P r o f e s s o r
C e e s v a n D a m
.jpg)
Cees van Dam is a world leading expert in Business and Human Rights.
At King's College London, he has been teaching Business and Human Rights in the Transnational Law LLM since 2015.
From 2014-2022 he was Professor of International Business and Human Rights at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (this was an eight year tenure sponsored by Amnesty International Nederland and the Stichting Vredeswetenschappen).
His research focuses on:
-
mandatory human rights due diligence legislation
-
litigation against transnational corporations for involvement in human rights violations
-
role of the financial sector in supporting their clients' business and human rights agenda
-
role of General Counsel in driving the company's business and human rights agenda
-
how state-owned enterprises can lead by example
-
responsibility of law firms to advise their clients in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles
_________________________________________________
Publications/Publicaties
Shell/Milieudefensie: een norm zonder verplichting en schendingen zonder remedie
Aansprakelijkheid, Verzekering & Schade, 9 juli 2025
Wie ruimt na Shells vertrek de vervuiling in de Nigerdelta op?
NRC, 28 februari 2024
De tegenbeweging rukt op: wie durft het straks nog te hebben over ESG?
Het Financieele Dagblad, 3 februari 2024
Verantwoordelijkheid en aansprakelijkheid voor leveranciers en afnemers
Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Burgerlijk Recht 2022/45, p. 385-401
No escape possible. Shell cannot run away from the Dutch courts
Professor's Opinion, RSM Discovery, 14 December 2021
Breakthrough in parent company liability. Three Shell defeats, the end of an era, and new paradigms
European Company and Financial Law Review 2021/5, p. 714-748
Bedrijven komen niet meer overal mee weg
Interview in Wordt vervolgd, 27 september 2021
In: A.R.J. Croiset van Uchelen e.a. (red.), Geschriften vanwege de Vereniging Corpoate Litigation 2020-2021 (Deventer: Kluwer, 2021), p. 177-219 (publicatie op deze site na 14 maart 2022)
The climate case and the UN's Decade of Action
Open Access Government, 21 June 2021
The Dutch climate case and the UN’s Decade of Action
RSM Discovery, 4 June 2021
Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality
European Company Law Journal 18 (2021) 3, p. 80-83
Shell liable for oil spills in Niger Delta
Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, 8 February 2021
Shell's hell and the Dutch government
LinkedIn article, 12 December 2020
Shell employees involved in causing oil leaks in Nigeria
Dutch TV programme Zembla, 10 December 2020
Research report for the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (with Martijn Scheltema, assisted by Camille Ferdinandus en Sander Oomes) (provisional English translation of the Dutch report mentioned below)
Rotterdam: Erasmus University, 2020
Final Monitoring and Progress Report Dutch Banking Sector Agreement (with Christiane Colinet and Hans Voortman)
The Hague, SER, 20 August 2020
Onderzoeksrapport voor het Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken (met Martijn Scheltema, m.m.v. Camille Ferdinandus en Sander Oomes)
Rotterdam: Erasmus University, 2020
Duizenden families verjaagd voor project van Nederlandse bedrijven
Trouw, 20 januari 2020
Monitoring and Progress Report Dutch Banking Sector Agreement, Year 2 (with Christiane Colinet and Hans Voortman)
The Hague: SER, 5 July 2019
Advocaat, kom op voor mensenrechten (met Iris van Domselaar en Belinda Okoobo)
NRC Handelsblad, 28 juni 2019
Sustainable development begins with respecting human rights
Driving businesses towards the Sustainable Development Goals, Erasmus University/Coursera, 2019
Blog: Human rights in businesses and in business schools
RSM Discovery, 10 December 2018 (Human Rights Day)
Staatsondernemingen en mensenrechten (met Heleen Tiemersma)
Nederlands Juristenblad 2018, p. 3120-3128
Mainstreaming Human Rights in Sustainable Business (with Heleen Tiemersma)
In: Mainstreaming Sustainable Business. 20 years Business-Society Management, 20 years impact? (Rotterdam, Stichting Maatschappij en Onderneming, 2018), p. 262-268
Internationaal maatschappelijk verantwoord ondernemen staat nog in de kinderschoenen
Vice versa, 15 oktober 2018
Monitoring and Progress Report Dutch Banking Sector Agreement, Year 1 (with Christiane Colinet and Hans Voortman)
The Hague, SER, 5 July 2018
Corporate governance en respect voor mensenrechten
In: Mijntje Lückerath-Rovers e.a. (red.), Jaarboek Corporate governance 2018-2019 (Deventer, 2018), p. 97-115
Met wetten alleen zal het niet lukken
Trouw, Fair Trade bijlage, 27 oktober 2018 (Interview)
Enhancing Human Rights Protection: A Company Lawyer's Business
Inaugural Lecture Rotterdam School of Management, 18 September 2015 (Rotterdam: RSM, 2017)
Corporate Responsibility to Respect Human Rights vis-à-vis Legal Duty of Care; three scenarios (with Filiip Gregor, and contributions from Sandrine Brachotte and Paige Morrow)
In: Juan José Àlvarez Rubio and Katarina Yiannibas (ed.), Human Rights in Business. Removal of Barriers to Access to Justice in the European Union (London, 2017), p. 119-138
Stel schone producten verplicht (met Heleen Tiemersma)
Nederlands Dagblad, 21 juni 2016 (Opinie)
Statutory human rights due diligence duties in the Netherlands
First published at www.ceesvandam.info in June 2016
Beerput Probo Koala gaat na tien jaar opnieuw open
Volkskrant, 2 maart 2016
Preliminary judgments Dutch Court of Appeal in Shell Nigeria case
First published at www.ceesvandam.info in January 2016
Human Rights Obligations of Transnational Corporations in Domestic Tort Law
In: Jernej Letnar Černič and Tara Van Ho (eds), Human Rights and Business: Direct Corporate Accountability for Human Rights (Oisterwijk, 2015), 475-497
Het EVRM en de aansprakelijkheid van private partijen
Verkeersrecht 2014/164, afl. 11, p. 410-417
Bedrijven strijden tegen onrecht (zaken doen met Israëlische nederzettingen)
Nederlands Dagblad, 11 januari 2014 (Opinie)
Shell's Victory and Embarrassment in the Dutch Court
Huffington Post, 27 February 2013
Shell in Nigeria: wegduiken kan niet
NRC 6 februari 2013 (Opinie)
Amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States (with four other academics)
In the case of Esther Kiobel a.o. v Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. et al., 13 June 2012
Journal of European Tort Law 2 (2011), p. 221-254
Maatschappelijk verantwoord onderdrukken. Hoogwerkers versus mensenrechten in Israël
De Groene Amsterdammer 7 oktober 2009
Oratie Universiteit Utrecht (Den Haag: Boom Juridische uitgevers, 2008), 109 p.
.jpeg)