Research

Strategic research agenda 'Rethinking public interests in international and European law (2022-2026)'

The strategic research agenda 'Rethinking public interests in international and European Law' is organised around questions pertaining to the public interest in international and European public and private law. Public interests are central to legal parlance and current global and societal challenges. The strategic research agenda provides the substantive basis for our education, knowledge dissemination activities and advisory work for 2022-2026. Our research is structured along three research strands: 

Research strand: ‘In the public interest: accountability of the state and the prosecution of crimes’
This research strand examines i) the accountability of states - individually and collectively (for instance at the level of the United Nations or the European Union) - in light of public interest standards in the context of counter-terrorism; and ii) the prosecution of individuals for international and transnational crimes in the public interest. Moreover, to ensure both the accountability of the state and the prosecution of individuals, this strand also investigates iii) the role of journalists, the (new) media, human rights NGOs and academics in protecting and promoting public interest standards.

Research strand: ‘Regulation in the public interest: Disruptive technologies in peace and security’
This research strand addresses regulation to safeguard and promote public interests. It focuses, in particular, on the development of the international regulatory framework for the military applications of disruptive technologies and the arms race in conventional and non-conventional weapons. The public interest of peace and security serves as the prime conceptual framework in this strand.

Research strand: ‘Transnational public interests: constituting public interest beyond and below the state’
This research strand investigates how public interests shape, and are shaped, below and beyond the state. Researchers will examine what role non-state actors, such as corporations, NGOs, cities and the European Union, play in the constitution and operation of public interests in a transnational context.

In 2020, the Asser Institute was evaluated by an independent committee of experts for its work in the period 2016-2019. The committee has given a highly positive evaluation of the research quality, the societal outreach and relevance, and the viability of the T.M.C. Asser Instituut.  

Read the research agenda. Publications from Asser Institute researchers can be found here.

The Asser Institute endorses the principles of the Netherlands Code of Conduct for Academic Research.