Centre for the Study of the Law of the United Nations and the Specialized Agencies

All the projects of the Centre for United Nations Studies related to one topic: The legal aspects of United Nations activities Topic A: Belgium and the United Nations (N. Sybesma-Knol) The influence of Belgium in the organisation and vice-versa The role of Belgium as member, and as chairman, of the Security Council during the years 1991 and 1992. Topic B: UN Military Observer Missions (A. Pauwels) An inquiry into the international legal aspects of UN observer Missions (Status of UN personal in observers missions, the competence to establish such missions, agreements between the UN and the host country, agreements between the UN and participating states, the composition of such missions, the financing of such missions, the military control, etc... ) Topic C: The United Nations and the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (N. Sybesma-Knol) An inquiry into the development of the law of outer space within the United Nations, more specifically the development of dispute settlement mechanisms, of outer space environmental regulations, and of reglementation of the use of the geostationary Orbit. Topic D: History of Maritime Law (F. De Pauw) This project traces the parallel between the law of the sea in the era of Hugo Grotius and the development of the "new law of the sea" during the third UN-Conference on the Law of the Sea (1974-1982) and its aftermath. Topic E: The United Nations and Human Rights: mechanisms and evolution. (N. Sybesma-Knol) Research on the development of protection mechanisms under the Optional Protocol of th UN-Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the case law of the UN-Committee on Human Rights. Topic F: Human Rights and Democracy in the Central- and Eastern European States (F.De Pauw and N. Sybesma-Knol) Is part of a more general project on legal developments in Eastern Europe and aims to establish centres for human rights in Eastern Europe, consisting of a small library and documentation centre, equipped with the essential literature and documents, and staffed by a documentalist to be trained at the centre for UN-Studies of the VUB.