On Tuesday 2 March, Jorrit Rijpma spoke at the Standing Committee on European Affairs of the Dutch Senate about the European Migration and Asylum Pact.

Dutch political party VVD wants to set up a 'Mini Schengen zone' to control immigration better. But that is easier said than done, says Professor of European Law, Jorrit Rijpma.

This summer, the COST action

The title of European City of Science was officially handed over to a delegation from Leiden in the Italian city of Trieste on 6 September. Leiden will be the science capital of Europe for the year 2022. The EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF), the largest interdisciplinary science conference in Europe, will…

Who is welcome as a refugee, and who is not? And how is that decided? What role do humanitarian organisations play in the debate surrounding refugees? Doctoral candidate Teuntje Vosters is investigating the influence Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) exert on European policy on migration and ref…

The Journal of European Public Policy has dedicated this year’s Special Issue to the theme of European Union Enlargement and Integration Capacity, on the suggestion of Dr. Antoaneta Dimitrova, senior lecturer at the Institute of Public Administration of Leiden University. Moreover, the Special Issue…

Carsten Stahn has just published Confronting Colonial Objects: Histories, Legalities and Access to Culture. The book is part of the OUP Cultural Heritage Law and Policy Series.

New Online Platform Launched to Support Global Children's Rights Legislative Reform

On Thursday 2 June 2022, Olivia Serrano, a guest researcher in the GTGC programme, gave a presentation to the GTGC Global Justice and Human Rights stream. Olivia's presentation was about the Role of Independent Expert Committees in the Interpretation of Human Rights Treaties: the Right to Health as…

Immunologist Leender Trouw specialises in the complement system, which is part of the immune system. In some diseases drugs help activate or inhibit this system. This is best done ‘in the right place at the right time’ − the title of his inaugural lecture.

This article illustrates how the term 'dual use' has become associated with a broader dichotomy between ‘legitimate’ and ‘illegitimate’ purposes.

From 29 to 30 October 2024, the Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum (KGF) and the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies had the pleasure of hosting an inspiring authors’ workshop in The Hague for the forthcoming Research Handbook, Victims' Rights under Public International Law, edited by Dr Robert Heinsch…

How is it possible that people kill each other? And above all: how is it possible that people who are able to peacefully live with each other at one moment, can kill each other at another one?

Winners of Children's Rights Moot Court 2023

On 25 November 2021, Jelena Belic presented her paper during a seminar organized by the GTGC Global Justice and Human Rights group. Her paper was about the Right to Withdraw from International Treaties: A Normative Analysis.

How can groundbreaking research help Europe tackle the huge challenges it faces? At the launch of the Leiden Europe Hub, academics and policymakers discussed this in the heart of European democracy: the European Parliament.

The right to strike is regulated by the European Social Charter, but employers also have the right to take collective action. Employers actually resorting to this in reality hardly ever happens, however. Instead, we constantly hear about workers going on strike.

Children have the right to play and relax. Games, social media and video platforms are attractive new ways to do that. However, hardly any online games are designed specifically for children, nor do they factor in children's rights.

On 26 June 2025, Melanie Fink delivered a presentation titled 'Good Administration in the Age of AI: Explanation Rights and Human Oversight under EU Law' at the European Ombudsman.

On 26 January 2023, a conference was held at Leiden Law School on children’s rights and migration. The conference, organised by Stichting Migratierecht Nederland (SMN) and the Europa Institute of Leiden University, was attended by academics, lawyers, judges, policymakers, and other legal professionals…

For refugee children, the right to information is of great importance to make their voice heard. Stephanie Rap is studying the child’s right to participate in the asylum procedure. She has also studied the working method of the Dutch Council for Refugees in this context.

This summer the department of Labour Law at Leiden University will start a new tradition of an annual summer school addressing current issues in labour law from an international, transnational and European point of view. With a mixture of lectures, seminars and a field trip, topics will be explored…

On the 6th of December, Céril van Leeuwen has won the Jaap Doek Children’s rights thesis award for her thesis ‘The right to be heard restricted: is this desirable in the civil law proceedings?’ This award, for the best master thesis in the area of Children’s Rights, is annually granted by Defence for…

The United Kingdom’s relationship with the European Union was supposed to be definitively settled several times during the past decade – yet it was not. The 2016 referendum brought about a surge in interest in legal questions, especially of EU law and international economic law. This presented scholars…

Misha Plagis, assistant professor at the Grotius Centre of Public International Law wrote a paper together with Dr Nicole De Silva (Concordia University) entitled 'NGOs, international courts, and state backlash against human rights accountability: Evidence from NGO mobilization against Tanzania at the…

In a collaborative effort between the Leiden Children’s Rights Observatory, the Leiden Law Academy, UNICEF and the Petitions Section of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, a symposium held last week commemorated the tenth anniversary of the Optional Protocol to the Convention…

Recently the Department of Child Law of Leiden Law School (Leiden University) launched the Leiden Children’s Rights Observatory.

On 10 February 2025, Melanie Fink presented her recently awarded NWO Veni project at Leiden University’s SAILS Lunch Time-seminars.

The role of domestic and wild resource exploitation in Bronze Age subsistence

On 28 October 2021, Matthew Hoye presented his paper during a seminar organized by the GTGC Global Justice and Human Rights group. His paper was about the Remittances and Global Justice: Paradoxes and Potentials.

Willem van der Muur's article on Indonesia's recent recognition of indigenous land rights was published by New Mandala.

The case note examines the recent views adopted by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on a communication against Belgium.

On 6 September 2019, the Governor of Murang'a County, Mwangi wa Iria, signed a declaration at Leiden University to protect the rights of children.

Leiden University would like to express its concern about the proposed Hungarian higher education draft law, which, if adopted, would make the functioning of Central European University (CEU) in Budapest nearly impossible. These changes would endanger the academic freedom vital for CEU’s continued operation…

The 18th Biennial EUSA conference, with the theme 'Beyond Sui Generis? Understanding the EU as a Comparative Polity and an Interdisciplinary Subject', took place on 4 to 6 May 2023 at the University of Pittsburgh (PA), USA. The Europa Institute was represented by Dr Moritz Jesse and Dr Darinka Piqan…

Wars, climate change and the effects of covid have caused a global decline in children’s well-being. In her inaugural lecture Ann Skelton, Professor of Children’s Rights in a Sustainable World, points to the disastrous effects of multiple interacting crises.

Paul Brakefield, Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the Institute of Biology in Leiden (IBL) has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant for his research. He will receive 2.5 million euro to develop his research programme over a period of five years.

On 28 February 2019 the Stichting Bob Wessels Insolvency Law Collection will hold a PhD workshop on European/International Insolvency Law to which PhD students form Europe and beyond are invited. It provides PhD students with a venue to present their ideas, but also the challenges and questions they…

The latest newsletter of the Master of Laws Programme: Advanced Studies in International Children’s Rights and the UNICEF Chair in Children’s Rights of Leiden Law School, Department of Child Law has been published.

What does the UN seek to achieve though global observance days, weeks and years and how have these initiatives impacted the role of the organization in forwarding the agenda of human rights?

The Horizon 2020 project ImageInLife has started on 1 January, followed by a kick-off meeting at the coordinating University of Montpellier at the end this month. This Marie Skłodowska-Curie training network brings together European groups that work on the imaging of vertebrates and offers fourteen…