Abstract
The Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights brings 2017 to a close with a number of changes to both our International Editorial Board and Executive Board.
The Quarterly regretfully announces the resignation of Professor David Weissbrodt from our International Editorial Board, who steps down to focus on other projects. Professor Weissbrodt has served on the International Editorial Board for many years, ensuring the NQHR maintains its quality and status as a highly reputable human rights journal internationally. The expertise brought by members of this Board is valued greatly by the NQHR’s Executive Board and the journal’s readership alike. We are grateful that Professor Weissbrodt chose to commit his expertise to the NQHR and sincerely thank him for the positive collaboration over the years.
The NQHR also regretfully announces that two of the NQHR’s Executive Board members, Leo Zwaak and Professor Jenny Goldschmidt, will retire from the Board after a long commitment to the journal. Both Leo Zwaak, who has been on the NQHR’s Executive Board since its creation in the 1980s, and Professsor Goldschmidt have shown outstanding dedication to the NQHR for many years. Their expertise and editorial input over the years has been invaluable and they will be sorely missed by the NQHR Executive Board. The NQHR thanks them both for their enormous contribution to the work of the NQHR and wishes them every success in the future.
The NQHR Executive Board is pleased to announce that three new members have joined the Board. Dr. Jasper Krommendijk, Assistant Professor of European Law at Radboud University Nijmegen, has recently joined our Executive Board. Jasper Krommendijk is currently working on a four-year project on the preliminary reference “dance” between the Court of Justice of the European Union and national courts funded by a VENI-grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). His expertise includes the effectiveness of international courts and committees and their judgments and recommendations. Also joining our Executive Board is Dr. Katharine Fortin, Assistant professor of Public International Law and Human Rights at Utrecht University’s Netherlands Institute of Human Rights (SIM). Katharine Fortin’s expertise relates to the legal framework which applies to non-international armed conflicts. She is the founder and co-editor of the Armed Groups and International Law blog. Dr. Marjolein van den Brink, lecturer in human rights law at Utrecht University and SIM, also joins our Executive Board. Her expertise relates to, among others, gender, personal status and family law, equality and non-discrimination, and vulnerable groups. She has published extensively on these topics. The special subject expertise of the Executive Board members ensures the publication of the highest quality scholarship in the NQHR. We warmly Jasper Krommendijk, Katharine Fortin and Marjolein van den Brink to the Executive Board and look forward to the collaboration.
The NQHR Executive Board also warmly welcomes new Managing Editor Leonie Huijbers, SIM fellow and PhD candidate at Utrecht University, whose research examines procedural review in fundamental rights cases. The Executive Board expresses its sincere gratitude to Julie Fraser, who concluded her service as Managing Editor of the Quarterly earlier this year after four years. The Board is indebted to Julie’s managerial skills and wishes her success in all future endeavors, including the completion of her doctoral research on the role of culture and social institutions in the national implementation of international human rights obligations in Asian and African States. The Executive Board would also like to sincerely thank Erin Jackson, who served as Managing Editor for most of 2017 and as assistant executive editor for the past two years, for her great dedication and collaboration. The Board is grateful for her management of and commitment to the NQHR and wishes her the best with her ongoing doctoral research at Utrecht University on the subject of European judicial cultures. Finally, the Board warmly welcomes two Executive Assistants to our editorial team, Marijn Hilbrands and Max Lamb, both of whom are Master students in law at Utrecht University.
In addition to the articles in this issue, we are pleased to include the text of this year’s SIM Peter Baehr lecture, delivered at Utrecht University on 29 September 2017 by Eduard Nazarski, Director of Amnesty International Netherlands and board member of the SIM foundation. The lecture is entitled: Shrinking Space for Civil Society in Europe Can NGOs Develop More Countervailing Powers?
We wish all of our outgoing colleagues the best in their future endeavors and look forward to a successful collaboration with our new colleagues going forward!