Mayor Stemerdink Presents a Royal Honor to Paul Vlas

On Friday, March 11, Mayor Nadine Stemerdink presented a Royal Honor to Prof. Mr. Dr. Paul Vlas. Mr. Vlas was appointed Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion. The ceremony took place at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Mr. Vlas is receiving this Royal Honor for his highly impressive and significant contributions in the fields of private law, academia, and education.

In 1987, he was appointed professor of Private International Law and Comparative Law at VU University Amsterdam. From 1999 to 2005, he also served as dean of the Faculty of Law, was a member of the Rectorate, and served as secretary of the Board of Deans.

He introduced many students to his field of expertise. He has come to be known as a dedicated, passionate, conscientious, and authoritative specialist—a leading figure who is demanding yet consistently shares his knowledge in an extremely inspiring manner and with visible pleasure. The esteem he earned through this was reflected in his appointment in 2010 as Advocate General at the Supreme Court of the Netherlands.

He decided to retain his professorship, and this gave rise to his wonderful and valuable interactions. As a result, students were always assured of high-quality instruction from a man with, as they say, “real-world experience.” And at the Supreme Court, he undoubtedly reaped the benefits of his many years of experience in education. This experience proved invaluable in translating complex issues into arguments formulated in a clear and accessible manner. He has since written opinions in numerous major, high-profile, and highly complex cases. These include a dispute between the Russian Federation and major shareholders of the Yukos Oil Company, the issue of the Dutch state’s liability for the horrific consequences of the Fall of Srebrenica in 1995; and, most recently, a so-called “X-registration”—namely, a request by a non-binary person to be assigned a gender-neutral designation in the civil registry.

Mr. Vlas has authored more than 400 scholarly articles. His dedication to the renowned *Weekblad voor Privaatrecht, Notariaat en Registratie*(WPNR) is therefore worth noting. He has been a member of the editorial board since 2001 and has served as its chair since 2014.

Much earlier—in fact, as far back as 1990—he also decided to lend a helping hand to the Netherlands International Law Review, published by the T.M.C. Asser Institute. This journal, of which he has been editor-in-chief for thirty years, reaches legal professionals in all parts of the world. And since 2011, he has served as an editor, and since 2020 as editor-in-chief, of Nederlandse Jurisprudentie. This journal publishes the decisions of the Supreme Court, with or without annotations.

In addition, Mr. Vlas holds numerous memberships on various state commissions. One of these is the Advisory Commission on Matters of Nationality and Civil Status, a commission that addresses issues such as immigration law, name law, and nationality law.

Nearly thirty years ago, he also joined the State Commission on Private International Law, where he became chairman in 2011; his very active role at the Hague Conference on Private International Law, among other things, stems from this. More than 150 countries are members of this institution, founded in 1893 and headquartered in the Peace Palace; Mr. Vlas serves as chair of the Dutch delegation, is an advisor to the Dutch government and both Houses of the States General, participates in working groups, and, as president, chaired the^22nd Diplomatic Conference in 2019. Thanks in part to his dedication, the Hague Conference remains a thriving organization even after more than 128 years.