On the 23rd of October 2009 the Montesquieu Institute Maastricht hosted a conference on parliamentary involvement with military missions. Even where it does not concern the actual waging of war, sending troops on military missions abroad is never undertaken lightly. No matter how many safeguards are put in place, it remains a decision that potentially risks the lives of men and women in the armed forces.

When lives are so directly influenced by political decision making, the question arises ...

‘An Instrumental Approach to Planning and Development Law in the Netherlands’ seeks to be an accessible introduction to the extensive field of planning law.

The book covers both the ‘planning side’ (the formal system) and the ‘development side’ (including the interrelations between municipalities and developers). That implies that not only public law instruments are discussed, but also the many types of agreements between local authorities and property developers.

The emphasis in ...

With a foreword by Ján Figel, Special Envoy for Promotion of Freedom of Religion or Belief outside the EU.

What room should be granted to controversial statements and expressions about faith? Should the state subsidize the building of places of worship? How much loyalty to the state can be demanded of religions? Under what

circumstances may the state and religious communities work together to reach a common goal? What does equal treatment of religions mean today?

The debate on the relation ...

Despite the paramount role of choice of law in international contractual relationships, its implementation in various countries remains disparate. Many countries have acknowledged and given effect to choice of law, but some other countries persist in opposing it. The lingering reluctance in enforcing choice of law remains a challenging impediment to cross-border commercial relationships.

Strict adherence to the territoriality principle, absence of special provisions or clear guidelines of ch...

Climate change poses tremendous legal challenges. The law is still largely unsettled. Seeing the global consequences of GHG emissions, many enterprises may face litigation before courts in multiple jurisdictions. The outcome of these cases is often hard to predict. It is in the best interest of humankind and the environment to create global obligations, for instance in the form of concrete obligations of States and enterprises, which can be applied by courts around the globe. Using a myriad o...

When Christopher Columbus (circa 1451-1506) arrived at the Bahamas in 1492, it could hardly be predicted that this would result in the most dramatic upheaval in the history of the American continent and the nearby islands. The encounter with the new world inaugurated an era of conquest, colonisation, and economic exploitation by European powers that would last for several centuries. Large numbers of Europeans settled in these newly acquired territories, bringing along their own culture and re...

This book brings together contributions from emerging African and internationally recognized scholars in the field of international human rights law and policy in general and women and minority rights in particular. Its primary aim is to further the development of African scholarship and to reinforce the international discourse on women and minority rights in a time of rapid change.

The book analyses the various challenges that impede the promotion, protection and realization of the rights of...

Using case studies and country profiles, this book places issues into social and cultural contexts and encourages students to think critically about the topics presented

Comparative Constitutional Law Documents contains a compilation of constitutions and fundamental legislative instruments from five Western democracies: the United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Furthermore, it provides the text of the European Convention on Human Rights, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the Treaty on European Union, and selected provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The documents reproduce...

The seventh edition of this widely utilized handbook provides a user-friendly and original and innovative introduction to comparative constitutional law, with specific reference to liberal democracies and states under the rule of law. For each area of constitutional law of such systems, a general introduction and a comparative overview is provided, followed by more detailed country chapters on that specific area. Though the book focusses extensively on selected countries, references to other ...