The sentencing decision of the judge might be the most important decision in the criminal proceedings, not only because of the impact the punishment has on the offender, but also because the sentencing decision is a cornerstone of the legitimacy of the entire criminal justice system.

Still have questions about the Comparative Criminal Justice programme? Please contact us!

This book provides an exploration into the historical transformations of women's interactions with state police in the Western world from 1800 to 1950.

On 9 April 2019, Yudan Tan defended her thesis 'The Rome Statute as Evidence of Customary International Law'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. W.A. Schabas.

As our society becomes increasingly complex, it is critical that we better understand how we can deal with fundamental issues such as societal and personal security, and resilience against threats to our security.

On 20 January 2022, Marco Stam defended the thesis 'Essays on Welfare Benefits, Employment, and Crime'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. M.G. Knoef.

IIAS promotes critical, humanistic, and collaborative work on, with, in, and beyond Asia.

Inspiring and relaxed – these are qualities that describe the Netherlands perfectly. At the same time, there is much more to say about the country. For instance, according to the 2018 UN Human Development Index, the Netherlands is ranked tenth among the best countries to live in.

The Faculty of Law has five institutes:

On 12 December, Anke van der Hoeven defended the thesis 'Crossing through Europe at full speed - The work situation of international truck drivers: constructions and perceptions'. The doctoral research was supervised by Joanne van der Leun, Yvonne Erkens and Masja van Meeteren.

On 5 September 2019, Jennifer Doekhie defended her thesis 'Dimensions of desistance: A qualitative longitudinal analysis of different dimensions of the desistance process among long-term prisoners in the Netherlands'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. P. Nieuwbeerta.

In July 2019 Asser Press published the book 'Sweetie 2.0—Using Artificial Intelligence to Fight Webcam Child Sex Tourism’ which was coedited by Simone van der Hof en Bart Schermer from the Center for Law and Digital Technologies, Bert-Jaap Koops from the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society…

PhD defence

On Wednesday 16 June 2021, Karim Khan was sworn in at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. Experts say this is no easy time to join the ICC.

A large research group involving Leiden University as corresponding Host Institution has been awarded a major European grant, the ERC Synergy Grant. This for research on how Europe developed after the fall of the Roman Empire with special attention to the yet underexplored but undoubtedly important…

It is the eighth year in a row that the Faculty of Archaeology is placed in the top ten of archaeological institutes worldwide. The QS World University Rankings by Subject looks at criteria like academic reputation and citation ratios.

As a result of production pressure, judicial powers focus more on efficiency and less on making sure they get to the truth. Professor of Criminology Jan de Keijser believes that establishing the truth in court cases is under threat. Inaugural lecture 7 November.

Migration and crime are in the spotlight in society. Within the Institute for Criminal Law and Criminology, research in this area has strongly developed in recent years. The concept of Crimmigration is central to this.

VVI Research Meeting 2023-2024

Are predictive archaeological maps a reliable tool to play an important role in the spatial planning? One of the goals of this project was to develop best practices for the production and application of the models.

On Wednesday 11 June 2025 Steffie van Gompel successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

In his new six-hour series, Africa's Great Civilizations, Henry Louis Gates, Jr. takes a new look at the history of Africa, from the birth of humankind to the dawn of the 20th century. One of the experts interviewed in the programme is our own dr. Sada Mire.

We are thrilled to introduce our new PhD student: Andrés Martín García de la Cruz

In November 2013, Prof.Dr. L. Jan Slikkerveer, Director of the LEAD Programme was personally invited by the former President of Indonesia, Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to present a lecture on The Role of Traditional Ecological Knowldege in Sustainable Development in Indonesia in the World Culture Forum…

On 7 June, the National Museum of Antiquities opened a mini exhibition 'Scanning for Syria'. The exhibition shows how Leiden archaeologists and Delft technical specialists make reconstructions of 3000-year-old Assyrian clay tablets. The originals, stored in museum depots in Raqqa (Syria), have been…

Webinar

To get a feeling of how we operate at LED3 when it comes to Early Drug Discovery, please browse through our case studies. When you select a case study you’ll find relevant contacts.

Shiʿi Islam

The Faculty of Archaeology has three departments:

Four men have been sentenced to 25 years in jail for murdering a female relative. Jeroen ten Voorde, Professor of Criminal and Criminal Procedural Law, spoke to ‘Trouw’ newspaper about the court ruling: ‘They're all considered perpetrators under criminal law.’

This programme video is presented in Dutch

Space is becoming increasingly busier due to the launching of satellites and tourists. But no binding international agreements have been made since 1979. This is problematic, warns space lawyer Tanja Masson-Zwaan. ‘Everyone’s putting their own interests first.’

The research master's in Hebrew and Aramaic Studies, a specialisation of the Classics and Ancient Civilizations (Research) programme, at Leiden University explores Classical Hebrew and Aramaic Studies in the broadest sense.

In the master’s specialisation Computer Science and Business Studies, you combine high quality research in Computer Science with training in management and entrepreneurship. You will expand your knowledge of computer science and develop business and organisational skills that are essential to become…

The Institute of Education and Child Studies aims to create a challenging academic environment in which students can flourish.

How do you ensure that research is performed, evaluated and managed in a responsible way? This question is also of the utmost important to the University itself. The Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) studies scientific research and its relationship with technology, innovation and soci…

This project studies travel writing about the Dutch East Indies written between 1800 and the end of the Second World War. By analyzing both Dutch travel texts and Indigenous travel texts in Javanese and Malay, it presents a new, double-voiced perspective on (the historiography of) the Dutch colonial…

Leiden University Centre for the Study of Religion (LUCSoR) studies religion as human activity, in all its diversity.

The project Advancing The European Multilingual Experience (AThEME) studied multilingualism in Europe by incorporating and combining linguistic, cognitive and sociological perspectives.

What is the current situation of human rights in relation to detention under criminal law and immigration law, now that more and more parties are becoming involved in the administration of detention and crimmigration is on the rise? PhD defence on 21 January 2020.

A study concerning the collective memory in the region of the Bene lo Ya/ Ene lo I'ya, Sierra Norte, Oaxaca.