News
HPM 2025 Regional Round in Vilnius
Great news from Vilnius!
This year's Cologne HPMCC team has qualified for the final round of the Moot Court Competition in Strasbourg!!!
The three-day competition in Vilnius was a complete success. We are proud of our Mooties Alessandra Reputin, Mounira Hssaine, Julie Dovern and Nil Su Ketenci, who were able to demonstrate their human rights knowledge and training over the last months during their oral pleadings in Vilnius. The team performed with great team spirit, positivity and confidence in this intense competition.
The regional round began with the opening ceremony on Friday afternoon in Vilnius City Hall, where the participating teams met each other for the first time and were warmly welcomed by the organisers from ELSA Vilnius.
Later we explored Vilnius on a snowy city tour and enjoyed a nice get-together with the other teams before the next day, the representatives of the defendant were finally able to demonstrate their skills in their oral pleadings. On Sunday morning the applicants oral pleadings followed.
Our stay ended with an exciting prize-giving ceremony and a closing party at which all the teams celebrated their achievements by singing karaoke together.
Both the applicant and the respondent were able to achieve good scores from the judges and took a great deal of experience back to Cologne with them.
A special thank you to the organisers from ELSA Vilnius and to all the other participating teams who made the regional round such a wonderful experience!
Prof. Nußberger in an interview on current research on Universalism and Particularism
Law and history are inextricably intertwined, particularly in the context of the evolution of human rights. What significance do historical legal texts hold in this regard today? The fourth phase of the Kolleg Research Group (KFG) on Universalism and Particularism in European Contemporary History is devoted to an in-depth examination of this compelling subject.
Our Director, Prof. Dr. DDr. h.c. Angelika Nußberger, engaged in a discussion on these matters with L.I.S.A., the academic portal of the Gerda Henkel Foundation.
Access the full interview here. [German]
"Völkerrecht und Geschichte": Prof. Nußberger, Prof. Creß and Prof. Klose as guests at L.I.S.A.
Prof. Nußberger was a guest on L.I.S.A., the science portal of the Gerda Henkel Foundation, and discussed the topic of “International Law and History” with the international law expert Prof. Claus Kreß and the historian Prof. Fabian Klose using the example of current international conflicts and with a view to historical international law. The video recording is now available on L.I.S.A.. You can find the link here.
Debate: The Omnipresence of Divergent Historical Narratives in Law and Politics
The past feels omnipresent in today’s world. Wars are waged and defended in the name of history, while domestic and international politics revolve around struggles over collective memory.
This symposium explores how memory laws and politics contribute to authoritarianism by restricting human rights and reinforcing other populist tools. Focusing on memory’s ties to illiberalism, foreign policy, and the digital age, the symposium, co-edited by Angelika Nußberger and Paula Rhein-Fischer, seeks to spark debate on the future viability of memory laws and politics.
You can read all contributions to the debate here.
Book Launch: Secession in International Law with a Special Reference to the Post-Soviet Space
In her new book Secession in International Law with a Special Reference to the Post-Soviet Space (Brill), our Postdoctoral Researcher, Dr. Júlia Miklasová, explores the increasing relevance of international law to cases of unilateral secession, particularly when connected to breaches of peremptory norms (jus cogens). It introduces the concept of the “illegal secessionist entity”. It demonstrates the pervasive effects of the original illegality on the entity's subsequent relations and how they interact with the legal regimes of occupation law and human rights law. The book also emphasizes the critical role of post-Soviet secessionist practice (Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Crimea, the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, and the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia Regions) within this legal context.
In her book launch, Dr Miklasová will present key findings of her research as well as the extent to which her conclusions are relevant to the ongoing and prospective developments in the post-Soviet space. The leading experts in the field will offer their remarks and comments on the book’s conclusions.
Date: 3 February 2025, 18:00
Location: Academy for European Human Rights Protection in Cologne or online
Panel:
Dr. Júlia Miklasová, Academy for European Human Rights Protection
Professor Anne Lagerwall, Université Libre de Bruxelles
Professor Lauri Mälksoo, University of Tartu
Moderation: Professor Angelika Nußberger, Academy for European Human Rights Protection
Please, register by emailing jmiklaso
uni-koeln.de by 31 January 2025.
Prof. Nußberger in the podcast “Recht verständlich” on the topic: Human rights understandable - human rights in armed conflicts
Unfortunately, armed conflicts are also currently affecting the lives of many of the people affected. This raises the question of whether rules apply in war at all and, if so, which ones? What is the difference between human rights, international humanitarian law and international criminal law? Which violations can be punished - and before which court?
These and other questions will be answered by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Dr. h.c. Angelika Nußberger, Director of the Academy for European Human Rights Protection at the University of Cologne and former Vice-President of the European Court of Human Rights, answers these and other questions in the new episode of the podcast.
Prof. Dr. Angelika Nußberger on Hessischer Rundfunk about human dignity, freedom and equality
On December 18, 2024, Prof. Dr. Angelika Nußberger was a guest on the program “Am Nachmittag” on hr2-kultur. In conversation with presenter Daniela Baumeister, she presented her new book „Frei und gleich: Die Menschenrechte“ , in which she uses actual cases to address the universal significance and challenges of human rights.
In the interview, they also discussed how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is implemented worldwide and whether it is necessary for judges to constantly reinterpret and renegotiate the content and limits of human rights.
Call for Abstracts: Urban Housing and Constitutional Law
World Comparative Law (WCL) is now accepting abstracts for its upcoming special issue "The City as Contested Space: Constitutional Perspectives on Urban Housing Disputes". The issue will be co-edited by Timo Laven, one of our PhD candidates at the Academy, and Katharina König of the FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg.
This special issue aims to explore how constitutional law shapes urban housing policy and addresses the growing challenges of housing crises in cities worldwide. The editors invite contributions that examine the constitutional dimensions of urban housing disputes, with a focus on comparative perspectives.
Abstract submission guidelines:
Word Limit: 500 Words
Format: Word document
Deadline: March 15, 2025
Submission email: anna-katharina.koenigfau.de
Those whose abstracts are accepted will be required to submit a draft paper by July 1, 2025, followed by a one-day virtual workshop to exchange ideas and receive feedback from peers. More details, including the journal's style guide, can be found at the link: https://voelkerrechtsblog.org/calls-for-papers/call-for-abstracts-world-comparative-law-special-issue-the-city-as-a-contested-space-constitutional-law-perspectives-on-urban-housing-disputes/
Prof. Nußberger in conversation with WDR
Prof. Nußberger was in conversation with WDR on Human Rights Day, December 10, 2024.
The topic of the interview was her newly published children's book “Free and Equal - Human Rights.”
She talks about why, as a professor, she decided to write a young people's book and explains which real-life cases inspired her to do so.
Romano-Guardini Prize: Award for Prof. Angelika Nußberger
Prof. Angelika Nußberger was awarded the Romano-Guardini Prize 2024 on December 10, 2024.
The award was presented to her at a ceremony in Munich. The laudatory speech was given by the former President of the Federal Constitutional Court, Prof. Dr. Andreas Voßkuhle. Further speeches were given by Joachim Herrmann, Minister of the Interior of the Free State of Bavaria, and Cardinal Reinhard Marx.
The Romano Guardini Prize has been awarded since 1970 and honors outstanding services to the interpretation of time and the world in various areas of life.
Prof. Nußberger received the prize for her commitment to certain topics, in particular the protection of human rights, the preservation of the rule of law, the special features of international law in Central and Eastern Europe and the debate on Russia's political system.
We would like to congratulate Prof. Angelika Nußberger on receiving this special prize from the Academy.