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The Hague (AFP) – From conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East to salt mining in Brazil, Dutch courts are ground zero in a global legal battleground with far-reaching consequences.
Publication of: change:
3 minutes
A strong legal tradition, home to many multinational companies and international organizations, and global accessibility. This country has several trump cards to be chosen as a legal arbitration country.
Three months into 2024, the Hague’s two most influential international tribunals have already handed down headline-grabbing decisions on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the conflict swirling between Israel and the Gaza Strip. .
In early March, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for two senior Russian officials, and in January, the UN’s highest body, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), ordered Israel to increase aid to Gaza and issued emergency measures to protect the country. population.
At the same time, a local civil court issued a landmark ruling halting the supply of F-35 fighter jet parts from the Netherlands to Israel.
Victims of the devastating salt mining operation in the Brazilian city of Maceio are suing petrochemical giant Braskem for damages in a Rotterdam court, joining a number of international compensation lawsuits that have begun in recent years. That’s one.
In February, an Amsterdam court rejected Russia’s appeal in a record $50 billion lawsuit brought by former shareholders of the dismantled oil giant Yukos.
In recent years, Dutch courts have also decided major climate change cases, including one won by the NGO Milieudefense in 2021.
In this case, the court ordered petrochemical giant Shell to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, in what is believed to be the first major climate change ruling against a company.
legal hotbed
So why is the Netherlands a hotbed of international litigation?
“I think it’s potentially easier to litigate in the Netherlands,” said Cecily Rose, assistant professor of public international law at Leiden University.
“The relatively low legal hurdles for filing class actions in the Netherlands have the effect of making it easier for NGOs to bring public interest litigation in Dutch courts,” she told AFP.
“As the Netherlands is home to globally active multinational companies such as Shell, Unilever and Heineken, cases with international implications are regularly brought to Dutch courts,” said Asser International.・Leon Castellanos Jankiewicz, chief researcher at the European Law Institute, added: .
“These multinational companies are subject to Dutch law, so Dutch courts have jurisdiction over these companies and their transactions,” he told AFP.
The country also has a highly skilled legal workforce and a strong belief in upholding the law.
“The Netherlands has a tradition of attaching importance to the development of international law,” Castellanos-Jankiewicz said.
“Promoting the development of the international legal order is a permanent goal of Dutch foreign policy,” he said.
Experts said the excellent infrastructure available around the world, coupled with the perception that the Netherlands is a “neutral site”, made it an attractive option for parties seeking a fair resolution.
“Peace and Justice”
The Netherlands also hosts several international tribunals and tribunals, as well as bodies such as the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and Europol, and “these organizations are integrated into the Dutch legal framework,” says the legal expert. said the family.
Located on the Dutch coast between Amsterdam and Rotterdam, The Hague has always been considered a “city of peace and justice” by the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the first international arbitration institution, established in 1899.
The PCA still exists today, and after World War II laid the foundations for later institutions in the city, such as the ICJ and the ICC, which opened in 2002.
Other international courts are also based here, including the now-defunct Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal (ICTY) and the Kosovo Specialized Chamber of Commerce.
“Litigation in these jurisdictions is part of the United Nations system and therefore completely independent of Dutch courts, but they amplify many issues of global concern,” Castellanos-Jankiewicz said. Stated.
© 2024 AFP
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