Institutional development · Research, innovation and assessment · Netherlands
Maastricht thesis finds international law resilient as legal personality spreads
A PhD thesis from Maastricht University's Faculty of Law concludes that international law has proved resilient and adaptive as more entities gain international legal personality.
Why it matters: Jef Croonen's thesis at Maastricht's Faculty of Law challenges a 2016 International Law Association finding on non-state actors and international legal personality.
Maastricht University announced a PhD thesis by Jef Croonen on the growth and diversification of international legal personality, supervised by Prof. Dr. Jure Vidmar and Dr. Jennifer Sellin in the Faculty of Law.
According to the university, the International Law Association (ILA) found in 2016 that the growth and diversification of non-state actors had disrupted the original unity of international law.
Drawing on literature and many examples, the thesis accepts that entities with international legal personality have grown and diversified but argues that international law has proved both resilient and adaptive.
Contrary to the ILA's findings, the research holds that international legal personality is a cornerstone of international law.
Editor’s view
Scott James, Research and Innovation Editor
The thesis, completed in Maastricht's Faculty of Law, holds that international law is resilient and adaptive and that international legal personality is one of its cornerstones, a position the university presents as contrary to the ILA's 2016 finding.
