Leiden Journal of International Law (2013), 26, pp. 239–241 C  Foundation of the Leiden Journal of International Law 2013 doi:10.1017/S0922156513000186 In Memoriam: Pieter Hendrik Kooijmans (1933–2013) JANNE E . NIJMAN ∗ Professor Emeritus of Public International Law Pieter Hendrik (Peter) Kooijmans passed away on 13 February 2013. He leaves a lasting void within the international- law community both inside and outside the Netherlands. Throughout his life, Peter Kooijmans served with great authority and unwavering commitment the development of the ‘law of nations’ – to use his preferred term – through his scholarship, his teaching, and his responsibilities within the practice of international law. Peter wrote his doctoral dissertation with Professor Gesina van der Molen at the Free University in Amsterdam. It was published in 1964 with the title ‘The Doctrine of the Legal Equality of States: An Inquiry into the Foundations of International Law’ and it remains a standard work on the topic to this day. 1 At this same university, Kooijmans was a Professor of European and Public International law from 1965 until 1973. In the latter year, he started a four-year term as State Secretary (Staatssecretaris) for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. In 1978, Professor Kooijmans returned to academia and joined the Leiden Uni- versity Faculty of Law. The subjects of his respective inaugural lectures – ‘The Law of Nations and Social Justice’ (1965) and ‘Law of Nations Studies and the Crisis of the Law of Nations’ (1978) 2 – reflect how his view on the advancement of the inter- national legal order was on the one hand rooted in a solid analysis of the existing law and on the other hand guided by a firm conviction about the law’s dual function: that is, to secure order and stability within international society and to promote justice and human dignity worldwide. Throughout his career, Kooijmans was a dedicated protagonist of human rights. 3 Between 1985 and 1992 he was the first UN Special Rapporteur on Questions Relevant to Torture. He drew from this experience in deal- ing with international law within the United Nations and the political context at large, when teaching generations of Leiden students. Peter Kooijmans taught with such authority, clarity, and inspiration that many consider his lectures to be among the highlights of their legal studies. Peter was an active and much-loved professor. 4 ∗ Associate Professor of Public International Law, Amsterdam Center for International law (ACIL), Faculty of Law, University of Amsterdam (UvA) [J.E.Nijman@uva.nl]: former student and doctoral candidate of Prof. Dr P. H. Kooijmans. 1 P. H. Kooijmans, The Doctrine of the Legal Equality of States: An Inquiry into the Foundations of International Law (1964). 2 The inaugural lectures were delivered and published in Dutch: P. H. Kooijmans, Volkenrecht en Sociale Gerechtigheid: Een peiling (1965); and P. H. Kooijmans, De Volkenrechtswetenschap en de Crisis in het Volken- recht: Poging tot een analyse (1978). 3 C. Flinterman, ‘Peter Kooijmans and Human Rights’, (1997) 10 LJIL 126. 4 M. Brus, ‘Peter Kooijmans: Professor of Public International Law’, (1997) 10 LJIL 132. https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0922156513000186 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 54.163.42.124, on 14 Jun 2020 at 16:57:20, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at