The Charter (Statuut) for the Kingdom represents a de-colonization scheme devised in the 1950s. Rather than separating from what was left of the Dutch colonial empire, the overseas territories of Suriname, in South America, and Curacao, a group of island territories in the Caribbean Sea later renamed Netherlands Antilles, placed their relations with the Netherlands...Read More

In his Millennium Report (A/54/2000), the Secretary-General of the United Nations noted that “[s]upport for the rule of law would be enhanced if countries signed and ratified international treaties and conventions”. He further noted that many countries are unable to participate fully in the international treaty framework due to “the lack of the necessary expertise...Read More

‘It’s just not right.’ ‘It’s not natural.’ How many times have you heard these sorts of judgements invoked against a particular practice or act? What do they mean? When abortion is pronounced immoral, same-sex marriage unacceptable, what is the basis of this censure? Is there an objectively ascertainable measure of right and wrong, good and...Read More

The Congress of Vienna insisted on the creation of a strong buffer state against post Napoleonic France. Therefore the Southern Netherlands, roughly today’s Belgium, were merged into the new Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1815. The Kingdom became known as the ‘United Netherlands’. The Kingdom’s Constitution was amended accordingly by referendum, albeit with limited suffrage...Read More

Legal scholarship is notorious for the long form. Really long! Back in the day, the most influential legal scholars were the treatise writers—the heirs of Blackstone and Chancellor Kent—you know the names: Corbin, Davis, Moore, Nimmer, Wigmore, Williston, and Wright. And let us not forget the last great modern treatise—Tribe’s American Constitutional Law—an attempt to...Read More

He was the Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Oxford. He wrote several books — the most famous was The Concept of Law (1961). This book was republished with a posthumous (i.e. after his death) postscript in 1994. In The Concept of Law, Hart explains his theory of law. He also criticized others’ ideas....Read More

Unlike most other subjects in the law school curriculum, Comparative Law is not a body of rules and principles. It is primarily a method, a way of looking at legal problems, legal institutions, and entire legal systems. By the use of the method of comparison, it becomes possible to make observations and to gain insights...Read More

The States Parties to the present Convention, Considering the fundamental role of treaties in the history of international relations, Recognizing the ever-increasing importance of treaties as a source of international law and as a means of developing peaceful cooperation among nations, whatever their constitutional and social systems, Noting that the principles of free consent and...Read More

Comparative Law describes the comparison of various laws; it is not a distinct body of law. This is clearer from the term in German (Rechtsvergleichung) than from the term in other languages (comparative law, droit comparé). Macrocomparison is concerned with entire legal systems; micro-comparison deals with specific institutions or specific problems. Comparative Law thus goes...Read More

He was the intellectual successor of Jeremy Bentham Some would say he is the founder of modern legal positivism He stressed that there is a big difference between what the law is, and what the law ought to be “The law” (i.e. positive law) is different from other uses of the concept of law (e.g....Read More