The University of Cape Town, in co-operation with the Groningen Centre for Law and Governance, recently held a colloquium on expropriation law in the Netherlands. Expropriation normally entails the compulsory acquisition of rights in property by the state against payment of compensation to the expropriated party. The colloquium took place from 26-28 September at the University of Groningen and attracted 22 experts in this field of law from all over the world. Countries represented at the colloquium include South Africa, the Netherlands, the United States of America, Canada, the United Kingdom, Israel, Poland, Italy, Germany, Australia and Ireland. Financial support from the Programme for Enhancement of Research Capacity (PERC) at UCT and the South African Research Chair in Property Law at Stellenbosch University enabled the participation and attendance of Prof Hanri Mostert (UCT), Dr Ernst Marais (UCT), Dr Bradley Slade (UJ) and Dr Elmien du Plessis (UJ).

The theme of the colloquium was