In a new essay for Ethics & International Affairs, Dr Henning Lahmann, Assistant Professor of International Law & Technology at eLaw, addresses the question whether states should resort to social media to warn a civilian population ahead of military operations.

Together with Prof. Barbara Graham-Siegenthaler, Christa Tobler has contributed a chapter to a liber amicorum for Prof. Sebastian Heselhaus of Lucerne University (Switzerland). The subject of the chapter are the European Union’s private international law rules in the field of inheritance as laid down…

Find out what it is like to study at the Faculty of Law. Watch the video below to get an impression of our facilities and our faculty in Leiden and The Hague. Be sure to also take part in our online and on-campus information sessions!

This book presents concrete solutions for managing the legal risks distorting the development of various areas of EU law. It pursues an innovative and effective approach to identify legal risks, their causes at the EU level and their impacts on the functioning of the Union and its Member States. It…

Dr. Eduard Fosch-Villaronga from eLaw collaborates with researchers from the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-Delhi) and University of Delhi (DU) in an effort to explore and reflect upon the potential legal, ethical and pedagogical challenges of deploying a social robot in…

On 7 May, Aleksandre Zardiashvili defended the thesis 'Power and dignity: the ends of online behavioral advertising in the European Union'. The doctoral research was supervised by Bart Custers and Simone van der Hof.

Taner Kuru, an eLaw alumnus, was awarded the prestigious European Data Protection Law Review ‘Young Scholar Award’ for his paper on the shortcomings in the GDPR for the regulation of genetic testing at the prestigious Computers, Privacy and Data Protection Conference (CPDP).

The Digital Legal Talks (DLT) conference is part of the Dutch Sector Plan Law, which is a key component of the broader Sector Plan Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH). This initiative represents a collaborative effort between Tilburg University, the University of Amsterdam, Radboud University Nijmegen,…

Gianclaudio Malgieri, Associate Professor of Law & Technology at eLaw, was interviewed by EUobserver and Al Jazeera English on the European Commission’s newly unveiled Digital Omnibus package – a set of proposals that would amend the GDPR, the AI Act, cookie rules and parts of the EU’s cybersecurity…

On 29 January 2019, Robbert van Eijk defended his thesis 'Web Privacy Measurement in Real-Time Bidding Systems, A Graph- Based Approach to RTB system classification'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. H.J. van den Herik.

Embedding ethical legal and societal aspects for responsible military AI.

On 12 September 2019, Michiel Rhoen defended his thesis 'Big Data, Big Risks, Big Power Shifts: Evaluating the General Data Protection Regulation as an instrument of risk control and power redistribution in the context of big data'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. G.J. Zwenne and Prof.…

On 7 February 2019, Helena Ursic-Vrabec defended her thesis 'Uncontrollable: Data subject rights and the data- driven economy'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. S. van der Hof.

Eduard Fosch-Villaronga, Associate Professor at eLaw, contributed to 'Cyber–Physical–Human Systems', a book exploring the latest developments in interactions between cyber–physical systems and humans.

Prepare yourself for the Law and Digital Technologies programme of Leiden University. You can find some tips on this page to help you to get a head start!

The School for Digital Deaf Studies 2025 is a hybrid school consisting of one week school in person in Ghana (15 - 24 August), followed by a one week school online later this year. It aims for the capacity building needed to expand academic research and education activities in digital Deaf studies,…

PhD Candidate Sabine K. Witting has published an article ‘Regulating bodies: child sexuality in the digital era’ in the Critical Quarterly for Legislation and Law, Vol. 1 2019.

Following a highly successful first edition, we are delighted to announce the second Leiden eLaw Summer School on ‘Regulating AI in the EU Digital Market’ taking place from 23 to 27 June 2025, both in person in Leiden and online.

How are digital risk-profiles developed and used in practice?

Eduard Fosch Villaronga, Assistant Professor at eLaw, co-organised together with Aurelia Tamò-Larrieux, Christoph Lutz, Anton Fedesov, and Anto Čartolovni the GoodBrother International Conference on Privacy-friendly and Trustworthy Technology for Society on 28 June 2022 in Zagreb, Croatia.

On 29 June 2017, Carl Mair will defend his PhD dissertation “Taking Technological Infrastructure Seriously”. The defence will commence at 13.45 hrs, in the Academy Building of Leiden University, Rapenburg 73. The supervisors are Professor A. Schmidt and Professor G.J. Zwenne.

Gianclaudio Malgieri, Associate professor at eLaw, was invited to present his research on human Vulnerability and EU digital ecosystem at the University of Westminster in London.

eLaw in collaboration with the TU Delft Design for Values Institute finalized the research on “Artificial Intelligence and Ethics at the Dutch Police” by providing the whitepaper highlighting requirements for the responsible use of AI at the Police and the long-term research strategy.

On 23 and 24 October, eLaw - Center for Law and Digital Technologies hosted the 2025 edition of Privacy Law Scholars Conference Europe at Leiden Law School. Over two days, participants discussed more than 40 work-in-progress papers, with materials available to participants ahead of time. The conference…

The Creative Intelligence & Technology master's programme (previously Media Technology) at Leiden University focuses on creative exploration as well as the understanding of science and technology.

On 29 and 30 November, Masaryk University in Brno (Czech Republic) hosted this year’s Cyberspace conference, where Gavin workshopped a paper-in-progress entitled ‘Ready! Fire! Aim? EU law’s battle for relevance in the war against terrorist content online’.

Carlotta Rigotti, postdoctoral researcher at eLaw – Center for Law and Digital Technologies, and Professor Clare McGlynn of Durham University have co-authored a new article in the Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights, titled 'Online and technology-facilitated violence against women: The EDVAW platform's…

Medical technology has become an essential part of healthcare. Innovative treatment methods therefore require a new type of medical professional. Someone with medical and technical knowledge, who builds a bridge between technology and patient.

The book, published by Kluwer Law International, on drones entitled

The Centre for Digital Heritage undertakes collaborative international research in the field of Digital Heritage. It is an initiative of the University of York.

Are you eager to bring your own questions and curiosity into scientific research? Do you question intelligence and technology in a fundamental, creative, and playful way? Could you be a researcher who challenges scientific practice and pushes its boundaries?

The debate in Europe about digital sovereignty, technological sovereignty, data sovereignty and strategic autonomy has been building over recent years at both the EU level and the level of individual Member States. The different concepts – and their diverse interpretations – cover the sovereignty concerns…

Leiden Law Cast is a podcast made by Leiden Law School, Leiden University, for everyone who wants to learn more about current legal issues.

Are you keen to develop your digital skills and critical thinking? Then the Digital Humanities and Cultural Analytics minor might be something for you.

Simone van der Hof, professor of Law and Digital Technology at eLaw, has joined the EU Special Group on Code of Conduct for age-appropriate design as an expert.

Carlotta Rigotti and Christina Pasvanti Gkioka from eLaw – Center for Law and Digital Technologies, have published an article titled 'Overlapping Offences, Divergent Logics: Reconciling EU Law on Sexual Imagery of Minors' in the New Journal of European Criminal Law.

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 November 23, 2017, Professor Simone van der Hof chaired a panel on age verification in the digital world at the Safer Internet Forum 2017 in Brussels.

Are you thinking about studying Creative Intelligence & Technology (previously Media Technology)? Learn more by watching our introduction video and the recordings of our talkshows and Q&A's from the Online Master's Open Days. The one from 10th Nov is with lecturer Edwin van der Heide and two of our…

Advanced Master study programmes at Leiden Law School. Intensive one year education programmes that provides many opportunities for our talented students.

Are you thinking about studying Life Science and Technology? Learn more and watch the introduction video.

Gianclaudio Malgieri, after having served as an Editorial Board Member of Computer Law & Security Review, Elsevier (CLSR) in the last three years, has now been appointed as Associate Editor of that review.

Gianclaudio Malgieri, Associate Professor at eLaw Leiden, was invited as a speaker at the Annual Conference of the European Academy of Law (ERA), on 21 March in Brussels.

Misleading social media posts are falsely claiming that the Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo uses facial recognition at self-service checkouts. Jumbo denies this, although it has launched trials with AI cameras to combat shoplifting without using facial recognition.

Simone van der Hof, Professor of Law and Digital Technologies at eLaw, and Mohammed Raiz Shaffique, researcher and PhD candidate at eLaw, have published a self-assessment tool on age assurance for the European Commission.

Chemistry is all around us: from nutrition and smartphones to medicine. The field is developing rapidly, as the world population continues to grow and resources become scarce. MST will educate you on the basics of working towards a clean and healthy world.