Toogdag 2019: looking back

On Thursday 20 and Friday 21 June, the Faculty of Law of the Maastricht University hosted the Annual Research day of the NNHRR. This year’s Annual Research Day (Toogdag) revolved around the theme of efficiency of human rights, and provided for valuable presentations and discussions from many different angles. The event was arranged in Maastricht, and occurred during the course of two days. On the night of Thursday the 21st, PhD researchers were given the opportunity to engage in a cultural workshop by Candida Snow. Following this, the documentary The Long Haul was shown, after which a panel discussion took place.

On Friday morning, all participants of the event gathered at the Statenzaal of the Maastricht University, and were welcomed by a speech from Professor Fons Coomans. An interdisciplinary plenary roundtable followed this, with the aim of clarifying what the panel participants mean when they talk about effectiveness in connection to human rights.
Two panels were arranged during the day: a morning one and an afternoon one. The morning panel focused on the effectiveness of human rights and implementation at the domestic level. The panel occurred in two parallel sessions, which both consisted of two PhD researchers presenting their work, and a representative of the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights introducing the work of the NIHR. In the first parallel session, the PhD researchers Elif Durmus and Bart Kleine Deters presented their work, and the NIHR presentation was given by Professor Nicola Jägers. In the second parallel session, the presenting PhD researchers were Nikolaos Papadopoulos and Renata da Silva Athayde Barbosa, and Dr. Jan-Peter Loof gave the NIHR presentation. 

After a lunch break, the afternoon session was opened. The theme of this session was ‘human rights at the individual level: individual experiences and key actors’. The first presentation was given by the Leiden University Assistant Professors Stephanie Rap and Katrien Klep, on the topic of child participation in legal proceedings. Subsequently, Elif Durmus presented the work of the Cities of Refuge project, concerning the role of individual agency of local government officials in the materialization of human rights at the local level. The day was completed with a closing keynote speech by Professor Suzanne Egan who in an extensive way analysed the notion of effectiveness of human rights.


Prof. Dr. Fons Coomans, Dr. Andrea Broderick, Dr. Roland Moerland, Claire Boost
Maastricht University, Faculty of Law

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NNHRR_Report_Toogdag 2019.pdf