Special issue of the Utrecht Law Review: Families, Individuals and Human Rights

The Utrecht Law Review's special issue on ‘Families, Individuals and Human Rights’ was published on 8 October 2024, featuring four contributions by UCERF researchers.

The issue explores the interfaces between human rights and the law of persons and family law. The theme issue brings together four contributions written by UCERF researchers:


  • No-bodies Human Rights. An Interdisciplinary Exploration of Bodies in Human Rights, by Jet Tigchelaar & Brenda Oude Breuil; 
  • Comparing the Decision-making Rights of Adults with Declining Cognitive Abilities with Those of Children, by Charlotte Mol & Fiore Schuthof;
  • The Legal Representation of Parents and Children During Placement Procedures in the Light of Article 8 ECHR, by Iris Reinders & Joost Huijer;
  • The Right of Contact Between Grandparents and Grandchildren and the Implementation of Article 8 ECHR in Dutch National Law: A comparative study of Dutch, Belgian, English and Norwegian law, by Merel Jonker & Christina Jeppesen de Boer.

In addition, the theme issue includes an editorial by guest editor Charlotte Mol: Not ‘the Norm’: Families, Individuals and Human Rights.

All contributions can be downloaded for free (see link below).

In the first quarter of 2025, UCERF will organise two webinars reflecting in more detail on the findings from the Special Issue. More information will follow in the January 2025 UCERF newsletter.