Bert Röling
Bert Röling | |
---|---|
![]() Bert Röling in 1972 | |
Born | Bernard Victor Aloysius Röling 26 December 1906 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands |
Died | 16 March 1985 Groningen, Netherlands | (aged 78)
Nationality | Dutch |
Alma mater | Radboud University Nijmegen, Utrecht University |
Occupation(s) | Jurist, Professor of law |
Years active | 1933–1977 |
Bernard Victor Aloysius (Bert) Röling (26 December 1906 – 16 March 1985)[1] was a Dutch jurist and founding father of polemology in the Netherlands. Between 1946 and 1948 he acted as the Dutch representative for the International Military Tribunal for the Far East.
Biography
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/IMTFE_judges.jpg/200px-IMTFE_judges.jpg)
Röling was born in 's-Hertogenbosch as a son of journalist Gerardus Röling en Christina Maria Dorothea Taverne. He studied law at Radboud University Nijmegen and Utrecht University. At the latter he graduated cum laude in 1933 with his dissertation De wetgeving tegen de zogenaamde beroeps- en gewoontemisdadigers, which was awarded a prize by the Groningen University. He started teaching in Utrecht the same year and founded the Institute for Criminology in 1934 together with Willem Pompe.
In 1946 he was appointed member of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. In deliberations with judges from ten other countries, he dissented from the tribunal's verdict that convicted Japan as aggressor. His views were shared by fellow judge Radhabinod Pal from India.[2] However, under the rules of the tribunal, all verdicts and sentences were decided by a majority of the presiding judges.
In 1950 Röling was appointed professor at Groningen University where he founded the Institute for Polemology in 1962. He retired from academic life in 1977 but remained active for the Institute until his death in 1985.
Publications (selection)
- The Tokyo Trial and beyond. Reflections of a peacemonger. Ed. and with an introd. by Antonio Cassese. Cambridge, Polity Press, 1993. ISBN 0-7456-1006-4
- Völkerrecht und Friedenswissenschaft. (Carl-von-Ossietzky-Vorlesung) Bonn-Bad Godesberg, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung, 1974
- Polemologie. Een inleiding tot de wetenschap van oorlog en vrede. Assen, Van Gorcum 1973. ISBN 90-232-1076-X
- The Tokyo judgement. APA Univ. Press Amsterdam 1977, ISBN 90-6042-040-3.
- The 1974 U.N. definition of aggression. In: Antonio Cassese: The current legal regulation of the use of force. Nijhoff, Dordrecht 1986, ISBN 90-247-3247-6, p. 413–421.
- Crimes against peace. In: Antonio Cassese: The current legal regulation of the use of force. Nijhoff, Dordrecht 1986, ISBN 90-247-3247-6, p. 385–394.
Trivia
- Bert Röling is the father of painter Matthijs Röling and the uncle of artist Marte Röling.[3]
- Hugo Röling, another son, wrote a book about his father during the period as judge at the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal.[4]
- Röling's experiences during the Tokyo Trials acted as inspiration for the novel De Offers (The Sacrifices) of writer Kees van Beijnum. In the novel the judge is called Rem Brink.[5]
- Röling was portrayed by Dutch actor Marcel Hensema in the 2016 NHK miniseries Tokyo Trial.
References
- ^ "Catalogus Professorum Academiae Groninganae, Bernard Victor Aloysius Röling, (1906–1985)". hoogleraren.ub.rug.nl. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
- ^ "Bert Röling. Tegen de keer". Biografieportaal. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
- ^ "Wiek Röling 1936 – 2011". wimdewagt.nl (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 May 2019.
- ^ "Hugo Röling: De rechter die geen ontzag had. Bert Röling en het Tokiotribunaal. Amsterdam, Wereldbibliotheek, 2014. ISBN 9789028425965". wereldbibliotheek.nl. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
- ^ "Controverse over oud-rechter". NRC Handelsblad. Retrieved 9 February 2018.