Council of Europe

Prof. dr. MARTIN KUIJER

Current positions

Senior legal adviser (raadadviseur), Netherlands Ministry of Security and Justice (since 2003)

• Responsible for the Ministry’s contribution to defending the Netherlands in human rights cases before the European Court of Human Rights, the Court of Justice of the European Union and relevant United Nations bodies;
• Chairperson of the Council of Europe Working Group on the longer term future of the European Court of Human Rights;
• Liaison officer for the Kingdom of The Netherlands to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT);
• Advising on compatibility of draft legislation and policies with international human rights standards.

Professor human rights law, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (since 2004)

• Lecturing human rights courses and doing academic research in the field of human rights law

Substitute Judge (raadsheer-plaatsvervanger), Court of Appeal Arnhem-Leeuwarden (since 2008)

• Judicial duties in the criminal section of the Court of Appeal Arnhem-Leeuwarden

Secondary functions

Member of the editorial board of

• the Netherlands Human Rights Law Journal (Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Mensenrechten)
• the Netherlands Yearbook of International Law (NYIL)

Lecturer on (European) human rights law, judicial organisation and legislative matters for

• the Netherlands Institute for the training of Magistrates (SSR);
• the Netherlands Academy for Legislation (Academie voor Wetgeving en Overheidsjuristen);
• the Netherlands Immigration and Naturalisation Service (IND);
• the European Judicial Training Network (EJTN);
• the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI); and
• the Romanian National Institute for Magistrates (NIM).

Previous positions

Legal clerk, section cassation proceedings, Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn (1997)

Lecturer and Research Fellow, University of Leiden (1998 – 2002)

• Responsible for teaching inter alia human rights law, minority rights, institutional EU law and the law of the United Nations to Dutch and foreign students; both undergraduate as post-graduate.
• Assistant to Professor Max van der Stoel, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities.

Education

Language skills: Dutch, English, French and German

Projects as expert

European Commission, Phare Horizontal Programme “Reinforcement of the Rule of Law” in order to assist the central and eastern European countries in transposing and implementing the Justice and Home Affairs acquis of the EU (2001-2002)

Council of Europe, expert opinion on the compatibility of the draft Code of Civil Procedure of Serbia and of Montenegro with the requirements of the European Convention on Human Rights (2003 and 2004)

Key-expert, trainer and lecturer, “Strengthening the Training Capacity of the National Institute for Magistrates, Romania” in co-operation with the Netherlands SSR and the Romanian National Institute for Magistrates (2000-2006, development of human rights training for magistrates)

Expert, trainer and lecturer, “Preparation of a Recruitment and Training Strategy in Bulgaria” in co-operation with the Bulgarian Magistrate Training Center (2004-2005, development of human rights training for magistrates)

Expert, trainer and lecturer, “Human rights training for Czech magistrates” in co-operation with the Czech Union of Judges

Workshops on human rights law in Albania under the Joint Council of Europe – European Commission Programme for legal system reform

Training to Government officials on international human rights standards, Anton de Kom Universiteit, Paramaribo, Surinam (2011)

Training to the Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance (CHRAGG) on international human rights standards, good governance, and the professional handling of human rights cases” (Tanzania, 2013)

Training to the Conseil national des droits de l ‘Homme (CNDH) on monitoring, investigation and follow-up mechanisms, and skills of visiting places of detention (Morocco, 2013)

Selected publications

• M. Kuijer, “Guaranteeing International Human Rights Standards in the Netherlands: The Parliamentary Dimension”, in: Murray Hunt, Hayley J Hooper and Paul Yowell (eds.), Parliaments and Human Rights – Redressing the Democratic Deficit, Oxford: Hart, 2015, pp. 295-305
• M. Kuijer, “The Impact of the Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights on the Political Debate in the Netherlands concerning the Court”, in: M. van Roosmalen, B. Vermeulen, F. van Hoof & M. Oosting (eds.), Fundamental Rights and Principles – Liber amicorum Pieter van Dijk, Cambridge: Intersentia, 2013, pp. 99- 114
• M. Kuijer, “The Right to a Fair Trial and the Council of Europe's Efforts to Ensure Effective Remedies on a Domestic Level for Excessively Lengthy Proceedings”, in: Human Rights Law Review 2013 13: 777-794
• M. Kuijer, “Human-Rights-Oriented Evaluation of Security Legislation: National Practice and European Guidance from the ECHR”, in: Marion Albers & Ruth Weinzierl (eds.), Menschenrechtliche Standards in der Sicherheitspolitik. Beiträge zur rechtsstaatsorientierten Evaluierung von Sicherheitsgesetzen. Baden-Baden: Nomos, 2010
• M. Kuijer, “De betekenis van het Europees verdrag voor de rechten van de mens voor de nationale wetgever”, in: Wetgever en constitutie (Preadvies Vereniging voor wetgeving en wetgevingsbeleid), Nijmegen: Wolf Legal Publishers, 2009, pp. 43-86 [the relevance of the ECHR for domestic legislators]
• M. Kuijer, P. Bal & K. Veegens, “The Netherlands”, in: XVIII International Congress of Penal Law (AIDP), Special Procedural Measures and Respect for Human Rights, Toulouse: Éditions Érès, 2009
• M. Kuijer, “Geweldgebruik door de politie en de jurisprudentie van het Europees Hof voor de Rechten van de Mens”, in: Borgers, Duker & Stevens (eds.), Politie in beeld, Nijmegen: Wolf Legal Publishers, 2009 [on the use of force by police officers in light of the case-law of the ECtHR]
• M. Kuijer, “Limits to new criminal law measures in the fight against terrorism in light of human rights standards”, in: M. Cupido (ed.), Limits to Criminal Law, Nijmegen: Wolf Legal Publishers, 2008, pp. 55-67
• T. Barkhuysen, M. Kuijer & R.A. Lawson (eds.), 55 Jaar EVRM, NJCM: Leiden, 2006
• M. Kuijer, Van Lawless tot een rechtmatige bestrijding van terrorisme, Wolf Legal Publishers: Nijmegen, 2005 [on human rights standards in the fight against terrorism]
• M. Kuijer, The Blindfold of Lady Justice - Judicial Independence and Impartiality in Light of the Requirements of Article 6 ECHR, Wolf Legal Publishers, 2004
• M. Kuijer, “Voting behaviour and national bias in the European Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice: , in: Leiden Journal of International Law 1997, pp. 49-67
• M.K. Bulterman & M. Kuijer (eds.), Compliance with judgments of international courts, The Hague/Boston/London: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1996

Selected public lectures

• September 2004, Mexico City (Mexico), Congreso nacional Associacion Nacional de Doctores en Derecho, address to the Mexican Senate on the presumption of innocence
• December 2004, Sofia (Bulgaria), National Conference for Judges
• June 2005, Strasbourg (France), Council of Europe high level seminar “Protecting human rights while fighting terrorism”
• November 2005, Tblisi (Georgia), OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting “Role of defence lawyers in guaranteeing a fair trial”
• November 2006, Vaduz (Liechtenstein), Workshop on Human Rights and International Cooperation while Countering Terrorism (organised by OSCE ODIHR)
• June 2007, Strasbourg (France), Council of Europe “Expert workshop Human Rights Challenges in the Fight against Terrorism: Protecting the Right to Privacy”, organised by the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg
• November 2007, Oslo (Norway), “ECHR and immigration law”, organised by the Norwegian Ministry of Justice
• November 2009, Parliamentary Assemblee of the Council of Europe, ‘Scrutiny by member states legislative organs of Strasbourg Court judgments with the aim of better ensuring the authority and effectiveness of the European Convention of Human Rights’
• October 2010, Astana (Kazakhstan), International conference ‘Sanctioning of the arrest in court: improvement of legislation and law-enforcement practice’, organised by the Senate and the Supreme Court
• April 2011, Strasbourg, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, “National Parliaments – Guarantors of human rights in Europe”
• April 2012, London (UK), “Redressing the Democratic Deficit in Human Rights”, organised by the Joint Committee on Human Rights, UK Parliament
• June 2012, The Netherlands, chaired seminar on “The triangular working relationship between SPT, CPT and NPM”
• April 2014, Oslo (Norway), “The long-term future of the European Court of Human Rights”, organised by the Council of Europe, the Norwegian ministry of Justice and the University of Oslo