The Dutch House of Representatives is deeply divided about the contested trade agreement between the European Union and Canada (Ceta). The economic figures are favourable in relation to Ceta, which has led to the removal of 98% of the import tariffs. Imports from and exports to Canada have both soared…

We are very happy to announce that two candidates of the Europa Institute won the Meijers PhD grant of 2018. Both PhD-students will perform highly topical research into different areas of EU law for the coming four years.

NVIC is delighted to host Dr. Younous Arbaoui from the Amsterdam Centre for Migration and Refugee Law of the VU University Amsterdam as our NWIB Visiting Professor during three months this Spring.

According to research conducted by regional Dutch newspaper ‘BN DeStem’, emigration to Russia certainly isn’t off the cards for some Dutch people. Information sessions are being held for anyone interested in emigrating to these countries. Is it acceptable for civil servants to get involved in these…

Former Chemistry PhD student Tiddo Mooibroek is one of the 25 nominees for the title New Scientist Science Talent 2017. Nobel prize winner Ben Feringa will announce the winner at the New Scientist Live: Nobelprijs event on June 22, after a rating of the candidates by a jury and a public vote.

Tom Barkhuysen and Michiel van Emmerik attended the 21st General Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law that was held in Asunción, Paraguay on 23 – 28 October 2022. They wrote the national report for the Netherlands on the topic of Administrative Silence.

On 21 June, the Labour Law and Social Security department and study association SLN hosted the seventh Max Rood Moot Court competition. The morning session involved teams from various universities arguing labour law cases in the preliminary round. The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU) team and Groningen…

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

Fishermen in the United Kingdom recently protested about the adverse effects of Brexit on their trade. It would be naive to think that covert feelings of being under threat do not exist among the Dutch population. Citizens who feel threatened become defensive, a situation that could lead to a Nexit.

On 1 July 2019, the radio programme

This Saturday will be the first Kaiser Spring Lecture of this year! - A series of public lectures on Astronomy in the Old Observatory.

The recent consecration of India’s Ayodhya temple by Prime Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party figurehead Narendra Modi raises important questions. Is secularism giving way to religious rule in the world’s largest democracy? How does this resonate with India’s culturally diverse population? France 24…

“The union’s 60th birthday is not a moment for gifts and cake, but for reinvention around three new strategic idea. (…) The new Europe must protect, improvise and tolerate opposition”. This is what Prof. Luuk van Middelaa, Professor of Foundations and Practice of the European Union and its Institutions,…

On 29 October 2020, the Europa Institute Zurich organized a conference entitled «1. Zürcher Europarechtstag: Europäische Integration, Drittstaaten und (direkte) Demokratie» (1st Zurich European Law Day: European integration, third countries and (direct) democracy

The Editorial Board is pleased to announce that in 2021 there will be a Common Market Law Review Prize for an article submitted by a young academic.

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.’

Upon invitation by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, a large group of academics have submitted a third party intervention in a case against France.

Andreas Müller of the University of Basel (Switzerland) and Werner Schroeder of the University of Innsbruck (Austria) together organised a “three country conference” (Austria, Germany, Switzerland) on strategies of legal opening towards European law, or “Europe-friendliness”

As of 1 May 2025 Dr. Vasiliki Kosta has been appointed member of the standing Committee for Freedom of Scientific Practice (Commissie voor Vrijheid van Wetenschapsbeoefening - CVW) of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).

We are delighted to welcome Elisabeth Faber as our new intern for the Fall semester 2022.

From 1-2 December 2022, the Frontex fundamental rights team met for a Workshop to reflect on their role and discuss current issues. Melanie Fink, Assistant Professor of European Law, was invited to contribute to the discussion with insights from her research on Frontex’s obligations and responsibili…

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) which is carrying out the investigation into the MH17 disaster has identified four suspects who have been brought in connection with bringing down the aircraft. The four are to be prosecuted and as a result have been placed on international wanted lists.

The annual PhD training of the Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research (NNHRR) took place on 7 and 8 June at Leiden University.

Terminating the Trade Treaty between the US, Mexico and Canada, as Trump intends, violates the treaty and also has implications for labour law, says emeritus professor of international labour law, Paul van der Heijden, in Dutch newspaper ‘Het Financieele Dagblad’.

Metamaterials researcher Martin van Hecke has been elected American Physical Society (APS) fellow, an honour exclusive to only half a percent of the society's members.

The South China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (also known as Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration, or

Yvonne Erkens, Associate Professor of Labour Law, has been appointed as a Global Law professor at the Catholic University of Leuven.

On 17 and 18 November 2016 the World Bank in Washington, D.C. hosted the Fourth International Conference on Legislation and Law Reform.

Children have never acquired their own position in migration law and that is now slowly changing, according to Peter Rodrigues in ‘One World’. Partly as a result of the Children’s Rights Convention and judgments by the Court of Justice in Luxemburg, the tide seems to be turning and there is now more…

Moritz Jesse, Associate Professor at the Europa Institute Leiden, spoke at the 28th International Conference of Europeanists ‘The Environment of Democracy’ organised by the Council for European Studies (CES) at the ISCTE Institute of the University of Lisbon from 29 June – 1 July.

The advanced LL.M. programme on international children’s rights was inaugurated Monday August 31st, 2015 at the Leiden Law School, with students from countries as diverse as South Africa, Iceland, France, Israel, Belgium, Romania, Japan and Jordan.

Vasiliki Kosta participated in the García Pelayo Seminar of the Center for Political and Constitutional Studies, Madrid entitled: ‘Discretionary Powers and Judicial Review: What Destiny for the Principle of Proportionality?’

USMCA (North American Free Trade Agreement) is the successor to NAFTA – a free trade zone covering Canada, the United States and Mexico. This Agreement includes a new procedure to ensure compliance with fundamental labour rights.

Three students of the Master programme in European Law have published a blog post on the Leiden Law Blog.

On Friday 27 November 2015, the conference ‘Law & Sustainable Development’ took place at the University of Leiden, organised by the students of the Mordenate College .

Over thirty research projects have been awarded a grant from the Leiden University Fund (LUF). The academics each receive a sum of between 5,000 and 25,000 euros to conduct their research.

On Wednesday 22 November 2017, Professor Luuk Van Middelaar delivered the closing lecture for the EU Institutional Law and General Principles of EU Law-course of the regular LLM-programme in European Law.

On 5 December 2019, Judge Christine van den Wyngaert gave a guest lecture at LUC : ‘International criminal justice; A view from the Bench’.

During the recent study trip that Sine Labore Nihil (the labour law study association) took to Prague, Leiden’s labour law students visited the Czech Labour Inspectorate. Miloslav Kase, the Inspectorate’s Head of Legal Affairs, gave a lecture and students had the chance to ask questions to a full panel…

The asylum seekers’ centres in Hengelo, Almelo and Schalkhaar caused little or no nuisance in recent years. There have been hardly any incidents, according to information received by Dutch regional TV channel RTV Oost. However, Maarten Offinga, Mayor of Hardenberg, sounded the alarm with the state secretary…

On Tuesday 1 December, LLM European Law students Pien Offerhaus and Carina van Os won the Migration Case Note Contest 2020.

Which brilliant scientist will be our Discoverer of the year 2018? Will it be a physicist, biologist, drug discoverer or an astronomer? Or an environmental scientist, a mathematician, chemist or computer scientist? As of now, you can cast your vote.

On 25 November 2019, Christa Tobler gave a lecture on

On 18 January, Esteban Szmulewicz, a PhD candidate at the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law, spoke on the following theme at an online seminar: 'Comments on the International IDEA report: the state of democracy in the world and the Americas in 2023. New checks and balances'.

Beryl ter Haar co-editor of the Italian Labour Law e-Journal's

Science in Transition joins an international chorus that points out flaws in the science system and aim for change in the governance of science.

Jasmina Mačkić, assistant professor at the Europa Institute, presented her research during ‘The Dissident’, a live talk show which is organised regularly by World-Talks, on 24th May 2018. The event revolved around the Nigerian human rights defender Justus Ijeoma, the founder of the International Human…

Tahir Abbas, associate professor at ISGA, has been appointed as a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. The Academy of Social Sciences is the UK’s national academy of academics, learned societies and practitioners in the social sciences. Its purpose is to promote social science in the United Kingdom…

The Indonesia-Netherlands Security and Rule of Law Update will take place on Wednesday January 17 and Thursday January 18, 2018, in Jakarta and consists of a one-day public symposium and networking opportunity for a larger audience and one day of a series of twelve substantive panel-workshops in smaller…

Recently, a new edition of the ELS bulletin was sent out. Furthermore, we are thrilled to share the Midterm Report of the ELS lab @Leiden with you!