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Dr Wiebe Hommes, Assistant Professor of European Law and Legal History, has published a book on the history of the European Convention on Human Rights. It charts the Convention as it moved from a little known document to one, if not the prime tool for legal human rights protection in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, incorporating new actors, perspectives and tackling the question how to deal with a ‘European’ Convention in a Kingdom which stretched way beyond Europe along the way.

How and why did the European Convention turn from a neglected legal tool into one of the most important human rights documents in legal practice?

This book argues this remarkable development wasn't merely the result of a top-down movement initiated by the European Court, but of a far more dynamic process in which the national and European spheres engaged in constant co-creation. Focusing on the Netherlands and uncovering little known archival sources, it lays bare how the Convention was received over time throughout the entire Kingdom. In doing so, it incorporates insight into how European human rights were perceived in Europe and beyond. A much more varied story comes to light in which contingency and interaction take centre stage, and which uncovers the choices that continue to shape the character of the Convention as we know it today.

More information on the publisher's website: The Convention and the Kingdom

Mr. dr. W.E. (Wiebe) Hommes

Faculty of Law

European Public Law