Subject matter Independence of the judiciary Practising lawyers appointed as substitute judges

3.2 The author adds that the lawyer for ANWB was also a professor at the Vrije University in Amsterdam, and that three other professors of the same university were substitute judges on The Hague Regional Court.

He argued that a number of lawyers working at the same law firm as the lawyers representing ANWB and TNO also served as substitute judges on the Hague Regional Court and on the Court of Appeal.

He claims that both the Hague Regional Court and Court of Appeal cannot be considered to be independent and impartial tribunals, as a number of lawyers working in the same firm as the lawyers representing ANWB and TNO also served as substitute judges on the same court, therefore creating a conflict of interest.

In other words, Gazprom (and the Russian government) are less capable of withstanding the loss of the European market than vice versa. Indeed, given the hard bargains that China has been driving during Putin s desperate search for alternative buyers, threatening to cut exports to Europe has proven to be an exceedingly unwise tactic.