This volume contains the proceedings of the 66th Colloquium on the Law of Outer Space held in October 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan, as well as the report of the IISL Standing Committee on the Status of International Agreements Relating to Activities in Outer Space.
Procedural agreements hold the potential to effectively customise and expedite civil proceedings. However, their impact on access to justice, particularly for weaker litigants, and the potential erosion of the court's role raise significant concerns. Despite the growing acceptance of procedural contracts, it is still unclear how courts should interpret and when they should enforce these agreements. This book delves into the critical examination of choice-of-court, evidentiary, costs, appeal, and alternative dispute resolution agreements, offering a discussion on the boundaries between procedural and contract law. It interrogates the entanglements between procedural agreements, flexible procedural rules, case management, and the increasing complexity of litigated cases. Additionally, it examines the interrelations between procedural contracts and current trends in civil litigation, including the obligation of European courts to safeguard consumers against unfair terms and the emergence of international commercial courts.The book provides valuable insights on procedural agreements for both academics and practitioners, illuminating the dynamics of contractualisation', flexibilisation', diversification', and arbitralisation' of civil litigation.
The book is the extended version of the inaugural lecture given by Professor Petra Bárd on 21 September 2023 on the occasion of her taking up the Chair in Sustainable Rule of Law at the Research Centre for State and Law (SteR) in the Faculty of Law at Radboud University, Nijmegen.
Professor Bárd places the specific manifestation of rule of law deficiencies in the evolution of European criminal justice within a broader constitutional context. She has led the way in reframing the academic and policy debates, so that mutual trust and mutual recognition, the principle guiding EU criminal cooperation, are firmly grounded in the framework of defending and sustaining the inextricably linked values of democracy, the protection of fundamental rights and the rule of law.
The inaugural lecture, just like the award of the Chair, is a testament to Professor Bárd's immense contribution towards understanding and defending the rule of law in Europe in challenging times.
For the identity and well-functioning of Europe, independent national judiciaries are key, and the selection processes of judges and Court Presidents essential. During the last decade, however, several European Governments have been undermining this by trying to establish political control over national judges, especially through political dominance over the selection and appointment processes for judges and Court Presidents.
In his inaugural speech, Sterk addresses the topic of selection processes, both on substance as well as on procedure. He analyses the case law of the European Court of Justice as well as the European Court of Human Rights, and the enforcement policies of the European Commission.
Sterk identifies problems and recommends five steps to protect independent justice in Europe including the systemic enforcement gap, an effective enforcement duty, the standards for selection bodies, a duty to reason selection decisions, and on limiting the power of the executive to refuse candidates selected by selection bodies.
Addiction is pervasively present within the criminal justice sector, resulting in legal professionals regularly dealing with addicted defendants. Yet addiction is a complex and heterogeneous phenomenon, resulting in controversies regarding its conceptualisation, and thus diffi culties in addressing addiction-related crime in court. Over the last decades, addiction has increasingly been conceptualised as a brain disease, which arguably could alter the law's current approach towards the criminal liability of addicted defendants. In this book, an overview of the different ways of conceptualising addiction is provided, before applying this knowledge onto both the legal framework of Dutch criminal law, and to more universal legal concepts. As such, the compatibility of concepts such as intent, premeditation, insanity, diminished responsibility and prior fault, with potentially impaired capacities stemming from addiction,
is critically examined. After assessing the `law in the books', the second half of the book contains an evaluation of the `law in action'. This encompasses the role of addiction in case fi les, the presence of neuroscientific information in cases of addicted defendants, its infl uence on legal decision-making, and experiential accounts of legal professionals. Combining normative, comparative and experimental designs, the author does not only analyse some of the complexities of addiction in the context of criminal justice, but also contributes to the growing practice of interdisciplinary and empirical (neuro)legal research.
Anna Elisabeth Goldberg received her BA degree consisting of a mix of social sciences at University College Maastricht before obtaining her MSc in Forensic Psychology at Maastricht University. Between 2017 and 2021, she carried out her PhD research at the department of Criminal Law and Criminology of the Faculty of Law at the same university. She is currently working as an assistant professor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
The absence of the accused in criminal proceedings leading to a conviction causes many legal and practical questions when an European Arrest Warrant is issued to execute such an in absentia judgment. Whereas some Member States see no problem in allowing trials without the accused, other Member States have serious objections to it. These different standards create many problems in practice and necessitate the executing judicial authority to request supplementary information from the issuing judicial authority, leading to delays and extra costs. It may result in - sometimes unjustified - refusals to execute the EAW. This study identifies the problems concerning the application of Article 4a(1) Framework Decision 2002/584 on in absentia judgments and proposes both practical and legislative solutions. It intends to contribute to a reduction of the number of in absentia cases, speeding up the surrender proceedings and raising the safeguards for the individual.
Proponents of multiculturalism do not usually subscribe to Islamist goals. Yet, across Europe, these are being furthered. Sharia councils are deeply at odds with Western moral and legal principles of equality, freedom and justice. But high-profile multiculturalists tend to present a romanticised view of these councils, which obscures both the ideology that motivates them and their practical consequences. Are Sharia councils a legitimate expression of the longing for identity, as multiculturalists claim? What do Islamists really want? And why do multiculturalists find it so difficult to counter their claims?
Choosing Sharia? explores the implications of multiculturalism and Islamic fundamentalism. It provides a vivid account of what really goes on inside Sharia councils, and discusses the challenges they pose to liberal democracy. With impressive clarity, this vitally important book offers insight into two ideologies crucial to Europe's future.
Systems based on artificial intelligence (AI) offer increasing opportunities to support human decision-making. This book discusses these opportunities from highly practical perspectives. Starting from a solid background and explanation of artificial intelligence and the general ethical challenges and possibilities in the legal field, it delves into four specific applications of AI systems. The first part relates to the use and deployment of AI systems in the corporate boardroom and in the context of M&A transactions in particular. The second part discusses the deployment of AI systems in the context of art authentication in particular. The third part considers the deployment of AI systems in HR management. The fourth and final part discusses the use of AI systems in the context of dispute settlement and settlements. Through these discussions, this book aims to enhance the knowledge and understanding legal practitioners have of today's AI tools. It also aims to shed some light on the implications and challenges of those AI tools that may arise in the future.
The European Court of Human Rights has been criticized for unduly interfering in democratic decision processes. Some argue that the unelected Strasbourg activists in robes should not interfere with democratic policy decisions that were made nationally. This inaugural lecture analyses this practice of rights-based judicial review by the Strasbourg Court. The first part presents a general legal-philosophical background. It explains that republicans, who emphasize the importance of the democratic way of self-governance, are in favour of weak forms of judicial review. Liberals, who prioritise the constitutionally protected fundamental rights, are in favour of strong judicial review. The second part employs this conceptual toolbox to describe and analyse judicial review as exercised by the Strasbourg Court since its inception in 1959. Should we understand it as strong, weak, or as something in between? I conclude that it is best understood as a weakened form of strong judicial review. The third part provides a normative discussion of the Strasbourg Court in the context of the emerging European constitutional landscape. It starts from the observation that the European Convention on Human Rights is first and foremost a collaboration of Party States that pursue congruent constitutional-democratic projects. This third part investigates the role of judicial review by the European Court in the ongoing dialogue with Party States in cementing a convention constitutionalism through the further strengthening of a European consensus on the content and impact of Convention rights. About the Maastricht Law Series: Created in 2018 by Boom juridisch and Eleven International Publishing in association with the Maastricht University Faculty of Law, the Maastricht Law Series publishes books on comparative, European and International law. The series builds upon the tradition of excellence in research at the Maastricht Faculty of Law, its research centers and the Ius Commune Research School. The Maastricht Law Series is a peer reviewed book series that allows researchers an excellent opportunity to showcase their work.
This book presents, for the first time, a systematic study of the solutions available for transferring money claims and related security rights in securitisations, using England, France and Scotland as focus jurisdictions. It adopts a dual comparative approach to determine a model solution that is most efficient for securitisations. First, it employs a functional approach to identify solutions available in the focus jurisdictions. Through this method, the book offers a comprehensive doctrinal analysis of the laws governing the transfer of claims and related security rights in the selected jurisdictions, making it a valuable resource for students, academics and practitioners interested in this subject area. Second, the book uses a law and economics approach to evaluate the solutions and determine the most efficient solution. This novel approach uses a leximetric methodology to measure the transfer solutions against six policy objectives, making it a valuable resource for policymakers. The book is a timely addition to the topical debate on how laws should be designed to facilitate securitisation in various jurisdictions.
Author Katharina Boele-Woelki reports on her many years of teaching comparative law. This volume is addressed to (young) academics teaching comparative law and to all those interested in the questions of what, when, who, why and how. Three aspects need to be considered. In terms of the subject matter, the challenge is to focus either on the history and use of comparative law, on introductions to different legal systems, on teaching a particular area of law from a comparative perspective, or on comparative methodology. The latter should always be included, since it is only by knowing how to compare that a course in comparative law can develop its potential with lasting impact on students' future careers as legal scholars, lawyers or decision-makers. The expertise of the lecturer, the time available and the target group determine the environment which requires forethought and a flexible approach to course content and teaching format. With regard to the way in which comparative law is taught, four different methods are explained, based on the motto "learning by doing": explaining one's own jurisdiction to fellow-students, comparing on the basis of pre-selected material, comparing of comparative legal studies carried out by others and, finally, undertaking a comparative legal study by the students themselves. About the author: Katharina Boele-Woelki is Chair of the Commission on European Family Law and a member of the Curatorium of the Hague Academy of International Law. She was Professor of Private International Law, Comparative Law and Family Law at the University of Utrecht from 1995 to 2015, President of Bucerius Law School, Hamburg, from 2015 to 2023, Claussen-Simon Foundation Professor of Comparative Law at the same institution and President of the International Academy of Comparative Law from 2014 to 2022. About the Maastricht Law Series: Created in 2018 by Boom juridisch and Eleven International Publishing in association with the Maastricht University Faculty of Law, the Maastricht Law Series publishes books on comparative, European and International law. The series builds upon the tradition of excellence in research at the Maastricht Faculty of Law, its research centers and the Ius Commune Research School. The Maastricht Law Series is a peer reviewed bookseries that allows researchers an excellent opportunity to showcase their work.
In the Netherlands, there is a wide range of different forms of legal aid and there are many options for solving legal problems. For citizens and small entrepreneurs, it is often complicated to choose a route that best suits their legal problem. One solution to this is an access portal through which citizens and entrepreneurs receive support in finding the right (legal) assistance and routes for conflict resolution. This study identifies six access portals from abroad that can serve as inspiration for an access portal in the Netherlands. These are the Medical Legal Partnership and the Multidoor Courthouse in the United States, the Citizen Advice Bureau in England and Wales, the Chotei in Japan, the Schlichtungsverfahren in Switzerland and Court Connected Mediation in Finland. On the basis of the experiences in these countries, three models for a Dutch access portal are outlined. The researchers also initiate further discussion and debate. This book is of interest to legal practicioners, policy makers and administrators involved in legal aid, conflict resolution and justice.
The latest IPCC report makes it abundantly clear that we are failing to reach the target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial era. If we are to reach this target, we need to take measures to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, to move away from fossil fuels as energy sources and to adopt renewable energy sources. Particularly high-income countries need to reduce consumption and the exploitation of nature. Enforcement is in order when incentives such as subsidies are not sufficiently effective. To explore and reflect on the scope for state action that limits or expropriates property for climate protection, we gathered a group of scholars from around the world at the 2022 conference 'Takings for Climate Justice and Resilience', hosted by the University of Groningen. We sought to address the scope for States to expropriate property for renewable energy projects, to prohibit harmful activities on land, and to compel owners to refurbish their buildings. This fourth book in the Rethinking Expropriation Law series of the Expert Group on Expropriation Law (www.expropriation.info) contains fourteen double-blind peer-reviewed contributions based upon presentations given at the aforementioned conference. This book aims to contribute to the legal debate on how to better protect our climate, intended for academics, practitioners, policymakers and politicians. The series Vastgoed, Omgeving & Recht (Property, Environment & Law) focuses on exchange of knowledge and discussion between theory and practice in the field of real estate, environment and law in the broadest sense. Monographs, theses, conference bundles and comments are part of the series. This series is part of the book series published by the Nederlands Institute for Law and Governance (NILG). The Nederlands Institute for Law and Governance (NILG) is a joint venture between the faculties of law at the VU University Amsterdam, the University of Groningen and other research institutions to improve research in the field of Law and Governance. The NILG's research theme is the interaction between the regulation of public and private interests in law and the way in which these interests are being regulated.
Prison officers have been described as key determinants of the prison experience for prisoners, yet up until recently this occupational group was largely ignored in academic research. Although society often sees prison officers simply as `keepers of the keys', the existing research has shown the job to be much more complex.
In this book, the author explores an element of the prison officer's job that is still understudied: the existence of ethical dilemmas. In doing so, this book highlights several questions: which ethical dilemmas do prison officers experience? How do they deal with them? Which values are important when dealing with ethical dilemmas? After discovering the answers to these questions, the author designs and evaluates an ethics training course for prison officers, in an attempt to increase their ethical competence, and the way they deal with ethical dilemmas. A second part of the book explores whether this training was successful and what can be learned from its implementation, not only for future training efforts, but also for the prison system in general.
Het groene gras (`the green grass') is an academic book series on criminology (including security) that shares knowledge between scholars in The Netherlands and Belgium, offers a platform for young researchers and focuses on (comparative) research that is relevant for The Netherlands and Belgium. The series has a multidisciplinary approach, with a prominent place for criminology in relation to other disciplines. Publications in the series are in Dutch or in English.
In a growing number of countries, inquiries into past intercountry adoptions take place that identify systemic abuses and irregularities and conclude that adoption stakeholders encouraged or facilitated illegal intercountry adoptions. However, so far, the response from these stakeholders has been inadequate in addressing the profound human rights violations endured by those affected by illegal adoptions. Despite the growing movement of adoptees advocating for justice on behalf of themselves and their birth families and communities, adoption stakeholders in both sending and receiving countries have remained largely passive, lacking a coherent strategy to confront and rectify illegal intercountry adoptions. This inertia is exacerbated by the wide gap in adequate regulations regarding remedies and reparations for illegal intercountry adoptions. Facing the Past: Policies and Good Practices for Responses to Illegal Intercountry Adoptions aims to fill this critical gap by offering insights and recommendations to guide the process of reconciliation. Bringing together the contributions from scholars from various disciplines and adoptees themselves, this volume presents and discusses actionable measures that adoption stakeholders in both sending and receiving countries can employ to address the injustices inflicted upon victims of illegal intercountry adoptions. Targeting a diverse audience, including academics, policymakers, and adoption stakeholders, the book seeks to foster a path toward healing and accountability within the complex terrain of intercountry adoption.
With increased globalisation, digitisation, cross-border movement of persons and multinational businesses, events and cases have progressively become transnational. Conversely, with the current geopolitical climate, increase of migration and recent pandemics, borders have regained importance. These developments raise questions about the territorial scope of legislation. In this book, 28 mechanisms have been identified which influence the territorial scope of EU law. By using these mechanisms, the territorial scope of any rule of EU law can be determined. The mechanisms relate to decolonisation, overseas countries and territories, disputed borders and territorial claims, Brexit, accession, enhanced cooperation, opt-in and opt-out, the Brussels effect, etc. In addition, this book covers various fields of EU law (free movement rules, migration law, the GDPR, competition law, VAT, sanctions, etc.). The book is unique and stands out from other EU law books, because it encompasses all mechanisms relevant to mapping the territorial scope of the different fields of EU law. It is written for academics, practitioners, policymakers and lawmakers alike.
This volume contains the proceedings of the 65th Colloquium on the Law of Outer Space held in September 2022, as well as the report of the IISL Standing Committee on the Status of International Agreements Relating to Activities in Outer Space.
Nowadays, many children have to live with the repercussions of their parents' decision to separate. Following that decision, arrangements on the children's residence and visitation rights with a parent become necessary. These arrangements are often made during a time of emotional tribulation, when children are struggling to find a new balance. Generally, parents turn to the legal system to handle their separation or to manage conflicts that arise. However, these legal proceedings can become very conflictual and although children are directly impacted by the decisions of courts, they are often shielded from the judicial procedure. This results in children not knowing where they can turn to when they face problems. Therefore, child-friendly justice, which safeguards children's needs and implements children's rights, is sorely needed. In this book, the author drafted an evaluation framework with legal and sociopsychological principles to ensure that child custody and contact proceedings are child-friendly. Thereafter, the specific Belgian legal situation and practice is evaluated. Unique insights are gained in the experiences and viewpoints of Flemish family judges and children. The book closes with detailed recommendations and is therefore a must-read for academic scholars, policy makers and professionals who wish to improve children's lives.
A growing number of mobile individuals, who take advantage of their European freedoms of movement, face a lack of comprehensive pension information. This obstacle can hinder those who need pension information the most in making well-informed retirement decisions, which are crucial given the ongoing importance of a sufficient pension across Europe. This book investigates the fitness of regulatory frameworks at national (Netherlands and Germany), European, and international levels governing the taxation of cross-border statutory, occupational, and personal pensions for effective pension information provision. Where these frameworks fall short, the author explores necessary legal and non-legal interventions to ensure and enhance information effectiveness.
The author introduces an innovative multidisciplinary evaluation framework, drawing from behavioural economics, economic psychology, and cognitive psychology concepts. It applies a `distanced approach', translating findings into the legal domain to enrich legal doctrine while adopting a `law in action' perspective. This interdisciplinary work also employs an experimental design (randomized controlled trial) to address the common question of `what will I get?'
The research's findings are particularly relevant to various stakeholders, including academia, national governments, EU law and policymakers, policy advisors, pension funds, tax lawyers, pension advisors, and consultants. Its multidisciplinary approach fosters dialogue between the realms of law and policymaking, merging previously isolated areas of academic research. This accessible, cutting-edge study offers practical applications for both academic and practical domains.
Sander Kramer serves as an Assistant Professor in Tax Law at the Institute for Transnational and Euregional Cross-Border Cooperation and Mobility (ITEM) and is affiliated with the Department of Tax Law at Maastricht University.
About the Maastricht Law Series: Created in 2018 by Boom juridisch and Eleven International Publishing in association with the Maastricht University Faculty of Law, the Maastricht Law Series publishes books on comparative, European and International law. The series builds upon the tradition of excellence in research at the Maastricht Faculty of Law, its research centers and the Ius Commune Research School. The Maastricht Law Series is a peer reviewed bookseries that allows researchers an excellent opportunity t0 showcase their work
With an ageing population, the number of people with dementia is expected to increase in the coming decades. Dementia can seriously impair a person's ability to act and decide. In the Netherlands, adults can provide for such a future period of incapacity through a so-called levenstestament. A levenstestament can include the appointment of an attorney for financial, medical and/or personal matters, but also the adult's wishes, preferences and instructions regarding these matters. Over the past decade, the levenstestament has become increasingly popular in the Netherlands. A major concern, however, is that the levenstestament becomes active at a time when adults will generally be increasingly unable to supervise the execution of the levenstestament and indicate whether they are satisfied with the actions of their attorney. This book provides a thorough analysis of the current regulation and application of the levenstestament based on legal-normative and empirical research. Based on comparative law research, recommendations have been formulated to improve the regulation of the levenstestament and address problems that arise in practice. The Family & Law series broadly focuses on the debate between theory and practice in the field of Family Law. The exchange of knowledge with other disciplines, such as the Social Science, plays an important role. This series is composed of monographs, theses, conference bundles and commentaries. These publications are aimed at lawyers, notaries, judges, academics and officials from the civil registry.
In 2019, the European Parliament and the Council adopted the Preventive Restructuring Directive (2019/1023), providing for minimum harmonisation of, among others, preventive restructuring frameworks (PRF). This book provides in-depth analyses of its implementation in seven European countries: Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, The Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Whereas Member States of the European Union were under a duty to complete implementation by July 2022, the United Kingdom took inspiration from it when voluntarily introducing reforms to its restructuring regime.
This book covers detailed analyses of the new or reformed PRFs across Europe, including the objective and scope of a PRF, the criteria/test to enter a PRF, the involved actors, the possibilities for a stay, the plan, the possibilities for a debtfor-equity swap, the effects of a PRF on executory contracts and jurisdiction and recognition of court decisions taken during a PRF. Drawing on the domestic implementations, the book also presents a comparative study evaluating the different policy options implemented by domestic legislators. This book functions as an insightful source for practitioners, academics and policy makers.
Today's global society - with its fast technological developments, unlimited choice, uncertainty and complexity - requires new knowledge, dispositions and abilities from academically educated legal professionals. This challenges academic legal education to reconsider its theoretical foundations, aims, curriculum and pedagogy.
This research explores how educators in legal education can contribute to the academic development of law students in contemporary times. A reinterpretation of the 19th century educational ideal of Bildung - which entails critical thinking, creative thinking, ACT responsibility and play and playfulness - is proposed as central to legal education's academic core.
This book offers teachers, course and curriculum designers, and policy makers in academic legal education a theoretical foundation as a basis for their educational efforts. Furthermore, it proposes practical models and appropriate instructional interventions for the integration of critical thinking, creative thinking, ACT responsibility and play and playfulness in the everyday practice of legal education.
Discrimination is still not sufficiently addressed within liberal democracies. Often only some groups are protected against discrimination and merely in certain situations. This leaves many who suffer because of discrimination without recourse. And that is only one of the dilemmas with group-based approaches to the protection against discrimination. So why are these approaches so common? And can we find a viable alternative?
In this new book, legal scholar Erwin Dijkstra answers these questions. His analysis is thorough, original, and thought-provoking. This makes Discrimination and the Foundation of Justice indispensable for anyone who seeks a better understanding of discrimination law, the relevant human rights context, and the debate on improving the protection against discrimination. That debate is brought to life through a thoughtful discussion of hotly debated topics like hate speech, affirmative action, and institutions that speak out against discrimination.
As discrimination concerns us all, this book was written as a resource for all. It is meant to be read by those studying discrimination law professionally and the broader public alike.
