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...

Robert Spano’s career at the Strasbourg Court is exceptional, as only three and a half years after his arrival, he was elected Section President, then Vice-President of the Court before taking up the post of President on 18 May 2020.

In his role, he has put his untiring energy at the service of the protection of human rights in Europe. While his qualities as a judge were known and appreciated by all his colleagues, as was his inexhaustible knowledge of case-law, during his term as Preside...

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 pro...

Designers solve problems. Ideas and problems change, however, and new techniques and materials are invented, new production methods are developed. Designing is a process of trial and error. During the development process, designers will think up solutions or part solutions for the problems that they have been presented with. They do not know if this solution will work. Therefore, they will try out their solution, for instance using a test model or a scale model: trial. Sometimes, the solution...

Can bankruptcy law offer debt relief to third parties who are not involved in a formal procedure themselves? This question is explored both in relation to guarantees and in relation to mass tort liability and has been a main topic of controversy recently in the US, arising in cases such as Purdue Pharma and the opioid crisis. Taken together, the answer to these questions will be decisive in the future scope of bankruptcy law and its relation to other fields of law. In their reports written fo...

The fear of crime is generally recognized as a social problem around the world. Yet, research has so far lacked to establish a dependable picture of this phenomenon. The present study examines the highly complex allocation of interacting perceptions, for which it provides suitable explanations through a social psychological approach. It aims to discover at what level of psychological distance citizens primarily experience 'the fear of crime' and how they construct it.

The author applies vario...

Most mediators are working with models - consciously or unconsciously - such as Glasl's model on Escalation, the ZOPA and the Drama Triangle, to name the best known. This book brings together almost 60 models which can be used in mediation. It includes an overview on how to apply these in practice and what its use is in a mediation. The aim of the book is to assist mediators in doing their job more effectively and thus raise the level of mediation.

Models for Mediation is a welcome contribut...

This book provides a comprehensive study on space law and policy in France. It should be of assistance for all practitioners be they in the private or the public sector, for drafting or taking decisions on the matter of norms and agreements relating to space activities, such as contracts, partnerships, licensing, negotiations as well as the adoption of laws and regulations, and furthermore for all of those - scholars or practitioners - who have to interpret or implement these instruments.

It ...

This book provides an in-depth examination of the instrument of collaboration with justice, one of the more far-reaching investigative tools in criminal cases by which promises are made to otherwise unwilling 'offender witnesses' in order to persuade them to testify in the prosecution of others. In it a comparison is made between the law and practice of the Netherlands and that of several other jurisdictions - Germany, Italy and Canada - in which provision is made for the instrument. Drawing ...

Crime can be seen as an act of defiance against the rule of law, particularly if is committed with intent. This intension is often to make unlawful gains, whether by theft, corruption or taking part in illegal markets, which in Europe are most often cross-border in nature. This entails that criminal defiance is not just a national issue: theft or fraud can be committed locally, while handling the illicit proceeds may require a cross-border movement. Obviously not every state faces the same de...