What does NRC | Chaos in the Peace Palace should not have allowed the Netherlands to escalate
The Hague is the seat of the most important international courts in the world, a position that the city has divided through, among other things, the establishment of the Permanent Court of Arbitration after the First Hague Peace Conference in 1899. Hugo de Groot, dies in the seventeenth century who advocated international rules for war and peace, is considered one of the founders of international law.
The International Court of Justice, which rules on disputes between states, and the International Criminal Court, which is intended for the biggest war criminals in the world, which from The Hague joins the international legal order that has grown after the Second World War. And that – although far from perfect – offers hope to victims of injustice worldwide. Because it may be anything but certain that Russian President Putin will ever have to answer for his crimes in The Hague, there is a chance, and that is already quite a lot.
The fact that The Hague, and with it the Netherlands, has achieved this position and is entrusted with it, is a fact to be cherished. It offers a small country a chance to use an agile way to carry peace and stability in the world. It is therefore to be welcomed that Minister Hoekstra (Foreign Affairs, CDA) has offered a future tribunal for the attacks by Russia in Ukraine in The Hague. In the Netherlands, the international courts may not be well known, but they are held in high esteem internationally.
Also read this opinion piece: Is Putin waiting for popular vengeance, freedom or justice?
It is certain that this position entails costs that the Netherlands must bear as host country. And not only that: it is about obligations for the very long term. The soap opera surrounding the Peace Palace in The Hague proved last week how difficult it is sometimes for the Netherlands to play that role as host country. And that is worrying, not only for the reputation of the Netherlands, but also the international legal order is at stake.
The Peace Palace houses the highest UN court in the world: the International Court of Justice. It also houses the permanent Court of Arbitration, which mediates in international conflicts, and the most successful library in the field of international law. In the Peace Palace it turned out last week research car NRC, everything is wrong. So wrong that the hovensteen has filed a complaint with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the services and the Dutch host country function. Things are rumbling at the Carnegie Foundation, which manages the palace with money from the State Department. Last month, the director of the foundation left after a critical report on social security in the palace. Director Erik de Baedts had broken the role of the foundation in recent years. Partly due to financial concerns, the palace became a kind of event location. And the foundation started promoting a ‘peace agenda’, with conferences, symposia and an ‘interreligious dialogue’.
Political and jurisprudence agreements are incompatible: especially international jurisprudence should keep far from it. That is why this broad definition of tasks was not a good idea. It is BZ to calculate that the matter can get out of hand. The ministry should have intervened earlier and more forcefully, and should have taken on the role of host country. It is a good thing that BZ is probably making more money available and is taking more control over how the subsidy money is spent. But the troubles are too long ago. That past is not added to the expensive duty that the Netherlands has shouldered since the earliest middle century.
Read this research story: Simmering conflict Peace Palace erupts
A version of this article also appeared in the December 19, 2022 newspaper