universiteit van Luzern. Deze samenwerking bevalt beide partijen uitstekend en geeft ons kans om onze expertise op het vergelijkende staatsrecht te delen met een grotere groep (internationale) studenten. De docenten die in Luzern zullen doceren zijn Aalt Willem Heringa, Sascha Hardt en Thu Hoai Nguyen.
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Montesquieu blogs
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Read moreinGeneral
In the 1980s, in the heyday of Thatcherism, Scottish actor Ian Richardson starred in the leading role of Francis Urquhart in the BBC series House of Cards. In it, Urquhart, who starts out as the Chief Whip for the Conservative government led by Thatcher’s fictional successor, schemes against and...
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Read moreinGeneral
(1798-1872). Dutch liberal statesman. Drafted the 1848 revision of the Dutch Constitution that established the parliamentary system.
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Read moreinGeneral
Since the educational spaces in our faculty have all been named, we would like to tell about the background of the elected jurists and cases. Through a series of blogs we want to make the names come to life and show that our building houses a legal faculty. After all, not everyone knows all the ins...
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Read moreinGeneral
The recent verdict (“the PSPP judgment”) of the German Federal Constitutional Court (“FCC”) on the compatibility of the Public Sector Purchase Programme (“the Programme”) under the management of the European Central Bank (“ECB”) has attracted plenty of commentary, much of it critical concerning the...
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Read moreinGeneral
On Tuesday, 7 April the Dutch Eerste Kamer approved an urgent bill digital decision-making for local authorities, de spoedwet digitale besluitvorming. The law ensures that municipal councils, provincial states, water boards as well as island councils will be able to take decisions digitally for as...
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Read moreinGeneral
The current pandemic caused by the Corona virus has had a decisive impact to all areas of life: from moving school and University education online, to shutting down non-essential businesses while a range of emergency measures were adopted throughout the world for those finding themselves unemployed...
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Read moreinGeneral
Monday, 9 March 2020 marked the 100th day in office of the new European Commission under President Von der Leyen. The Commission had promised to deliver a number of priorities set out in the President’s Political Guidelines by this self-imposed deadline – priorities that, however, do not include...
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Read moreinGeneral
On 1 st July 2020 Germany will for the first time in 13 years again take over the rotating six-months Presidency of the Council of the EU – and with the Presidency come high hopes that a Member State with the political weight and capacities such as Germany will be able to significantly push forward...
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Read moreinGeneral
With Prime Minister Boris Johnson facing stiff opposition to his signature Brexit policy, he suffers a momentous defeat in the United Kingdom Supreme Court. How did it happen? What was the reasoning of the judges, and what are the implications of the verdict?
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Read moreinGeneral
Een levende cursus constitutioneel recht en tevens een Shakespeareaans drama of Griekse tragedie. Dat is het schouwspel in het Verenigd (of: Verdeeld) Koninkrijk.
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Read moreinGeneral
Britain gets a hard-fought extension, with incalculable consequences.
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Read moreinGeneral
With options running out before the United Kingdom faces yet another critical deadline, Prime Minister Theresa May tries one last (desperate) gamble to “save Brexit” – reaching out to the Labour Party. Will it be successful? Which are the options remaining on the table? What could happen next? Here...
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Read moreinGeneral
Staying just a little bit longer? Or for good? Summary: With the European Council throwing a lifeline to the United Kingdom, all options are back on the table. Rather than taking back control, the United Kingdom now finds itself dependent on the remainder of the European Union – with the absence of...
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Read moreinGeneral
With merely two weeks before the United Kingdom’s scheduled withdrawal from the European Union, Westminster still does not know what it wants and where it wishes to go.
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Read moreinGeneral
The Italian Senate committee tasked with advising the Senate on the lifting of immunities , voted to block an investigation...
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Read moreinGeneral
In the hour of need, the United Kingdom is saddled with elected officials who fail to match the moment.
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Read moreinGeneral
Not in the mood for a deal: The Houses of Parliament in Westminster.
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Read moreinGeneral
Is it legally possible for Trump to invoke an emergency in order to avoid Congress and obtain the necessary funds to build his wall? Or put differently: is it possible under US law to undo the refusal of Congress to appropriate the necessary funds?
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Read moreinGeneral
Theresa May’s favoured Brexit deal is finished. The question remains when the Prime Minister will finally be prevailed upon to understand this reality – and when Parliament will finally take charge of the process.
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Read moreinGeneral
What does sovereignty mean in today’s world, given trends of globalisation, Europeanisation and also polarisation?
Montesquieu recent publications
- Stremler, M. (Author). (2022). Inhouden EU-subsidies is geen wondermiddel voor Hongaarse rechtsstaat. Web publication/site, Europa Nu. https://www.europa-nu.nl/id/vlsahfhh5qow/nieuws/inhouden_eu_subsidies_is_geen?ctx=vh72mb14wkwh&s0e=vhdubxdwqrzw&tab=0More information about this publication
- Trifunovic, J. (2022). Established Facts in an 'Age of Misinformation' A Contemporary Approach to Judicial Notice in International Criminal Law. Journal of International Criminal Justice. https://doi.org/10.1093/jicj/mqac015More information about this publication
- van der Sluis, M. (2022). National central banks in EMU: time for revision? Journal of Banking Regulation, 23(1), 19-30. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41261-021-00175-zMore information about this publication
- Imamovic, S. (2022). The Architecture of Fundamental Rights in the European Union. Hart Publishing. Modern Studies in European Law Vol. 107More information about this publication
- Stremler, M. (2022). Barsten in de democratische rechtsorde: Coalitieakkoord en constitutioneel onderhoud. In J. Schinkelshoek, & A. W. Heringa (Eds.), ‘Lang, heel lang’: Kabinetsformatie 2021 (pp. 59-69). Montesquieu Instituut . Montesquieu Reeks Vol. 19 https://www.montesquieu-instituut.nl/9353262/d/mireeks/bundel19.pdfMore information about this publication
- Sabharwal, P. (2022). Conflict or concord? The jurisprudential response of the National Constitutional Courts of Germany, France and the United Kingdom to the Primacy Doctrine of the Court of Justice of the European Union from 2005 to 2015 – and the lessons to be learnt. https://doi.org/10.26481/dis.20220202psMore information about this publication
- de Poorter, J., Van der Schyff, G., Stremler, M., & de Visser, M. (Eds.) (2022). European Yearbook of Constitutional Law 2021: Constitutional Advice. TMC Asser Press. European Yearbook of Constitutional Law Vol. 3More information about this publication
- Wolf, S. P. M. (2022). Nationale parlementen in de Europese Unie: Een juridische vergelijking tussen het Nederlandse en Duitse parlement in Europese aangelegenheden. Boom Juridisch. https://doi.org/10.26481/dis.20220203swMore information about this publication
- van der Sluis, M. (Author). (2021). Een superminister voor klimaat? Dan ook een super-Kamercommissie!. Web publication/site, Montesquieu Instituut . https://www.montesquieu-instituut.nl/id/vlnmigqyz0ma/nieuws/een_superminister_voor_klimaat_dan_ookMore information about this publication
- Waltermann, A. (2021). A positivist foundation of the legal system: Popular sovereignty as a social convention or social rule. In J. L. Fabra-Zamora, & G. Villa Rosas (Eds.), Conceptual Jurisprudence: Methodological Issues, Conceptual Tools and New Approaches (pp. 75-97). Springer International Publishing. Law and Philosophy Library Vol. 137More information about this publication
- van der Sluis, M. (2021). The ECB should combat climate change, because it can. EU Law Live , (73), 2-7. https://eulawlive.com/weekend-edition/weekend-edition-no72-2/More information about this publication
- Peirone, F. (2021). The Rule of the Present, not the Past. Jus Cogens, 3(3), 1-28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42439-021-00045-2More information about this publication
- Hardt, S., & Kornet, N. (Eds.) (2021). The Maastricht Collection. (7 ed.) Europa Law Publishing.More information about this publication
- Waltermann, A. (2021). On the legal responsibility of artificially intelligent agents: Addressing three misconceptions. Technology and Regulation, 2021, 35-43. https://techreg.org/index.php/techreg/article/view/79More information about this publication
- Hage, J., & Waltermann, A. (2021). Responsibility, Liability, and Retribution. In B. Brozek, J. Hage, & N. Vincent (Eds.), Law and Mind: A Survey of Law and the Cognitive Sciences (pp. 255-288). Cambridge University Press. Law and the Cognitive Sciences https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108623056.013More information about this publication
- Waltermann, A. (2021). On the conceptual link between sovereignty and legitimacy. In A. Santos Campos, & S. Cadilha (Eds.), Sovereignty as Value (pp. 109-124). Rowman & Littlefield International.More information about this publication
- Gentile, G. (2021). 'Verba Volant, Quoque (Soft Law) Scripta?' An analysis of the legal effects of national soft law implementing EU soft law in France and the UK. In M. Eliantonio, E. Korkea-aho, & O. Stefan (Eds.), EU Soft Law in the Member States: Theoretical findings and empirical evidence (pp. 79-98). Hart Publihsing. EU law in the Member StatesMore information about this publication
- Hardt, S. (2021). Data Revolution and Public Will Formation: Regulating Democratic Processes in the Digital Age . In M. Belov (Ed.), Book Cover The IT Revolution and its Impact on State, Constitutionalism and Public Law (pp. 109-124). Hart Publishing.More information about this publication
- van der Sluis, M. (2021). Contesting the monetary policies of the European Central Bank. In A. Arcuri, & F. Coman-Kund (Eds.), Technocracy and the Law: Accountability, Governance and Expertise (pp. 91-108). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.More information about this publication
- Gentile, G. (Author). (2021). 'Faraway, so close!' The principle of effective judicial protection and the constitutional traditions common to the Member States. Web publication/site, EU Law Live. https://eulawlive.com/weekend-edition/weekend-edition-no64/More information about this publication
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