Author Archives: KNVIR

Important recent appointments

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On 28 August 2017, our honorary member prof.mr dr Nico J. Schrijver was sworn in by His Majesty King Willem Alexander as State Councillor (Staatsraad) in the Advisory Division (Afdeling advisering) of the Council of State (Raad van State).

Prof. Schrijver is professor of public international law at Leiden University and Director of the University’s Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies. From 7 June 2011 until 1 September 2017, when he took up his position as State Councillor, prof. Schrijver was a member of the Netherlands Senate (Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal). He also is one of the four Dutch members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

Earlier this summer, our Board member prof.dr Liesbeth Lijnzaad was elected as a judge at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea at Hamburg.

Prof. Lijnzaad is the first judge from The Netherlands to occupy this position. On 30 September 2017, the day before she takes up her new position at the ITLOS, she will leave the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she worked as Legal Adviser for almost 25 years. Prof. Lijnzaad also is professor of Practice of International Law at Maastricht University and a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

The KNVIR congratulates prof. Schrijver and prof. Lijnzaad with their highly prestigious appointments.

Fake News and National Sovereignty: Spring Meeting 2017

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Fake News and National Sovereignty
The dangers of politically and militarily motivated fake news
and its impact on national interests

Spring Meeting
of the Royal Netherlands Society of International Law

Tuesday 13 june 2017 at 19:00 Hrs.
at the
The Hague Institute for Global Justice
Sophialaan 10, The Hague

Speaker

Mr Jan Kleijssen

Director of Information Society and
 Action against Crime, Council of Europe

Respondent

Rosa S.E.V. Toxopeus, M.A.

Analyst National Security
 National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism
 Analysis and Strategy Department (DAS)

Although fake news is by no means a new topic, the arrival of social media and today’s cyber hyper-connectivity have ensured that ‘fake news’ receives more attention now than ever before. Where it concerns a prank, it may be funny. Where the privacy or integrity of persons is involved, it is quite a different matter and may have legal consequences. On a different level, fake news has an effect across borders and impacts international relations or the sovereignty of states, for example in the context of presidential elections, as – most likely – witnessed in the U.S.A., or in times of political tension. What are the dangers of cross-border ‘fake news’ and what can be done against it?

Combating cross-border fake news is complicated from a technical perspective, but it also raises complex questions of both national and international law. An example: Facebook and Google recently announced action to address fake news, but how far does their responsibility reach and what can actually be done in practice? To what extent are organisations such as the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism active in tackling this issue and what legal means do they have, if any? Also, does it make any difference whether fake news is spread by state representatives or by non-state actors?

Mr. Kleijssen, who heads the Council of Europe’s Information Society and Action against Crime Directorate, will reflect on the topic from the perspective of the Directorate’s responsibility in these areas, which comprise standard setting, monitoring and cooperation on a wide variety of issues, including internet governance and cybercrime.

Ms. Toxopeus will reflect on Mr. Kleijssen’s introduction from the perspective of her experience as analyst for the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism.

The presentation and the discussion will be held in English.

Book Presentation

On the occasion of the Spring Meeting two new books, whose authors have close connections with the KNVIR, will be presented to Dr K.H.D.M. Dijkhoff, Minister for Migration (Staatssecretaris Veiligheid en Justitie):

Discover International Law
With Special Attention for The Hague, City of Peace and Justice
by Prof. Willem van Genugten, Daniela Heerdt, LL.M. and Prof. Nico Schrijver
(Wolf Legal Publishers, Oisterwijk, The Netherlands)

and

The Art of Making Peace
Lessons Learned from Peace Treaties
Edited by Steven van Hoogstraten, Nico Schrijver, Otto Spijkers and Anneleen de Jong
(Brill / Nijhoff, Leiden, The Netherlands)

It will be possible to purchase these books at the end of the meeting.

Date and Venue

Date and Time: Tuesday 13 June 2017, 19:00 – 21:00 hrs.
Coffee/tea available from 18:30 hrs. onwards
Venue: The Hague Institute for Global Justice, Sophialaan 10, 2514 JR The Hague
Admission: Free for members and non-members
Registration: Not required
More information: Secretariat KNVIR. E-mail:

Annual General Meeting 2016

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Achter Sint Pieter 200

On Friday 4 November 2016 the Annual General Meeting was held in Utrecht.  The theme of the meeting was:

UN Declaration on the Right to Development 1986 – 2016, 
Ways to Promote Further Progress in Practice

The public part of the meeting was devoted to a discussion of two papers on the theme mentioned above:

  • Prof.mr dr C.J.M. Arts and Dr A. Tamo
    Revitalizing the Right to Development in International Law
  • Prof.dr K. De Feyter
    The Right to Development: A Treaty and Its Discontents

The printed version of the papers was published by T.M.C. Asser Press in The Hague and may be ordered by applying to .

At the end of the meeting the biennial François Prize was awarded.

The proceedings of the meeting are being prepared and will be published on this website as soon as they are available.

Migration, Refugees and International Law: Spring Meeting 2016

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On Wednesday 25 May 2016 the Spring Meeting was held in The Hague on the subject:

 

MIGRATION REFUGEES AND INTERNATIONAL LAW

Drs. Bram van Ojik
Special Envoy for Migration,
 Netherlands
Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Mr. Flip Schüller
Lawyer at Prakken d’Oliveira,
Amsterdam

and

Dr. Hans van Loon
Former Secretary-General of the Hague Conference on 
Private International Law

Asylum, migration and refugee issues dominate the news, and confront the community of international lawyers with pertinent questions as to clashes between political pragmatism, required given the magnitude of the problems at hand, and the obligation to live up to international law.  The KNVIR devoted its annual Spring meeting to this particular topic by organising a discussion among the Special Envoy for Migration of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and two legal specialists, together representing the two ‘branches’ of the KNVIR:  Public and Private International Law.  The meeting also commemorated the late KNVIR Treasurer Dr. Peter J. van Krieken, who was a specialist in this field as well.

Annual General Meeting 2015

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On Friday 6 November 2015 the Annual General Meeting was held at the The Hague Institute for Global Justice, Sophialaan 10, 2514 JR The Hague.

The theme of the meeting was:

Settlement of International Trade Disputes:
Achievements and Challenges

 

The public part of the meeting was devoted to a discussion of four papers on the theme mentioned above:

  • Prof.dr P.L.H. Van den Bossche
    The WTO at 20:  A Glass Half Full, Half Empty … or Broken?
  • Mr dr F. Baetens
    Investment Chapters Including Dispute Settlement Mechanisms in Bilateral Trade Agreements
  • Prof.mr dr M.C.E.J. Bronckers
    Is Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) Superior to Litigation before Domestic Courts?
    An EU View on Bilateral Trade Agreements
  • Prof.dr G.A. Van Calster
    Multa, Multi et Distincta
    The Adjudication of International Trade Disputes Seen from a Conflict of Laws Perspective

Annual General Meeting, 6 November 2015

The printed version of the papers has been published by T.M.C. Asser Press in The Hague and may be ordered here. Members have received the papers via regular mail.

The proceedings of the meeting are being prepared and will be published on this website as soon as they are available.

 

In Memoriam Dr. P.J. van Krieken 1949-2015

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In Memoriam

Dr. P.J. van Krieken
1949 – 2015

Charming, intelligent, internationalist, slightly eccentric, committed and engaging: these are only a few words to describe the multifaceted personality of Dr Peter van Krieken, Treasurer of the Royal Netherlands Society of International Law, who passed away, aged 65, on 22 May 2015 after a brief but devastating illness. Peter was a very well educated and talented man, who knew his classics, was a passionate violinist and a gifted teacher.

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ESIL 11th Annual Conference

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ESIL 11th Annual Conference: The Judicialization of International Law – A Mixed Blessing?, Oslo, 10 – 12 September 2015

The 2015 ESIL Annual Conference will be held on Thursday 10 – Saturday 12 September 2015 at the University of Oslo.

The Call for Agora Proposals and Papers and Call for Posters are now open, and the deadline for submissions is 31 January 2015.

esil

Further details of the event can be found on the conference website…

François Prize 2014

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At the Annual General Meeting, on Friday 7 November 2014, the biennial François Prize was awarded to Arron Honniball, author of a paper entitled:  ‘Anti-whaling activism in the Southern Ocean and the international law on piracy: An evaluation of the requirement to act for ‘private ends’ and its applicability to Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’.

An honourable mention went to Itamar Magid, who wrote a paper with the title:  ‘Humanitarian Intervention. Responses to the Legal Paradigm’.

These two papers were chosen from more than 20 submitted for this year’s prize.

Click here for the jury report…

Click here for the text of the prize winning paper…