1.
Amsterdam
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Amsterdam is the capital and most populous municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 851,373 within the city proper,1,351,587 in the urban area, the city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. The metropolitan area comprises much of the part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe. Amsterdams name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the citys origin around a dam in the river Amstel, during that time, the city was the leading centre for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned, the 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered a world city by the Globalization. The city is also the capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and seven of the worlds 500 largest companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit and 12th globally on quality of living for environment, the city was ranked 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009. The Amsterdam seaport to this day remains the second in the country, famous Amsterdam residents include the diarist Anne Frank, artists Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh, and philosopher Baruch Spinoza. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city center. After the floods of 1170 and 1173, locals near the river Amstel built a bridge over the river, the earliest recorded use of that name is in a document dated October 27,1275, which exempted inhabitants of the village from paying bridge tolls to Count Floris V. This allowed the inhabitants of the village of Aemstelredamme to travel freely through the County of Holland, paying no tolls at bridges, locks, the certificate describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme. By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam, Amsterdam is much younger than Dutch cities such as Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. In October 2008, historical geographer Chris de Bont suggested that the land around Amsterdam was being reclaimed as early as the late 10th century. This does not necessarily mean there was already a settlement then, since reclamation of land may not have been for farming—it may have been for peat. Amsterdam was granted city rights in either 1300 or 1306, from the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely from trade with the Hanseatic League
2.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
3.
The Hague
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The Hague is a city on the western coast of the Netherlands, and the capital city of the province of South Holland. With a population of 520,704 inhabitants and more than one million including the suburbs, it is the third-largest city of the Netherlands. The Rotterdam The Hague Metropolitan Area, with a population of approximately 2.7 million, is the 12th-largest in the European Union and the most populous in the country. Located in the west of the Netherlands, The Hague is in the centre of the Haaglanden conurbation and lies at the southwest corner of the larger Randstad conurbation. The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government, parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State, but the city is not the capital of the Netherlands, which constitutionally is Amsterdam. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands plans to live at Huis ten Bosch and works at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, the Hague is also home to the world headquarters of Royal Dutch Shell and numerous other major Dutch companies. The Hague originated around 1230, when Count Floris IV of Holland purchased land alongside a pond, in 1248, his son and successor William II, King of the Romans, decided to extend the residence to a palace, which would later be called the Binnenhof. He died in 1256 before this palace was completed but parts of it were finished by his son Floris V, of which the Ridderzaal and it is still used for political events, such as the annual speech from the throne by the Dutch monarch. From the 13th century onwards, the counts of Holland used The Hague as their administrative centre, the village that originated around the Binnenhof was first mentioned as Haga in a charter dating from 1242. In the 15th century, the smarter des Graven hage came into use, literally The Counts Wood, with connotations like The Counts Hedge, s-Gravenhage was officially used for the city from the 17th century onwards. Today, this name is used in some official documents like birth. The city itself uses Den Haag in all its communication and their seat was located in The Hague. At the beginning of the Eighty Years War, the absence of city walls proved disastrous, in 1575, the States of Holland even considered demolishing the city but this proposal was abandoned, after mediation by William of Orange. From 1588, The Hague also became the seat of the government of the Dutch Republic, in order for the administration to maintain control over city matters, The Hague never received official city status, although it did have many of the privileges normally granted only to cities. In modern administrative law, city rights have no place anymore, only in 1806, when the Kingdom of Holland was a puppet state of the First French Empire, was the settlement granted city rights by Louis Bonaparte. After the Napoleonic Wars, modern-day Belgium and the Netherlands were combined in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands to form a buffer against France, as a compromise, Brussels and Amsterdam alternated as capital every two years, with the government remaining in The Hague. After the separation of Belgium in 1830, Amsterdam remained the capital of the Netherlands, when the government started to play a more prominent role in Dutch society after 1850, The Hague quickly expanded. The growing city annexed the rural municipality of Loosduinen partly in 1903, the city sustained heavy damage during World War II
4.
University of Amsterdam
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The University of Amsterdam is a public university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities and later renamed for the city of Amsterdam and it is one of the largest research universities in Europe with 31,186 students,4,794 staff,1,340 PhD students and an annual budget of €600 million. It is the largest university in the Netherlands by enrollment, the main campus is located in central Amsterdam, with a few faculties located in adjacent boroughs. The university is organised into seven faculties, Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Science, Law, Medicine, the University of Amsterdam has produced six Nobel Laureates and five prime ministers of the Netherlands. In 2014, it was ranked 50th in the world, 15th in Europe, in January 1632, the Athenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam was founded by the municipal authorities in Amsterdam. It was mainly devoted to medical teaching, the first two professors were Gerardus Vossius and Caspar Barlaeus. The Athenaeum Illustre provided education comparable to higher education institutions. After training at the Athenaeum, students could complete their education at a university in another town, Amsterdams large degree of religious freedom allowed for the establishment of these institutions. Students of the Colegium Chirugicum and the institutions regularly attended classes at the Athenaeum Illustre. ”The Athenaeum began offering classes for students attending non-academic professional training in pharmacy. The Athenaeum remained an institution until the 19th century, with no more than 250 students. Alumni of the Athenaeum include Cornelis Petrus Tiele, in 1877, the Athenuem Illustre became the Municipal University of Amsterdam and received the right to confer doctoral degrees. This gave the university the same privileges as national universities while being funded by the city of Amsterdam, the professors and lecturers were appointed by the municipal council. This resulted in a staff that was in ways more colorful than the staffs of national universities. The University of Amsterdams municipal status brought about the relatively early addition of the faculties of Economics, after the World War II the dramatic rise in the cost of university education put a constraint on the university’s growth. In 1961 the national government made the university a national university, giving it its current name, funding was now given by the national government instead of the city and the appointment of professors was transferred to the Board of Governors. The city of Amsterdam retained a limited influence until 1971, when the appointment was handed over to the Executive Board, the protest lasted for days and was eventually broken up by the police. During the 1970s and 1980s, the university was often the target of nationwide student actions, the university saw considerable expansion since becoming a national university, from 7,500 students in 1960 to over 32,000 in 2010. In 2007, UvA undertook the construction of the Science Park Amsterdam, much of the park has now been completed
5.
Leiden University
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Leiden University, located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, the Dutch Royal Family and Leiden University still have a close relationship, Queens Juliana and Beatrix and King Willem-Alexander are all former students. Leiden University has seven faculties, over 50 departments and enjoys an international reputation. Shanghai Jiao Tong Universitys 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked Leiden University as the 29th best university worldwide, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings consistently rank Leiden University as the best university in Continental Europe for Arts and Humanities. During this time Leiden was home to figures as René Descartes, Rembrandt, Christiaan Huygens, Hugo Grotius, Baruch Spinoza. The university is a member of the Coimbra Group, the Europaeum, Leiden University houses more than 40 national and international research institutes. In 1575, the emerging Dutch Republic did not have any universities in its northern heartland, the only other university in the Habsburg Netherlands was the University of Leuven in southern Leuven, firmly under Spanish control. It is said the choice fell on Leiden as a reward for the defence of Leiden against Spanish attacks in the previous year. Ironically, the name of Philip II of Spain, Williams adversary, appears on the foundation certificate. Philip II replied by forbidding any subject to study in Leiden, renowned philosopher Baruch Spinoza was based close to Leiden during this period and interacted with numerous scholars at the university. At the end of the century, Leiden University again became one of Europes leading universities. At the world’s first university low-temperature laboratory, professor Heike Kamerlingh Onnes achieved temperatures of one degree above absolute zero of −273 degrees Celsius. In 1908 he was also the first to succeed in liquifying helium, Kamerlingh Onnes was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1913. In 2005 the manuscript of Einstein on the theory of the monatomic ideal gas was discovered in one of Leidens libraries. Of the seventy-seven Spinozapremie, nineteen were granted to professors of the Universiteit Leiden, literary historian Frits van Oostrom was the first professor of Leiden to be granted the Spinoza award for his work on developing the NLCM centre into a top research centre. Among other leading professors are Wim Blockmans, professor of Medieval History, the portraits of many famous professors since the earliest days hang in the university aula, one of the most memorable places, as Niebuhr called it, in the history of science. The University Library, which has more than 5 and it houses the largest collections worldwide on Indonesia and the Caribbean. Scholars from all over the world visit Leiden University Library, the oldest in the Netherlands, the anatomical and pathological laboratories of the university are modern, and the museums of geology and mineralogy have been restored
6.
Nobel Peace Prize
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Per Alfred Nobels will, the recipient is selected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, a five-member committee appointed by the Parliament of Norway. Since 1990, the prize is awarded on 10 December in Oslo City Hall each year, the prize was formerly awarded in the Atrium of the University of Oslo Faculty of Law, the Norwegian Nobel Institute, and the Parliament. Due to its nature, the Nobel Peace Prize has, for most of its history. Alfred Nobels will further specified that the prize be awarded by a committee of five chosen by the Norwegian Parliament. Nobel died in 1896 and he did not leave an explanation for choosing peace as a prize category, as he was a trained chemical engineer, the categories for chemistry and physics were obvious choices. The reasoning behind the peace prize is less clear, some Nobel scholars suggest it was Nobels way to compensate for developing destructive forces. His inventions included dynamite and ballistite, both of which were used violently during his lifetime, ballistite was used in war and the Irish Republican Brotherhood, an Irish nationalist organization, carried out dynamite attacks in the 1880s. Nobel was also instrumental in turning Bofors from an iron and steel producer into an armaments company and it is unclear why Nobel wished the Peace Prize to be administered in Norway, which was ruled in union with Sweden at the time of Nobels death. The Norwegian Nobel Committee speculates that Nobel may have considered Norway better suited to awarding the prize, the Norwegian Parliament appoints the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which selects the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Each year, the Norwegian Nobel Committee specifically invites qualified people to submit nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize, the statutes of the Nobel Foundation specify categories of individuals who are eligible to make nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize. Nominations by committee members can be submitted up to the date of the first Committee meeting after this deadline. In 2009, a record 205 nominations were received, but the record was again in 2010 with 237 nominations, in 2011. Nominations from 1901 to 1956, however, have released in a database. Nominations are considered by the Nobel Committee at a meeting where a short list of candidates for review is created. Advisers usually have some months to complete reports, which are considered by the Committee to select the laureate. The Committee seeks to achieve a decision, but this is not always possible. The Chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee presents the Nobel Peace Prize in the presence of the King of Norway on 10 December each year, the Peace Prize is the only Nobel Prize not presented in Stockholm. The Nobel laureate receives a diploma, a medal, and a document confirming the prize amount, as of 2013, the prize was worth 10 million SEK
7.
Lawyer
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A lawyer is a person who practices law, as an advocate, barrister, attorney, counselor or solicitor or chartered legal executive. The role of the lawyer varies greatly across legal jurisdictions, in practice, legal jurisdictions exercise their right to determine who is recognized as being a lawyer. As a result, the meaning of the lawyer may vary from place to place. In Australia, the lawyer is used to refer to both barristers and solicitors. In Canada, the word lawyer refers to individuals who have been called to the bar or. Common law lawyers in Canada are formally and properly called barristers and solicitors, however, in Quebec, civil law advocates often call themselves attorney and sometimes barrister and solicitor in English. The Legal Services Act 2007 defines the activities that may only be performed by a person who is entitled to do so pursuant to the Act. Lawyer is not a protected title, in India, the term lawyer is often colloquially used, but the official term is advocate as prescribed under the Advocates Act,1961. In Scotland, the word refers to a more specific group of legally trained people. It specifically includes advocates and solicitors, in a generic sense, it may also include judges and law-trained support staff. In the United States, the term refers to attorneys who may practice law. It is never used to refer to patent agents or paralegals, in fact, there are regulatory restrictions on non-lawyers like paralegals practicing law. Other nations tend to have terms for the analogous concept. In most countries, particularly civil law countries, there has been a tradition of giving many legal tasks to a variety of civil law notaries, clerks, and scriveners. Several countries that originally had two or more legal professions have since fused or united their professions into a type of lawyer. Most countries in this category are common law countries, though France, in countries with fused professions, a lawyer is usually permitted to carry out all or nearly all the responsibilities listed below. Arguing a clients case before a judge or jury in a court of law is the province of the barrister in England. However, the boundary between barristers and solicitors has evolved, in England today, the barrister monopoly covers only appellate courts, and barristers must compete directly with solicitors in many trial courts
8.
History of the Jews in the Netherlands
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Most history of the Jews in the Netherlands was generated between the end of the 16th century and World War II. The area now known as the Netherlands was once part of the Spanish Empire but in 1581 and this inevitably attracted the attention of Jews who were religiously oppressed in many parts of the world. The first Jews in the province of Gelderland were reported in 1325, Jews have been settled in Nijmegen, the oldest settlement, in Doesburg, Zutphen, and in Arnhem since 1404. In Arnhem, where a Jewish physician is mentioned, the magistrate similarly defended him against the hostilities of the populace, when Jews settled in the diocese of Utrecht is unknown, but rabbinical records regarding Jewish dietary laws speculated that the Jewish community there dated back to Roman times. In 1444 Jews were expelled from the city of Utrecht, and they were however tolerated in the village of Maarssen, two hours distant, though their condition was not fortunate. Nonetheless, the community of Maarssen was one of the most important in the Netherlands, Jews were admitted to Zeeland by Albert, Duke of Bavaria. In 1477, by the marriage of Mary of Burgundy to the Archduke Maximilian, son of Emperor Frederick III, the Netherlands were united to Austria and its possessions passed to the crown of Spain. In 1571 the Duke of Alba notified the authorities of Arnhem that all Jews living there should be seized, at Dutch request, Archduke Mattias established religious peace in most of the provinces, which was later guaranteed by article 13 of the 1579 Unie van Utrecht. Moreover, in 1581, the deputies of the United Provinces memorably declared independence by issuing the Act of Abjuration, as a consequence of these two events the Jews persecuted in Spain and Portugal turned toward the Dutch Republic as a new place of refuge. The Sephardic Jews, sometimes referred to as Spanish Jews, originated from Spain and Portugal, many still remained in the Iberian peninsula, practising either their new religion in public or Judaism in secret, or both. The newly independent and tolerant Dutch provinces provided more favorable conditions for observant Jews to establish a community and they migrated most notably to Amsterdam, and as they established themselves, collectively brought new trading expertise and connections to the city. Most importantly, they brought the Navigation knowledge from Portugal which allowed the Netherlands to start competing for the Iberian overseas colonies. After having been refused admission to Middelburg and Haarlem, these Anusim arrived in Amsterdam in 1593, among them were prominent merchants and persons with in-demand skills. They labored assiduously in common cause with the people and contributed materially to the prosperity of the country and they became strenuous supporters of the House of Orange and were in return protected by the stadholder. During the Twelve Years Truce the commerce of the Dutch Republic increased considerably, the Emperor of Morocco had an ambassador at The Hague named Samuel Pallache, through whose mediation, in 1620, a commercial understanding was arrived at with the Barbary States. The trade developed between the Dutch and Spanish South America was established particularly by these Spanish Jews and they also contributed to the establishment of the Dutch West Indies Company in 1621, and some of them sat on its directorate. The ambitious schemes of the Dutch for the conquest of Brazil were carried into effect through Francisco Ribeiro, a Portuguese captain, some years later, the Dutch in Brazil appealed for more craftsmen of all kinds, and many Jews heeded the call. In 1642 about 600 Jews left Amsterdam, accompanied by two distinguished scholars – Isaac Aboab da Fonseca and Moses Raphael de Aguilar, neither were Jews taken into the trade-guilds, a resolution passed by the city of Amsterdam in 1632 excluded them
9.
Hugo Grotius
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Hugo Grotius, also known as Huig de Groot or Hugo de Groot, was a Dutch jurist. Along with the works of Francisco de Vitoria and Alberico Gentili, Grotius laid the foundations for international law. A teenage intellectual prodigy, he was imprisoned for his involvement in the intra-Calvinist disputes of the Dutch Republic and he wrote most of his major works in exile in France. Because of his theological underpinning of free trade, he is considered an economic theologist. Born in Delft during the Dutch Revolt, Hugo was the first child of Jan de Groot, a prodigious learner, Hugo entered the University of Leiden when he was just eleven years old. There he studied some of the most acclaimed intellectuals in northern Europe, including Franciscus Junius, Joseph Justus Scaliger. Omnes, & emendati, & Notis, siue Februis Hug, in Holland, Grotius earned an appointment as advocate to The Hague in 1599 and then as official historiographer for the States of Holland in 1601. The Dutch were at war with Spain and Portugal when the merchant ship Santa Catarina. The scandal led to a judicial hearing and a wider campaign to sway public opinion. It was in this context that representatives of the Company called upon Grotius to draft a polemical defence of the seizure. The result of Grotius efforts in 1604/05 was a long, theory-laden treatise that he provisionally entitled De Indis, Grotius sought to ground his defense of the seizure in terms of the natural principles of justice. In this, he had cast a net much wider than the case at hand, his interest was in the source, the treatise was never published in full during Grotius lifetime, perhaps because the court ruling in favor of the Company preempted the need to garner public support. In The Free Sea Grotius formulated the new principle that the sea was international territory, Grotius, by claiming free seas, provided suitable ideological justification for the Dutch breaking up of various trade monopolies through its formidable naval power. In 1608 he married Maria van Reigersbergen, with whom he would have eight children and who would be invaluable in helping him and the family to weather the storm to come. The domestic dissension resulting over Arminius professorship was overshadowed by the war with Spain. The new peace would move the focus to the controversy. The controversy expanded when the Remonstrant theologian Conrad Vorstius was appointed to replace Jacobus Arminius as the chair at Leiden. Vorstius was soon seen by Counter-Remonstrants as moving beyond the teachings of Arminius into Socinianism, leading the call for Vorstius removal was theology professor Sibrandus Lubbertus
10.
Permanent Court of Arbitration
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The Permanent Court of Arbitration is an intergovernmental organization located at The Hague in the Netherlands. The cases span a range of issues involving territorial and maritime boundaries, sovereignty, human rights, international investment. The PCA is constituted through two separate multilateral conventions with a membership of 121 states. The organization is not a United Nations agency, the Peace Palace was built from 1907 until 1913 for PCA in The Hague. In addition the houses the Hague Academy of International Law, Peace Palace Library. The Administrative Council is a composed of all diplomatic representatives of Member States accredited to the Netherlands. It is presided by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and it is responsible for direction and control of the International Bureau, directs the organisations budget and reports on its activities. The International Bureau is the Secretariat of the PCA and is headed by the Secretary-General and it provides linguistic, research, administrative support to PCA arbitration tribunals. The judges or arbitrators that hear cases are called Members of the Court, Members of each member state together form a national group. Members may be selected in arbitration cases in which the PCA provides support, national Groups may propose candidates for International Court of Justice members. The PCA sometimes gets confused with the International Court of Justice, the PCA is however not part of the UN system, although it does have observer status in the UN General Assembly since 1993. In the Articles 30-57 of the Hague Convention of 1899 the rules of procedure are outlined. These rules are the version of pre-existing treaties among the states. They were amended in 1907. They came in again in 1920 to serve the Permanent Court of international Justice. The first act of parties is the submission of the so called compromisis, stating the issue, basically the lawsuit is divided in two phases, written pleadings and oral discussion. During the first part of the procedure the agents and the barristers of parties submit, in the second phase there is a verbal debate in front of the Court that retires once the debate is over to deliberate and conclude the case by a simple majority of votes. The award binding on the parties and no appeal is allowed, however, a minor restriction for revision is made in case fresh evidence of a decisive nature has come up between the debate and the award. Naturally, any decision as to its relevance and the subsequent admission of the request is up to the Court and it is this Article 55, incidentally, which led to heated argument within the body of the Third Commission in 1899
