These blogs are written by the librarians of the Peace Palace Library. All blogs are dealing with subjects on International Law. Every blog contains links and references to the collection of the Peace Palace Library.
On the first of July this year the Netherlands are commemorating the 150th anniversary of the abolishment of slavery. Although slavery has officially been abolished, the modern slave trade, also called human trafficking, is still continuing, not only in the Netherlands but everywere.But what is human trafficking and what is the distinction between trafficking and human smuggling?
Read moreDespite losing its maritime coast, the so-called Littoral Department, after the War of the Pacific, Bolivia has historically maintained, as a state policy, a maritime claim to Chile. The claim asks for sovereign access to the Pacific Ocean and its maritime space. The Political Constitution of 2009 established that Bolivia declares its right to access to the sea, and that its objective is to solve the problem peacefully. Therefore, on 24 April 2013, Bolivia instituted proceedings against Chile before the International Court of Justice. A guest blog by Elizabeth Santalla Vargas.
Read moreAs a young democracy the EU urgently needs to strengthen its legitimacy and accountability. The transition from a traditional union of nation states to a polity of citizens and member states requires a fundamental adjustment of governance structures. The primordial challenge for the coming decades is therefore to address the democratic deficit and to turn the EU into a living democracy.
Read moreThe Peace Palace Library will be closed Tuesday, April 30th 2013, day of the new Dutch King’s Inauguration. On this special day, Her Majesty the Queen of The Netherlands will sign the instrument of abdication in the Royal Palace, Amsterdam. This is the constitutional procedure by which she formally relinquishes the throne. Once the instrument is signed, in other words before the investiture ceremony, the heir to the Throne, the Prince of Orange will become King under constitutional law. He will be King Willem-Alexander. The new King and the former Queen will then give a short address from the balcony of the Palace. The new King and Queen and their three young daughters will then make a public appearance on the balcony.
Read moreLately everyone is turning their eyes to Cyprus. The small Mediterranean country is the latest victim of Europe’s debt crisis, in which several members of the Eurozone were brought to the brink of bankruptcy by a combination of highly indebted banks and unsustainable sovereign debts. Last month, a troika of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund agreed on a rescue plan in respond to Cyprus’ need for a bailout.
Read moreHow to handle an incoming asteroid? What does Don Quijote have to do with it? Movies like “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon” make it seem so easy. But in reality there are many technological, legal and political obstacles to cope with. From 15-19 April, 2013, the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) will hold its third Planetary Defence Conference “Gathering for Impact!” in Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.
Read moreShortly after the 1899 Hague Peace Conference had ended, William T. Stead, a highly energetic and respected British journalist and pacifist who had followed the peace conference as an observer, and Andrew D. White, the American head of delegation and ambassador in Germany, convinced the Scottish-born American steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie to finance the ‘Temple for Peace’ that was to become the Peace Palace in The Hague.
Read moreProfessor Robert Feenstra, one of the most outstanding specialist in the legal writings of Hugo Grotius, died on March 2 at the age of 92. Prof. Feenstra was Professor of Legal History in Utrecht from 1949 till 1952 and Professor of Roman Law at Leyden University from 1952 till 1985. He published extensively on Grotius’s legal heritage.
Read moreSeveral violent and cruel gang rapes in India and South Africa, and the death of Reeva Steenkamp, who was shot and killed inside the house of her Olympic athlete boyfriend, have brought the issue of violence against women to the public conscience. The tsunami of violence against women has shocked and dismayed people all over the globe and led to public outrage, protests and public debates. How should the Indian criminal justice system be improved? What will it take to end violence against women?
Read moreMonday 12 March 2013 was marked as the final day of a two-day referendum on the disputed Falkland Islands. The question to the voters was: “Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom?” The Residents of the Falkland Islands voted overwhelmingly to remain a British Overseas Territory. More than 99% of voters said yes, just three people voted no. Turnout was 92%. The referendum was held in an effort to fend off aggressive Argentinian claims over the South Atlantic islands.
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Intellectual Property Law is a patchwork area of intersecting multilateral and bilateral agreements and their resulting harmonization of national laws. It has become an increasingly important and frequently litigated area, particularly in the patent, copyright, and trademark areas. In addition, in the past few decades, there have been louder calls for the protection of domain [...]
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Mare Liberum
Hugo Grotius Mare liberum / Robert Feenstra, Jeroen Vervliet, 1609-2009
De iure belli ac pacis libri tres (1st state) / Hugo Grotius, 1625
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On the first of July this year the Netherlands are commemorating the 150th anniversary of the abolishment of slavery. Although slavery has officially been abolished, [...]
Despite losing its maritime coast, the so-called Littoral Department, after the War of the Pacific, Bolivia has historically maintained, as a state policy, a maritime [...]
As a young democracy the EU urgently needs to strengthen its legitimacy and accountability. The transition from a traditional union of nation states to a [...]
Dear Library Users, the Peace Palace Library will be closed on: Thursday, May 9th (Ascension), Monday, May 20th (2nd Pentecost). With regards, the Peace Palace [...]
This month we interview François Roux, a distinguished lawyer from France, who is currently Head of Defence Office of the Special Tribunal of Lebanon (STL). [...]
Alex Alsemgeest is a book scientist at Naturalis Biodiversity Center, specialized in books from the early modern period. He got his formal training at the [...]
Ten years ago, the late, great American jurist Robert Bork wrote a short book entitled Coercing Virtue: The Worldwide Rule [...]
After nearly two months of riveting testimony and procedural rollercoasters, a trial court in Guatemala on May 10, 2013 found [...]
A new report on China has painted a grim picture of the world’s most populous country’s human rights record and [...]
