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Amsterdam Center for International Law null

Prof. dr. mr. J.E. (Janne) Nijman

History and Theory of International Law
Faculty of Law
Public International Law
Photographer: Rudi Wells
Visiting address
  • Nieuwe Achtergracht 166
  • Room number: 10.22
Postal address
  • Postbus 15859
    1001 NJ Amsterdam
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  • Profile

    Profile

    Janne Nijman is Professor of History and Theory of International Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Amsterdam and senior fellow of the Amsterdam Center for International Law (ACIL). Nijman is also Professor of International Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. Previously, she has been Chairperson of the Executive Board of the T.M.C. Asser Instituut in The Hague, and its academic director (2015-2022). Nijman is a member of the Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV) and chair of its permanent Committee on Human Rights (2023-2026). Nijman is a Senior Fellow visiting the Research Group ‘The International Rule of Law – Rise or Decline?’ at Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Universität Potsdam in 2023-24. During Michaelmas Term (2022-2023), she was a Visiting Fellow at the Lauterpacht Center for International Law and a Visiting Scholar at Jesus College in Cambridge (UK).

    Her research centers on how the past, present, and future of international law influence each other (see also an interview here and here). Currently, her research is focused on two themes 'Dutch Empire and International Law' and 'Cities and International Law'. Nijman has been PI of the research project ‘The Global City: Challenges, Trust and the Role of (International) Law (2016-2021)’ hosted at the Asser Institute. The project includes four individual PhD projects supported by the Gieskes Strijbis Foundation. Together with Helmut Aust (FU Berlin), Janne Nijman co-chairs the ILA Study Group on 'The Role of Cities in International law'.

    She is an Advisory Editor of the London review of International Law and she has been an editor of the Netherlands Yearbook of International Law (2010-2022). Nijman has been a board member of the Grotiana Foundation and Grotiana Journal (2005-2022) and member of the general board of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Vereniging voor Internationaal Recht  (KNVIR, the Dutch branch of the International Law Association (ILA)) (2008-2022). 

    Nijman studied law at the University of Leiden (Meester in de Rechten, 1996) and the Université Robert Schuman in Strasbourg. She defended her doctoral thesis in public international law at Leiden University in 2004. Nijman is based at ACIL since 2004. She has been a post-doc researcher in the ACIL-based NWO Pioneer Project "The Divide and Interaction between National law and International Law" (2004-2005). Janne Nijman has been a Global Research Fellow of New York University School of Law (2003-04), affiliated to the History and Theory of International Law Program of the Institute for International Law and Justice, an Early Career Visiting Fellow at Queen Mary College School of Law, University of London (summer 2006), and a Visiting Scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Bologna Institute for Policy Research (Spring term 2012). From 2007-2014, she has been Dean to the Law Faculty's PhD Candidates. Over the years, she has acted frequently as guest lecturer at the Netherlands Institute of International Relations "Clingendael" and at the Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies (UvA). Previously, she participated in the 1998 ACUNS/ASIL Summer Workshop "Globalization and Global Governance: Changing Roles for State and Non-State Actors" Yale University, USA.

    Ancillary activities (selection)

    Janne Nijman is Chair of the Supervisory Board of World Press Photo and Member of the Supervisory Board of PAX for Peace and of the Supervisory Board of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She is a member of the Jury of the UCLG Peace Prize. She is a member of SER Topvrouwen. Nijman has been an International Gender Champion (Interview on Gender Equality on the occassion of IWD 2019) as member of the IGC The Hague hub from 2018-2022. Janne has been member and chair of the Board of Trustees of ICCT - International Center for Counter-Terrorism in The Hague and (founding) member of the Steering Committee of the Netherlands Network of Human Rights Research (NNHRR) (2017-2022). She has been chairperson of the board of the Vera Gottschalk-Frank Foundation and in that capacity member of the Selection and Evaluation Committee  of the Arminius Fellowship at the Scaliger Institute (Leiden University). Until 2019, she has been a board member and research advisor on Global Justice to The Broker, an online platform that aims to 'bridge the gap' between academics and development policy makers. Nijman has been member and president of the executive board of Oikos, a NGO focused on fair and sustainable globalisation, and member of the Supervisory Board of Spark, which develops higher education and entrepreneurship so that young ambitious people are empowered to lead their post-conflict societies into prosperity.

    Nijman has published op-eds in Eindhovens dagblad, Het Parool, Het Financieel Dagblad, Nederlands Dagblad, NRC Handelsblad, Trouw and Volkskrant. She has an alternating column with Herman van Rompuy in the magazine CDV: 'Wederkerigheid' (2019-4), 'Identiteit' (2020-2), 'Waarden en Europa' (2020-4), 'Het bonum commune’ (2021-2), 'Rentmeesterschap’ (2021-4), 'Vernedering' (2022-2), 'Grenzen aan het Gras' (2022-4), 'Stop ons Verzet' (2023-2) en 'Ressentiment' (2023-4).

    NYU IILJ History&Theory Program

    General Research Interests

    Janne Nijman is currently working on a range of research topics, including :

    • International law and politics
    • Human Rights
    • Critical international legal history
    • Cities and international law and governance

    Key publications

    Monograph & edited volumes :

    • Urban Politics of Human Rights, together with Barbara Oomen, Elif Durmu, Sara Miellet, and Lisa Roodenburg (Eds), (Routledge, November 2022) 
    • Research Handbook on International Law and Cities, together with Helmut Aust (Eds), (Elgar, 2021) (Pb ed, 2022)
    • The Cambridge Companion to Hugo Grotius, together with R. Lesaffer (Eds), (Cambridge University Press, Hb and Pb 2021)
    • Populism and International Law, together with Wouter Werner (Eds.), vol. 2018 of the Netherlands Yearbook of International Law, (T.M.C. Asser Press/Springer, 2019).
    • Morality and Responsibility of Rulers: Chinese and European origins of a rule of law as justice for world order, edited together with Anthony Carty (Oxford University Press, 2018).
    • Netherlands Yearbook of International Law 2012,  Legal Equality and the International Rule of Law. Essays in honour of Pieter H. Kooijmans, Volume editor with Wouter Werner, 2013.
    • Netherlands Yearbook of International Law 2011, Agora:  The Iraq Case: international law and politics, Volume editor with Ellen Hey, 2012.
    • Special Issue Grotiana 2009, Mare Liberum 1609-2009, Volume editor with Gustaaf van Nifterik, Grotiana Vol. 30, Dec. 2009.
    • Janne E Nijman & André Nollkaemper (Eds), New Perspectives on the Divide between National and International Law, OUP, 2007.
    • The Concept of International Legal Personality: an inquiry into the history and theory of international law , T.M.C. Asser Press, 2004.

                               Reviewed inter alia in (see links below):

                               Review Essay by Anthony Carty in: 6 Melbourne JIL 2005, 534-552.

                               Book Review by Robert Kolb in 18 European JIL 2007, 775-776.

                                                                                        ***

    Chapters and articles :

    • 'Minorities and Majorities' in A Peters & B Fassbender (Eds.),  Oxford Handbook on the History of International law (OUP, 2012), pp. 95-119.
    • 'After "Iraq": Back to the International Rule of Law? An Introduction to the Netherlands Yearbook of International Law 2011 Agora  "The Iraq Case: international law and politics"' (2012), pp. 71-94.
    • 'Rechtstreekse werking verdragen goed voor Nederland' together with K. Brölmann, in Openbaar Bestuur Juni 2012 pp. 13-15.
    • 'Morality and Responsibility of Rulers: early modern origins of a rule of law for world order", written together with Anthony Carty, published in Conference papers of the International Symposium " Reason of State and State of Reason in the Global Era: History and Present " (pp 414-424), held at the School of Law, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, 3-4 December 2011. 
    • "The Future of the City and the International Law of the Future," in Law of the Future and the Future of Law, Sam Muller et al. (eds), (Torkel Opsahl EPublisher, 2011).
    • "On Faith in the Moral Force of International Law: Martin Wight and Hugo de Groot," 12 (2) Journal of the History of International Law 329-346 (2010).
    • "Non-State Actors and the International Rule of Law:Revisiting the 'Realist Theory' of International Legal Personality,"in M. Noortmann and C. Ryngaert (Eds), Non State Actors Dynamics in International Law.From Law-Takers to Law-Makers  (Aldershot, Ashgate, 2010).
    • "Paul Ricoeur and international law: beyond 'the end of the subject': towards a reconceptualisation of international legal personality," in Fleur Johns (ed.), International Legal Personality , Series: The Library of Essays in International Law, Ashgate, (March 2010). (reprint from LJIL 2007).
    • "Introduction: Mare Liberum Revisited 1609-2009" together with Gustaaf van Nifterik, Grotiana Vol. 30, Special Issue Mare Liberum 1609-2009, pp. 3-19 (December 2009).
    • Special Report in The Broker (December 2009), "Cities of the world unite", which includes article "The Rising influence of Urban Actors." www.thebrokeronline.eu  
    • "Paul Ricoeur and international law:beyond 'the end of the subject': towards a reconceptualisation of international legal personality," in A. Bianchi(ed.), Non-State Actors and International Law , Series: The Library of Essays in International Law, Ashgate, (August 2009). (reprint from LJIL 2007).
    • "Internationalisering van de stad (deel 3)," in 19 Openbaar Bestuur, Tijdschrift voor Beleid, organisatie en politiek (Issue 1, January 2009), pp. 13-16.
    • "Internationaliseringvan de stad (deel 2)," in 18 Openbaar Bestuur, Tijdschrift voor Beleid, organisatie en politiek (Issue 12, December 2008), pp. 11-15.
    • "Internationalisering van de stad (deel 1)," in 18 Openbaar Bestuur, Tijdschrift voor Beleid, organisatie en politiek (Issue 11, November 2008), pp. 9-13.
    • "Introduction", in: JE Nijman and PA Nollkaemper (Eds.), New Perspectives on the Divide between National and International Law (OUP, 2007, 416 p.), p. 1-14 (with André Nollkaemper).
    • "Beyond the Divide," in: JE Nijman and PA Nollkaemper (Eds.) New Perspectives on the Divide Between National and International Law (Oxford: 2007, 416 p.), p. 341-360 (with André Nollkaemper).
    • "Jan Amos Comenius (1592-1670),reformer ofhumanity: A cosmopolitan contribution to the 17th century discourse on world peace," 7 Baltic Yearbook of International Law 2007, pp. 121-154.
    • "Hoe houden we oorlog rechtvaardig?", in: Thijs Jansen, JanneNijman & Jan Willem Sap (eds.), Burgers en Barbaren. Over oorlog tussen recht enmacht , Amsterdam, Boom, 2007.
    • "... die de vrede liefhebben, duyden alles tot vrede", bookreview of Henk Nellen, Hugo de Groot: een leven in strijd om de vrede 1583-1645, in: Thijs Jansen, JanneNijman & Jan Willem Sap (eds.), Burgers en Barbaren.Over oorlog tussenrecht en macht , Amsterdam, Boom,2007.
    • "Paul Ricoeur and International Law: Beyond "The End of the Subject" - Towards a reconceptualisation of international legal personality" , 20 Leiden Journal of International Law 2007, pp. 25-64.
    • "Corporate Social Responsibility: a conceptual challenge to international law" in: J.J.A.Hamers, C.A.Schwarz,enB.T.M. Steins Bisschop (eds.), Noodzaak, plicht of wenselijkheid van Maatschappelijk Verantwoord Ondernemen: een multidisciplinaire verkenning , 2005, pp. 39-62.
    • "Leibniz's Theory of Relative Sovereignty and International Legal Personality: Justice and Stability or the Last Great Defence of the Holy Roman Empire," NYU Working Papers series 2004/2.
    • "Sovereignty & Personality: A Process of Inclusion", in G. Kreijen et al. (eds.),  State,Sovereignty, and InternationalGovernance , Oxford, OUP, 2002, pp. 109-144.  
    Review Essay by Anthony Carty
    The Divide between National and International law
    NYU IILJ Working Papers

    Book (in Dutch):

    Thijs Jansen, Janne Nijman & Jan Willem Sap (eds.), Burgers en Barbaren.Oorlog tussen recht en macht, Amsterdam, Boom, 2007.

    Teaching

    • History and Theory of International Law (Master Course)
    History and Theory of International Law (Mastercourse)
  • Publications

    2023

    • Nijman, J. E. (2023). Bertha von Suttner: Locating International Law in Novel and Salon. In I. Tallgren (Ed.), Portraits of Women in International Law: New Names and Forgotten Faces? (pp. 87-98). Oxford University Press.
    • Nijman, J. E., Oomen, B., Durmuş, E., Miellet, S., & Roodenburg, L. (Eds.) (2023). Urban Politics of Human Rights. (Cities and Global Governance; Vol. 8). Routledge. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003315544 [details]
    • Oomen, B., Durmuş, E., Miellet, S., Nijman, J. E., & Roodenburg, L. (2023). General introduction: Urban politics of human rights. In J. E. Nijman, B. Oomen, E. Durmuş, S. Miellet, & L. Roodenburg (Eds.), Urban Politics of Human Rights (pp. 1-22). (Cities and Global Governance; Vol. 8). Routledge. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003315544-1 [details]

    2021

    • Aust, H. P., & Nijman, J. E. (2021). The Emerging Roles of Cities in International Law - Introductory Remarks on Practice, Scholarship and the Handbook. In H. P. Aust, & J. E. Nijman (Eds.), Research Handbook on International Law and Cities (pp. 1-15). (Research handbooks in international law). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788973281.00006 [details]
    • Aust, H. P., & Nijman, J. E. (Eds.) (2021). Research Handbook on International Law and Cities. (Research handbooks in international law). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788973281 [details]
    • Lesaffer, R., & Nijman, J. E. (2021). Introduction. In R. Lesaffer, & J. E. Nijman (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to Hugo Grotius (pp. 1-14). (Cambridge Companions to Law). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108182751.003 [details]
    • Lesaffer, R., & Nijman, J. E. (Eds.) (2021). The Cambridge Companion to Hugo Grotius. (Cambridge companions to law). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108182751 [details]
    • Nijman, J. E. (2021). Ius Gentium et Naturae: The Human Conscience and Early Modern International Law. In P. Slotte, & J. D. Haskell (Eds.), Christianity and International Law: An Introduction (pp. 153-176). (Cambridge studies in Law and Christianity). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108565646.008 [details]
    • Nijman, J. E. (2021). An Enlarged Sense of Possibility for International Law: Seeking change by doing history. In I. Venzke, & K. J. Heller (Eds.), Contingency in International Law: on the possibility of different legal histories (pp. 92-107). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192898036.003.0006 [details]

    2020

    2019

    2018

    • Carty, A., & Nijman, J. (2018). The Moral Responsibility of Rulers: Going Back Beyond the Liberal Rule of Law for World Order. In A. Carty, & J. Nijman (Eds.), Morality and Responsibility of Rulers: European and Chinese Origins of a Rule of Law as Justice for World Order (pp. 1-52). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199670055.003.0001 [details]
    • Carty, A., & Nijman, J. (Eds.) (2018). Morality and Responsibility of Rulers: European and Chinese Origins of a Rule of Law as Justice for World Order. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199670055.001.0001 [details]
    • Nijman, J. (2018). A Universal Rule of Law for a Pluralist World Order: Leibniz's Universal Jurisprudence and His Praise of the Chinese Ruler. In A. Carty, & J. Nijman (Eds.), Morality and Responsibility of Rulers: European and Chinese Origins of a Rule of Law as Justice for World Order (pp. 222-244). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199670055.003.0011 [details]

    2017

    • Nijman, J. E. (2017). Grotius’ Imago Dei anthropology: grounding Ius naturae et gentium. In M. Koskenniemi , M. García-Salmones Rovira, & P. Amorosa (Eds.), International Law and Religion : Historical and Contemporary Perspectives (pp. 87-110). (The History and Theory of International Law). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198805878.003.0005 [details]

    2016

    • Nijman, J. E. (2016). Renaissance of the City as Global Actor: The role of foreign policy and international law practices in the construction of cities as global actors. In G. Hellmann, A. Fahrmeir, & M. Vec (Eds.), The transformation of foreign policy: drawing and managing boundaries from antiquity to the present (pp. 209-239). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198783862.003.0010 [details]

    2015

    2012

    2010

    • Nijman, J. E. (2010). Non-state actors and the international rule of law: revisiting the 'realist theory' of international legal personality. In M. Noortmann, & C. Ryngaert (Eds.), Non-state actor dynamics in international law: from law-takers to law-makers (pp. 91-124). (Non-state actors in international law, politics and governance series). Ashgate. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1522520 [details]
    • Nijman, J. E. (2010). Paul Ricoeur and international law: beyond 'the end of the subject': towards a reconceptualisation of international legal personality. In F. Johns (Ed.), International legal personality (pp. 479-518). (The library of essays in international law). Ashgate. [details]

    2009

    • Nijman, J. E. (2009). Paul Ricoeur and international law: beyond 'the end of the subject'. Towards a reconceptualisation of international legal personality. In A. Bianchi (Ed.), Non-state actors and international law (pp. 79-118). (The library of essays in international law). Farnham: Ashgate. [details]

    2022

    2021

    2020

    2019

    2013

    • Nijman, J. E., & Werner, W. G. (2013). Legal equality and the international rule of law. In J. E. Nijman, & W. G. Werner (Eds.), Netherlands yearbook of international law 2012: Legal equality and the international rule of law: essays in honour of P.H. Kooijmans (pp. 3-24). (Netherlands yearbook of international law; Vol. 43). Asser Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-6704-915-3_1 [details]
    • Nijman, J. E., & Werner, W. G. (Eds.) (2013). Netherlands yearbook of international law 2012: Legal equality and the international rule of law: essays in honour of P.H. Kooijmans. (Netherlands yearbook of international law; Vol. 43). Asser Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-6704-915-3 [details]

    2012

    • Brölmann, K., & Nijman, J. (2012). Rechtstreekse werking verdragen goed voor Nederland. Openbaar Bestuur, 22(6), 13-15. [details]

    2011

    • Carty, A., & Nijman, J. (2011). Morality and Responsibility of Rulers: early modern origins of a rule of law for world order. In International Symposium "Reason of State and State of Reason in the Global Era: History and Present" (pp. 414-424). School of Law, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
    • Nijman, J. E. (2011). The future of the city and the international law of the future. In S. Muller, S. Zouridis, M. Frishman, & L. Kistemaker (Eds.), The law of the future and the future of law (pp. 213-229). (FICHL publication series; No. 11). Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher. http://www.fichl.org/fileadmin/fichl/documents/FICHL_11_Web.pdf [details]

    2009

    2008

    • Nijman, J. (2008). Internationalisering van de stad (2). Openbaar Bestuur, 18(12), 11-15. [details]
    • Nijman, J. (2008). Internationalisering van de stad. Openbaar Bestuur, 18(11), 9-13. [details]

    2023

    2022

    2021

    2020

    2017

    2014

    2013

    2010

    • Nijman, J. (2010). 'Smart' development aid: the need for a paradigm shift in the organisation of development aid: from state-focus to a focus on global networks [Review of: Wetenschappelijke Raad voor het Regeringsbeleid (2010) Minder pretentie, meer ambitie: ontwikkelingshulp die verschil maakt]. The Broker online, 2010(Feb. 01), 4296. http://www.thebrokeronline.eu/en/trackback/id/4296 [details]
    • Nijman, J. E. (2010). On faith in the moral force of international law: Martin Wight and Hugo de Groot [Review of: M. Wight (2005) Four seminal thinkers in international theory: Machiavelli, Grotius, Kant, and Mazzini]. Journal of the History of International Law, 12, 329-346. https://doi.org/10.1163/157180510X530167 [details]

    2009

    2023

    2022

    2018

    2017

    2012

    • Brölmann, K., & Nijman, J. (2012). VVD heeft blijkbaar moeite met onafhankelijke rechter. Het Nederlands Dagblad, 9. [details]
    • Nijman, J. E. (2012). Al onze keuzes raken ook ontwikkelingslanden. Eindhovens dagblad.

    2022

    Prize / grant

    Media appearance

    2023

    2021

    2020

    • Bán, M. (2020). The legal governance of historical memory and the rule of law. [Thesis, fully internal, Universiteit van Amsterdam]. [details]

    2023

    2022

    2017

    • Brölmann, C., & Nijman, J. (2017). Legal Personality as a Fundamental Concept of International Law. (Amsterdam Law School Legal Studies Research Paper; No. 2016-43), (Amsterdam Center for International Law; No. 2016-17). Amsterdam Center for International Law, University of Amsterdam. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2845222 [details]
    This list of publications is extracted from the UvA-Current Research Information System. Questions? Ask the library or the Pure staff of your faculty / institute. Log in to Pure to edit your publications. Log in to Personal Page Publication Selection tool to manage the visibility of your publications on this list.
  • Ancillary activities
    • Adviesraad Internationale Vraagstukken
      Lid van de Raad en voorzitter van de permanente Commissie Mensenrechten
    • VU Amsterdam
      Lid Raad van Toezicht
    • World Press Photo
      Voorzitter Raad van Toezicht
    • ICCT
      Voorzitter Raad van Toezicht (2021); lid Raad van Toezicht (2022).
    • International Gender Champions
      Member of the Hague Hub of the IGC
    • PAX
      Raad van Toezicht
    • United Cities and Local Governments
      Member of the UCLG International Peace Prize Jury
    • Adviesraad Internationale Vraagstukken
      Lidmaatschap van dit Adviescollege en Voorzitter van de Commissie Mensenrechten.
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