What climate litigation reveals about judicial competence
In recent years, the U.S. and the Netherlands have been on opposing ends of the spectrum regarding climate litigation. Dutch courts have been an arena of social change in several revolutionary climate cases, while climate claims in the U.S. have been largely unsuccessful. In a way, this difference seems odd, because the U.S. judiciary has […]
Companies face a climate conundrum
In an op-ed in Het Financieele Dagblad, Marieke addresses the climate conundrum that the private sector is facing in the Netherlands. On the one hand, organizations are pushed to set ambitious climate targets. On the other hand, they face intense societal scrutiny while struggling to navigate complicated questions related to climate strategy, compliance and implementation. […]
GDPR enforcement at the B2B level – what are we waiting for?
In this article, we explore the potential for civil enforcement of the GDPR between companies. We substantiate how Article 6:162 Dutch Civil Code, Article 82 GDPR and the Unfair Commercial Practices Act seem to provide a basis for B2B enforcement, despite conflicting court rulings. A missed opportunity in practice, given the support of the Consumer […]
Rechtenstudie moet meer zijn dan een Zuidasklasje
The basis for the motto “if it’s allowed, it can be done,” according to Douwe, is already being laid at law schools. Universities should be less commercially oriented, and teach their students a stronger social consciousness. As a result of this opinion piece, Douwe was invited for an item on VPRO Tegenlicht.
The climate duty of care: starting points when preparing a climate plan
More and more is expected of companies in the field of ESG. Especially in the area of the “E” (Environment), much is going on. In the Shell v. Environmental Defense ruling of May 2021 (“Shell ruling”), the court adopted a private law climate care obligation requiring Shell to reduce emissions by a net 45% by […]
De AVG & aanbestedingsprocedures – privacy een nice to have?
In this article, we discuss a judgment of the preliminary injunction court exposing the messy application of the AVG in a procurement process. The AVG requirements were classified as “nice to haves,” rather than “need to haves,” making personal data protection seem less important than other criteria such as price and ease of use. This […]
EU patent harmonization policy: reconsidering the consequences of the UPCA
In 2020, after long negotiations, everything was finally ready for the new European Unifed Patent Court (UPC). But instead of a harmonized institution based on European law, the UPC is based on a complex international agreement, which raises issues of legal certainty for patent holders, and questions about its relationship with the European Court of […]
Overheid moet uitweg bieden uit oerwoud van desinformatie
The government cannot determine what information is visible on social media. However, this does not mean that there is no role for the Dutch government, Douwe writes. The Netherlands should take an example from the Swiss referendum procedure, without the referendum. Before each referendum, Swiss people receive a booklet from the government containing summaries of […]
Datadelen in smart mobility – voert wishful thinking de boventoon voor anonimiseren?
Within the framework of Dutch smart mobility projects, a lot of (personal) data is shared. Participants in these projects – market and government – believe that this is anonymized data. However, this seems unlikely given the ‘reasonable means’ available to de-anonymize the data. The government’s solution of limiting “reasonable means” through internal measures is inadequate […]