STICHTING T.M.C. ASSER INSTITUUT

Their core work

The T.M.C. Asser Institute is a leading Dutch research centre for international law, EU law, and private international law, based in The Hague — the seat of the International Court of Justice, the ICC, and dozens of international tribunals. They conduct academic legal research and produce analysis directly relevant to policymakers, international organizations, and courts. In H2020, their work has covered EU trade and investment law frameworks and, more recently, the accountability gap created by autonomous weapons systems under international humanitarian law. They bridge rigorous legal scholarship with practical implications for how states and institutions govern emerging technologies in high-stakes domains.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the first half of their H2020 participation (2017–2021), the Asser Institute's focus was on EU external relations and trade and investment policy, reflected in the EUTIP network where they contributed as a third-party legal expert. By 2021, their focus shifted sharply toward AI governance in military contexts — autonomous weapons, state responsibility, and international humanitarian law. This is a meaningful pivot: from how the EU manages its economic relationships with the world, to how international law can hold states accountable when AI systems make decisions in armed conflict.

They are moving toward becoming a specialist hub for the legal governance of autonomous and AI-enabled military systems — a field with almost no established expertise and high demand from defense ministries, international tribunals, and arms control bodies.

How they like to work

Despite holding only two H2020 projects, the Asser Institute connected with 34 unique partners across 10 countries, suggesting they are pulled into large interdisciplinary consortia as focused legal specialists rather than generalist participants. They have demonstrated both the ability to lead a project (I2 RAMP as coordinator) and to contribute expertise within larger networks (EUTIP as third party). This dual capacity — niche depth plus consortium compatibility — makes them a reliable expert node rather than a project driver in most collaborations.

With 34 unique consortium partners across 10 countries from just two projects, the Asser Institute's network is disproportionately large for its H2020 footprint, indicating membership in wide multi-institution research networks. Their geographic spread is predominantly European but consistent with international law work that draws in partners from conflict-affected or policy-active regions.

What sets them apart

The Asser Institute occupies a rare position: it is a dedicated, independent international law research centre physically located in The Hague, where the world's most important international courts and tribunals operate. This proximity gives them access to practitioners, judges, and policymakers that a university law faculty in any other city simply cannot match. For consortia working on AI governance, digital rights, arms control, or trade law, they offer not just academic credentials but institutional credibility and direct policy reach.

Highlights from their portfolio

• I2 RAMP
  Coordinator role on a highly specialized MSCA-IF project tackling one of the most contested frontiers in international law — who bears legal responsibility when an AI system commits a violation in armed conflict — with direct relevance to NATO, UN, and ICRC policy processes.
• EUTIP
  Participation in a multi-country Marie Curie training network on EU trade and investment policy, demonstrating early cross-disciplinary engagement with EU external relations law alongside economists and political scientists.