Roundtable

The Future of Human Rights

Date

Tuesday 1 July 2025

Time

16:00 - 17:30 hour

Address

Wijnhaven
Turfmarkt 99
2511 DP The Hague

Room

Auditorium 2.01

As part of the Leiden – Edinburgh Global Law Summer Course, The Hague Global Futures Hub will host a series of roundtable discussions focused on Global Legal Practice and the future of the legal profession in The Hague.

After decades of growing global commitment to human rights, we are now witnessing a rapid and troubling decline. On the one hand, human rights are undergoing deep transformations brought by technological developments that challenge traditional legal frameworks and epistemologies. For instance, the United Nations is progressively opening its doors to corporate actors who promote technological solutions that often overlook—or exacerbate—the structural drivers of poverty and inequality. On the other hand, the authority and promise of human rights as an emancipatory project are increasingly questioned in the face of the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the rise of authoritarian and illiberal regimes, and the deepening climate crisis.

Amid of these global-scale, unprecedented transformations, how can the authority and promise of human rights be reclaimed? This roundtable brings together scholars, practitioners, and activists to reflect on the future of human rights and explore how its practice might be reimagined in response to today’s interlocking global crises.

Panelist:

Matthew Canfield, Leiden University.

Michiel Bot, Tilburg University.

Barrie Sander, Leiden University.

Maria Smirnova, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

*Participants of the Grotius Summer Schools do not need to register to attend this event. The same applies for staff and students of Leiden University with a valid LU Card.

Register here

Information about all the roundtables can be found below: 

• The Future of Human Rights
• A New Era in International Arbitration?
• Climate Change: Pathways to Public Interest Advocacy

The Hague Global Futures Hub provides a comprehensive, interdisciplinary and data driven innovation approach to understanding and addressing challenges on the global stage, driven by a commitment to sustainability and social justice in local contexts. The Hub aims to address global complex challenges and to contribute to interdisciplinary, innovative, and future-focused solutions. The Hub builds on existing collaborations of the two universities Leiden and Edinburgh across four interconnected and integrated dimensions of activities:

•  Challenge-based education
• Co-creational research
• Lifelong Learning and professional development
• Global outreach and societal engagement, in cooperation with (international) partners.