Tilburg University presents honorary doctorate to Supreme Court President Dineke de Groot
Professor Dineke de Groot, President of Supreme Court of the Netherlands, will receive an honorary doctorate during Tilburg University’s dies natalis on November 16, 2023. Honorary supervisors Professor Stéphanie van Gulijk and Professor Reinout Wibier of Tilburg Law School will present her with the honorary doctorate for her outstanding social merits and academic achievements, fostering the connection between the judiciary and society.
Dineke de Groot is the first female President of the Netherlands Supreme Court. She has been an endowed professor of Jurisprudence and Conflict Resolution at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam since 2011. De Groot will receive the honorary doctorate because of her extraordinary efforts to strengthen the connection between the judiciary and society. She is sensitive to the position of the more vulnerable parties in society while confidently defending the importance, position, and role of law and justice in society. Especially with a view to current social challenges like polarization and doubts about the government's ability to solve these problems, this is essential for citizens’ confidence in the rule of law. She is also committed to possibilities for improvement and the opportunities offered by digitization within the judiciary.
Honorary supervisors Van Gulijk and Wibier: “By presenting this honorary doctorate to Professor De Groot, the university underlines the connection between the judiciary and the academic study of the law. They need each other and contribute, each in their own way, to the indispensable confidence of citizens in the rule of law. Professor De Groot has dedicated her entire career to maintaining trust in the judiciary, something that is increasingly important in times of polarization.”
Professor Geert Vervaeke, Dean of Tilburg Law School: “We are proud to be able to present an honorary doctorate to Dineke de Groot. This is consistent with our solid substantive legal tradition and builds a bridge to the law of the future in which lawyers are open to more influences and disciplines and are involved in social change without losing their individuality or independent position.”
Background
Professor G. (Dineke) de Groot (1965) has been President of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands since November 1, 2020, having served as a justice there since February 1, 2012. In 2011 she was appointed as Professor of Jurisprudence and Conflict Resolution at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, where she had received her PhD in 2008. Professor De Groot is a well-known lawyer, both in her legal practice as a justice and in her academic work, having published various books on evidence presented by witnesses and experts (2008, 2012, 2015) in addition to other academic output. She is particularly renowned as a private-law expert, specializing in civil procedure. She also serves, or has served, on numerous committees and advisory councils, including the Netherlands Government Committee on Private International Law (Staatscommissie voor Internationaal Privaatrecht), the Societal Advisory Board (Maatschappelijke Adviesraad Instituties) of Utrecht University, the Advisory Council of the Carnegie Foundation (that owns and manages the Peace Palace), and the Advisory Committee of the Netherlands Institute for Law and Governance (Groningen University). In 2018, she won the NJV Innovation Award of the Dutch Lawyers' Association (Nederlandse Juristen Vereniging).
Note to editors
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