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Max van der Stoel Awards 2016 awarded to three theses on human rights

Published: 08th December 2016 Last updated: 30th April 2019

On the occasion of World Human Rights Day on December 10th, the Max van der Stoel Human Rights Awards 2016 have been awarded at Tilburg University. Two PhD researchers and a master’s student received a prize for their theses: Lize Glas of Nijmegen University, Michelle Parlevliet of the University of Amsterdam and Thomislav Chokrevski of Tilburg University.

Lize Glas and Michelle Parlevliet shared the first prize in the category of PhD theses (2000 euro).

The jury led by Prof. Brigit Toebes (University of Groningen) stated that Lize Glas’ PhD dissertation on the procedural dialogue in the European convention on human rights system is an original, innovative but also heroic attempt to analyze how a broad dialogue regarding the jurisprudence of the Court is maintained and can be intensified by and between al the actors in the system of the convention. Dialogue, if implemented well, could distribute to lessening internal and external tension and to building on non-coercive means to compel compliance with the Courts decisions. The outcome of her persistent research has enabled Glas to make convincing and concrete recommendations for amelioration of the dialogue which may be so essential for the legitimacy of the Court.

The seminal work on the relationship between human rights and conflict resolution by Michelle Parlevliet succeeds in embedding a lot of practical experience in an innovative study with a very sound methodology, according to the jury. Her basic theme is the dilemma of choosing between prioritizing the solution of a conflict or first focusing on remedying violations of human rights. Though “human rights” and “conflict resolution” are to some extent very disconnected and different, Parlevliet shows that they also interact and overlap in some respects. She underlines that engaging with the relationship between human rights and conflict resolution entails accepting such concurrent realities. 

The first prize for Master’s theses (1000 euro) went to the Master’s thesis entitled Re-writing brains and minds by Thomislav Chokrevski from Tilburg University. His thesis is an unusual and very original endeavor to conceptualize the meaning of the freedom of thought in relation to techniques to manipulate human thinking. Chokrevski’s aim is to distinguish legitimate from illegitimate ways of changing minds, thus opening the way for developing a legal framework on the freedom of thought. 

On the Max van der Stoel Award

The Max van der Stoel Human Rights Award was established by Tilburg University and, for several years now, has been awarded by the School of Human Rights Research. Since 2002, this award has been called the Max van der Stoel Human Rights Award, in honor of the man who, in that year, left Tilburg University as professor of International Law and who had proven to be an indefatigable champion of human rights. Max van der Stoel (1924-2011) exerted himself as a politician, as Minister of Foreign Affairs, OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, and UN Rapporteur on Human Rights.

Note for editors

For more information please contact press officer Corine Schouten of Tilburg University, tel. 013 - 466 2993 / email c.h.schouten@tilburguniversity.edu.