The central question is whether the current regime of international humanitarian law governing the conduct of hostilities in armed conflict is still adequate to deal with modern conflict scenarios, or whether it needs revision or amendment.

The Frits Kalshoven International Humanitarian Law Competition, organised by the Netherlands Red Cross and Belgian Red Cross-Flanders, lets students explore the legal framework governing armed conflict. Eight teams from Belgium and the Netherlands competed in the 19th edition (23–27 February 2026) in…

Every year, the Netherlands and Belgium Red Cross organize the Frits Kalshoven IHL Competition, which brings together students from both Dutch and Belgian universities.

The world is full of wars, and no war is without its dead. What happens to the bodies of fatal casualties of armed conflict? The winner of the faculty Jongbloed Thesis Prize 2015 is Welmoet Wels (Public International Law). Her thesis Dead body management in armed conflict: paradoxes in trying to do…

Every year, the Netherlands Red Cross and Belgian Red Cross-Flanders organise the Frits Kalshoven IHL Competition. This competition aims to provide students with an opportunity to practically engage with IHL, the rules that govern the conduct of war, by attending expert lectures and workshops, engaging…

In this article, Barrie Sander together with his colleagues explore whether fairness in digital governance inadvertently entrenches structural inequalities

National and international actors have attempted to provide accountability for the events at Srebrenica in July 1995. This research project aims to draw lessons learned from those multiple efforts in assessing whether securing a measure of ‘justice’ for the victims has been successful and how national…

The Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies & The Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum on International Humanitarian Law cordially invite you to a Panel Discussion on “The Dynamics of the Syria Conflict: Challenges for Contemporary International Law” .

Every year, the Netherlands and Belgium Red Cross organize the Frits Kalshoven International Humanitarian Law Moot Court Competition, which brings together students from both Dutch and Belgian universities.

Over the past two centuries, the concept of human dignity has moved from the fringes to the centre of the international legal system. This book is the first single-authored detailed historical, theoretical and legal investigation of human dignity as a normative value, the intellectual sources that shaped…

From 29 to 30 October 2024, the Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum (KGF) and the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies had the pleasure of hosting an inspiring authors’ workshop in The Hague for the forthcoming Research Handbook, Victims' Rights under Public International Law, edited by Dr Robert Heinsch…

Conflicting reports about an airstrike on a school in Iran are causing international concern. Helen Duffy, Professor of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights was asked to clarify states obligations under international law. In Euro News she called in for a swift and independent investigat…

Helen Duffy, professor of international law in Leiden, is Abu Zubaydah’s international lawyer and commented on the case for the BBC and other media.

Dr. Eduardo Arenas Catalán, lecturer and Academic Coordinator of the Advanced Master’s in European and International Human Rights Law at Leiden Law School, was awarded the Theo van Boven - Maastricht Research Prize 2018 for his doctoral thesis: “Solidarity and the right to health in the era of healthcare…

On 3 June 2016, Prof. Carsten Stahn participated in a Panel at the Graduate Institute on International and Development Studies in Geneva on accountability as a common goal between The Hague and Geneva.