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A Portrait of Judge P. H. Kooijmans – A Passionate Advocate of the Rule of Law in International Affairs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 November 2014

NICO SCHRIJVER
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Abstract

In 2013 the Netherlands lost its standard bearer in international law. After a short period of illness, Pieter Hendrik Kooijmans died at the age of 79 on 13 February 2013. Some time before his illness the author had an extensive and frank interview with Judge Kooijmans who reflected on his life and work, especially on his intellectual formation, his understanding of the essence and core functions of law, his experiences as UN special rapporteur on torture, his ideas on reform of the International Court of Justice, and the great changes that have taken place in international law. This portrait shows a fine man with a strong sense of justice who was fully dedicated to the substance of public international law without turning a blind eye to its shortcomings and relative influence in international and domestic affairs. The interview is preceded by an introduction and concludes with some observations on his long and productive life in the service of peace, justice, and respect for human rights through the law.

Keywords

Dutch constitutionEuropean integrationforeign policyfunction of lawInternational Court of Justiceinternational dispute settlementtortureUN reform
Type
INTERNATIONAL LAW AND PRACTICE
Information
Leiden Journal of International Law , Volume 27 , Issue 4 , December 2014 , pp. 839 - 858
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation of the Leiden Journal of International Law 2014 

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References

1 A commercial edition was published by Sijthoff, Leiden (1964). See the special edition of the Netherlands Yearbook of International Law: Nijman, J. E. and Werner, W. G. (eds.), ‘Legal Equality and the International Rule of Law: Essays in Honour of P. H. Kooijmans’, (2012) 43 NYIL 3, at 3–24Google Scholar.

2 For more information on Van der Molen see the biography by G. van Klinken, Strijdbaar en omstreden. Een biografie van de calvinistische verzetsvrouw Gezina van der Molen [Assertive and Controversial. A Biography of the Calvinistic Resistance Woman Gezina van der Molen] (2006); also de Bruijn, J. (ed.), Gezina van der Molen Herdacht [In Memory of Gezina van der Molen] (1993)Google Scholar.

3 P. H. Kooijmans, Volkenrecht en sociale gerechtigheid. Een peiling [The Law of Nations and Social Justice. An Assessment], at 30. See also P. H. Kooijmans, Op zoek naar Het Recht van een nieuwe internationale economische orde. Abstractie of realiteit? [In Search of the Law of a New International Economic Order. Abstraction or Reality?] (1981) and his chapter ‘Armoede, rijkdom en recht in het internationaal bestel’ [‘Poverty, Wealth and Law on the International Plane’] in J. van Nieuwenhove, Armoede, rijkdom en recht [Poverty, Wealth and Law] (1987), at 47–58.

4 See T. P. van der Kooy, Om welvaart en gerechtigheid [On Wealth and Justice] (1954), at 93.

5 See B. F. de Gaay Fortman, ‘Volkenrechtsgeleerde en staatsman’ [‘International Law Scholar and Statesman’], in Jaarboek Parlementaire Geschiedenis (2013), at 171–4. See also the commemoration of Kooijmans, minister of state, in both houses of the Dutch parliament, Proceedings of the Lower House TK 57 and Upper House EK 19, 5 March 2013.

6 This term was coined by de Gaay Fortman, B. F., at that time chairperson of the left-wing PPR party. See his article, ‘De vredespolitiek van de radicalen’ [‘The Peace Policy of the Radicals’], in (1973) 27 Internationale Spectator, at 112Google Scholar.

7 ‘Ontwapening en Veiligheid: Nota over het vraagstuk van ontwapening en veiligheid’ was presented by the minister and state secretary of foreign affairs to the lower house of the Dutch parliament, 1975. Kamerstuk 1974–75, 13461, Nos. 1–2, 76 pp.

8 P. H. Kooijmans, De Volkenrechtswetenschap en de crisis in het volkenrecht. Poging tot een analyse (29 October 1978), at 20.

9 Kooijmans, P. H., Internationaal publiekrecht in vogelvlucht (2008), edited by Brus, M. M. T. A., Blokker, N. M., and Senden, L. J. A.Google Scholar.

10 See also Flinterman, C., ‘Peter Kooijmans and Human Rights’, in (1997) 10 LJIL 126, at 126–31CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

11 See also Kooijmans, P. H., ‘Foltering – Een onuitroeibaar kwaad [‘Torture - An Ineradicable Evil’]?’ in (1993) 42 Ars Aequi 36–45, at 45.Google Scholar

12 See Baehr, P. R., ‘Pleitbezorger voor de mensenrechten. Pieter Hendrik Kooijmans (1993–94)’, in Hellema, D. A., Zeeman, B., and van der Zwaan, A. C. (eds.), De Nederlandsche ministers van Buitenlandse Zaken in de twintigste eeuw (1999), 283–93Google Scholar; Lammers, J. G., ‘Pieter Kooijmans: Minister for Foreign Affairs’, in (1997) 10 LJIL 122, at 122–6CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

13 See Security Council Resolution S/RES/824, 6 May 1993. On this dark period in Dutch history see J. C. H. Blom and P. Romijn, Srebrenica een ‘veilig gebied’. Reconstructie, achtergronden, gevolgen en analyses van de val van een Safe Area, 3 Parts (2002).

14 Rijkswet goedkeuring en bekendmaking verdragen [Act on the Approval and Promulgation of Treaties], (1994) 542 Staatsblad [Government Gazette]. This law elaborates Art. 91 of the 1983 Constitution of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and is applicable to both treaties and decisions of international organizations.

15 See the interesting interview held shortly afterwards with Pauline Hoefer-van Dongen, ‘Het schaduwland van het volkenrecht. Interview met Prof. Mr. Kooijmans, P. H.’ [‘The Shadow Land of Public International Law’], in (25 August 1999) 28 NJB [Netherlands Law Journal], at 1067–71Google Scholar.

16 See Kooijmans, P. H., ‘Protestantism and the Development of International Law’, in Receuil des Cours de l’Académie de la Haye, Vol. 152 (1976-IV), at 79–118Google Scholar.

17 See, e.g., ‘Speech by Rosalyn Higgins – 20 February 2013’, reproduced in (2012) NYIL, at xi–xii.

18 For a comprehensive discussion see Brus, M. M. T. A., ‘Judge Pieter Kooijmans Retires from the International Court of Justice’, in (2006) 19 LJIL 619, at 619–717CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

19 Oil Platforms (Islamic Republic of Iran v. United States of America), Judgment of 6 November 2003, Separate Opinion of Judge Kooijmans; Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo v. Uganda), Judgment of 13 December 2005, Separate Opinion of Judge Kooijmans. See also his chapter ‘The Legality of the Use of Force in the Recent Case Law of the International Court of Justice’, in Yee, Sienhoo and Morin, J.-Y. (eds.), Multiculturalism and International Law: Essays in honour of Edward McWhinney (2009), at 455–66Google Scholar.

20 See Kooijmans, P. H., ‘The ICJ in the 21st Century. Judicial Restraint, Judicial Activism or Proactive Judicial Policy’, (2007) 56 ICLQ 741, at 753CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

21 G. H. M. van der Molen, Alberico Gentili and the Development of International Law. His Life, Work and Times. Dissertation (1949). Cited in A. A. Nussbaum, A Concise History of the Law of Nations (1962), who wrote that ‘in 1937 a Dutch woman jurist, Dr Gezina H. J. van der Molen, honored his memory in English, perhaps the best biography ever written on an author in the field of international law’.

22 See also Kooijmans, P. H., ‘Röling als beoefenaar van het volkenrecht [Röling as International Law Scholar]’, in Transactie – Tijdschrift over Vraagstukken van Oorlog en Vrede, Year 15 (1986), No. 2, at 113–23Google Scholar. See also W. B. Verwey, Bert V. A. Röling, 1906–1985 (1985); Schrijver, N. J., ‘B. V. A. Röling – A Pioneer in the Pursuit of Justice in an Expanded World’, (2010) 8 Journal of International Criminal Justice No. 4, at 1071–91CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

23 See B. V. A. Röling, New Guinea, Wereldprobleem (1958).

24 See also Kooijmans, P. H., ‘In Memoriam Manfred Lachs’, in (1993) 6 LJIL 198, at 198–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

25 See J. H. Burgers and H. Danelius, The United Nations Convention against Torture. A Handbook on the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, International Studies in Human Rights, (1988).

26 See UN Doc. E/CN.4/1986/15. The only official definition of torture is in Art. 1 of the Anti-Torture Convention 1984.

27 W. Riphagen, De juridische structuur der Europese Gemeenschap voor Kolen en Staal [The Legal Structure of the European Coal and Steel Community] (1955).

28 Francois, J. P. A., Handboek van het holkenrecht [Handbook of International Law], 2 Volumes (1949–50)Google Scholar.

29 See mainly C. van Vollenhoven, De drie treden van het volkenrecht [The Three Stages of International Law] (1923).

30 HR 10 December 1954, NJ 1956, 240 (Cognac-I).

31 HvJ EG 5 February 1963, 26/62 Van Gend en Loos; HvJ 15 July 1964, 1964 1203, 6–64 Costa/ENEL; HR 19 January 1962, NJ 1962, 107 Procession prohibition.

32 Legality of the Use of Force (Serbia and Montenegro v. Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, United Kingdom), Judgment of 14 December 2004 (Preliminary Objections), Separate Opinion of Judge Kooijmans.

33 According to this concept, national governments bear the primary responsibility for the protection of their citizens against genocide, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and serious war crimes. In the case that they fail or are not prepared to provide protection, the international community, in the form of the United Nations, must step into the breach. This principle was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005 (see A/RES/60/1, 24 October 2005, paras. 138–9) and was actually applied for the first time in 2011 in the decision of the Security Council to act with ‘all necessary means’ to protect the civilian population in Libya and subsequently in Ivory Coast. (see S/RES/1973 and 1975, 2011 respectively).

34 See the report of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, ‘Implementing the Responsibility to Protect’, UN Doc. A/63/677, 12 January 2009.

35 See Certain Property (Liechtenstein v. Germany), Judgment of 10 February 2005 (Preliminary Objections), Dissenting Opinion of Kooijmans.

36 Case Concerning the Arrest Warrant of 11 April 2000 (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Belgium), Judgment of 14 February 2002, Joint Separate Opinion of Judges Higgins, Kooijmans, and Buergenthal.

37 Maritime Delimitation and Territorial Question between Qatar and Bahrain (Qatar v. Bahrain), Judgment, International Court of Justice, 16 March 2001.

38 Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall by Israel in Occupied Palestinian Territory, Advisory Opinion, International Court of Justice, 9 July 2004.

39 Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda), International Court of Justice, 19 December 2005, Separate Opinion of Judge Kooijmans.

40 Kasikili/Sedudu Island (Botswana/Namibia), Judgment of 13 December 1999, Separate Opinion of Judge Kooijmans.

41 Case Concerning the Frontier Dispute (Benin/Niger), Judgment of 12 July 2005.

42 Speech by His Excellency Judge Gilbert Guillaume, President of the International Court of Justice, to the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly of the United Nations, ‘The Proliferation of International Judicial Bodies: The Outlook for the International Legal Order’, 27 October 2000. See <http://www.icj-cij.org/court/index.php?pr=85&pt=3&p1=1&p2=3&p3=1>.

43 See Kooijmans, P. H., ‘Article 31’ in Zimmerman, A., Tomuschat, C., Oellers-Frahm, K., and Tams, C. J. (eds.), The Statute of the International Court of Justice. A Commentary (2012), 530–42Google Scholar. Art. 31 of the Statute discusses the circumstances under which states that are party to a dispute before the Court may nominate an ad hoc judge.

44 See on this provision Besselink, L. F. M., ‘The Constitutional Duty to Promote the Development of the International Legal Order: The Significance and Meaning of Art. 90 of the Netherlands Constitution’, in (2003) 34 NYIL 89–138CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

45 V. H. Rutgers (1877–1945) was a Netherlands jurist, politician, and resistance fighter during World War Two. He was leader of the ARP in the Lower House from 1919 to 1925 and was briefly minister of education. Subsequently, he was professor of Roman law and criminal law at the VU University Amsterdam. He also served as a representative of the Netherlands in conferences and commissions of the League of Nations principally in the area of arms limitation and disarmament. He saw the League of Nations as a valuable attempt to achieve an international legal order. See the contribution of W. F. de Gaay Fortman at <www.biografischwoordenboek.nl>.

46 In the Constitutional revision of 1983, it was decided to add that ‘the decisions of international organisations’ could also become immediately effective.

47 See Parliamentary proceedings 33359 (R1986), 6 September 2012, Proposal by the MP Taverne that there are grounds for taking into consideration a proposal to amend the Constitution, in effect a modification of the procedure for determining the immediate coming into force of provisions of treaties and decisions of international organizations.

48 See Parliamentary Document 28.331 for the Halsema proposal.

49 See Schrijver, N. J., ‘A Missionary Burden or Enlightened Self-Interest? International Law in Dutch Foreign Policy’, in (2010) 57 Netherlands International Law Review 209–44CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

50 This Advisory Council consists of a co-ordinating council and four permanent commissions: European Integration, Human Rights, Development Co-operation, and Peace and Security. See the website <www.aiv-advice.nl>.

51 See H. Goslinga in his touching In Memoriam, ‘Peter Kooijmans (1933–2013). Evenwicht tussen passie en rede [Balance between Passion and Reason]’, in Trouw, De Verdieping, 14 February 2013, at 4.