Tobias Asser | |
---|---|
![]() Tobias Asser in 1911 | |
Born | Tobias Michel Karel Asser 28 April 1838 |
Died | 29 July 1913 75) | (aged
Alma mater | University of Amsterdam Leiden University |
Spouse | Johanna Ernestina Asser (m. 1864) |
Awards | Nobel Peace Prize (1911) |
Tobias Michael Carel Asser (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈtoːbiɑs miˈʃɛl ˈkaːrəl ˈɑsər] ; 28 April 1838 – 29 July 1913) was a Dutch lawyer and legal scholar.
In 1911, he won the Nobel Peace Prize (together with Alfred Fried) for his work in the field of private international law, and in particular for his achievements establishing the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH).
Tobias Michael Carel Asser was born on 28 April 1838 in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. [1] He was the son of Carel Daniel Asser (1813–1885) and grandson of Carel Asser (1780–1836). He studied law at the University of Amsterdam and Leiden University and was a law professor at the University of Amsterdam.
Asser co-founded the Revue de Droit International et de Législation Comparée with John Westlake and Gustave Rolin-Jaequemyns. He also co-founded the Institut de Droit International [2] in 1873. In 1880 he became a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. [3]
Asser was a leading legal mind in the area of private international law and firmly believed that sound legal frameworks that govern private cross-border relationships would promote peace and stability. In 1893, Asser initiated the convocation of the First Diplomatic Session of the HCCH, the preeminent global organisation in the area of private international law. The participating States were Austria-Hungary, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, and Switzerland. Asser was elected the Session's President, and subsequently re-elected at the Second to Fourth Session which took place in 1894, 1900 and 1904 respectively. Under his leadership, the HCCH developed some multilateral treaties, the Hague Conventions, that unified the rules of private international law in the areas of Marriage (1902), Divorce (1902), Guardianship (1902), Civil Procedure (1905), Effects of Marriage (1905), and Deprivation of Civil Rights (1905).
In 1911, Asser received the Nobel Prize for Peace. In his Award Ceremony Speech on 10 December 1911, Chairman of the Nobel Committee Jørgen Gunnarsson Løvland emphasised specifically Asser's work in the field of private international law, and his achievements in establishing the HCCH, as reasons for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, describing Asser as "a successor to or reviver of The Netherlands' pioneer work in international law in the seventeenth century", the Hugo Grotius of his time. [4]
He was a delegate of the Netherlands to both Hague Peace Conferences in 1899 and 1907. [2]
In 1902, he sat on the first arbitration panel to hear an international controversy brought by two states under the auspice of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which was established as a result of the Hague Peace Conference of 1899 (the Pious Fund of the Californias Case). He also took a hand in the establishment of what would become The Hague Academy of International Law, though he did not live to see its foundation in 1923. [2]
Asser died on 29 July 1913 in The Hague.
A research institute in the fields of Private and Public International Law, European Law and International Commercial Arbitration is named after Tobias Michael Carel Asser. This is the T.M.C. Asser Instituut, based in The Hague, Netherlands. [5]
Conflict of laws is the set of rules or laws a jurisdiction applies to a case, transaction, or other occurrence that has connections to more than one jurisdiction. This body of law deals with three broad topics: jurisdiction, rules regarding when it is appropriate for a court to hear such a case; foreign judgments, dealing with the rules by which a court in one jurisdiction mandates compliance with a ruling of a court in another jurisdiction; and choice of law, which addresses the question of which substantive laws will be applied in such a case. These issues can arise in any private-law context, but they are especially prevalent in contract law and tort law.
The Hague is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of the Netherlands is Amsterdam, The Hague has been described as the country's de facto capital. The Hague is also the capital of the province of South Holland, and the city hosts both the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) is a non-UN intergovernmental organization located in The Hague, Netherlands. Unlike a judicial court in the traditional sense, the PCA provides services of arbitral tribunal to resolve disputes that arise out of international agreements between member states, international organizations or private parties. The cases span a range of legal issues involving territorial and maritime boundaries, sovereignty, human rights, international investment, and international and regional trade. The PCA is constituted through two separate multilateral conventions with a combined membership of 122 states. The organization is not a United Nations agency, but the PCA is an official United Nations Observer.
The Institute of International Law is an organization devoted to the study and development of international law, whose membership comprises the world's leading public international lawyers. The organization is generally considered the most authoritative world academy of international law. It was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1904.
Charles Albert Gobat was a Swiss lawyer, educational administrator, and politician who jointly received the Nobel Peace Prize with Élie Ducommun in 1902 for their leadership of the Permanent International Peace Bureau.
Louis Renault was a French jurist and educator, and the co-winner in 1907 of the Nobel Prize for Peace.
Auguste Marie François Beernaert was the prime minister of Belgium from October 1884 to March 1894, and the 1909 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Alfred Hermann Fried was an Austrian Jewish pacifist, publicist, journalist, co-founder of the German peace movement, and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1911. Fried was also a supporter of Esperanto. He is the author of an Esperanto textbook and an Esperanto-German and German-Esperanto dictionary, first published in 1903 and republished in 1905.
Henri La Fontaine, was a Belgian international lawyer and president of the International Peace Bureau. He received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1913 because "he was the effective leader of the peace movement in Europe".
The Peace Palace is an international law administrative building in The Hague, the Netherlands. It houses the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), The Hague Academy of International Law and the Peace Palace Library.
Sir William Randal Cremer usually known by his middle name "Randal", was a British Liberal Member of Parliament, a pacifist, and a leading advocate for international arbitration. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1903 for his work with the international arbitration movement.
Friedrich Fromhold Martens, or Friedrich Fromhold von Martens, was a diplomat and jurist in service of the Russian Empire who made important contributions to the science of international law. He represented Russia at the Hague Peace Conferences and helped to settle the first cases of international arbitration, notably the dispute between France and the United Kingdom over Newfoundland. As a scholar, he is probably best remembered today for having edited 15 volumes of Russian international treaties (1874–1909).
The Hague Academy of International Law is a center for high-level education in both public and private international law housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Courses are taught in English and French and, except for External Programme Courses, are held in the Peace Palace.
The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) is an intergovernmental organisation in the area of private international law, that administers several international conventions, protocols and soft law instruments.
The Hague Academic Coalition (HAC) is a consortium of academic institutions in the fields of international relations, international law and international development.
The T.M.C. Asser Instituut is a professional inter-university centre of knowledge and research. The institute carries out research in private and public international law, European law, as well as all other related fields, including international commercial arbitration, international sports law and international humanitarian and criminal law. It was established in 1965 in The Hague and it is affiliated with the University of Amsterdam. Since September 2021 the institute also hosts the Special Chair Arms Control Law.
Carel Hendrik Frederik Polak was a Dutch politician of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and jurist.
Charles André Weiss was a French jurist. He was professor at the Universities of Dijon and Paris and served from 1922 until his death as judge of the Permanent Court of International Justice.