Maartje van der Woude, Professor of Law and Society at the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society, has been elected, after a vote among the members of the Law and Society Association (LSA), as one of the eight ‘elected trustees’ to join the ‘Board of Trustees’ of the LSA.

Human and animal cells are very complex: very different chemical processes are going on at the same time, but they are separated from each other because the cells are divided in compartments. These compartments may also have a profound effect on the potential efficacy of therapeutics, because the drug…

A delegation of the Child Law Department has attended the World congress on family law and children’s rights in Dublin, from 4-7 June. This congress organised once in every four years was hosted by prof. Ursula Kilkelly (University College Cork). Over 600 people attended the congress; professionals…

Dr. Gruni published an article on the impact on sustainable development in the EU Common Commercial Policy of recent Opinion 2/15 CJEU on the Global Trade and Customs Journal.

On 18 December 2019, Mikhail Antonov defended his thesis 'Formalism, Realism and Conservatism in Russian Law'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. W.B. Simons.

Are you thinking about studying Air and Space Law ? Learn more and watch the videos.

How to explain the apparent high success rates of the EU infringement procedures, which are the major tools for enforcing EU law, against the member states?

Leiden University opened its doors in 1575 – the very first university in the Netherlands. The law faculty was involved from the start and so in 2025 they, too, were celebrating their 450th anniversary.

Is the child benefits scandal an omen for the future and will people’s lives soon be fully dominated by algorithms? Assistant Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law Reijer Passchier warns that the encroaching digitalisation is giving the executive branch even more power, leaving parliament…

Mental health issues in the Dutch court: The criminal court as a border guard between the regular Mental Health System and the Criminal Justice system?

Are you thinking about studying the Advanced LL.M. Civil and Commercial Law? Learn more and watch the videos.

The Faculty of Law is becoming more sustainable in many ways, both in teaching and research.

From 19 to 21 September, the Third annual conference of the Law and Development Research Network took place at the National Museum of Ethnology (Museum Volkenkunde) Leiden.

Despite the value of technology integration for educational equity and quality being emphasized by numerous studies, many gaps exist about how technology integration can be approached in policy plans, implemented in pedagogical practices, and embraced by teachers, students, and parents.

This dissertation aims to explore how university students use mobile technology for their self-directed language learning and investigate factors influencing their self-directed learning with mobile technology.

Nine staff members of the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance, and Society participated in the Law and Society Association’s (LSA) annual conference from 27-30 May. VVI staff presented ten conference papers, organised multiple sessions, as well as served as chairs and discussants for numerous…

On November 22nd 2017 eLaw co-organized with partners of the e-SIDES project a workshop on the ethical, legal and socio-economic implications of big data.

eLaw – Center for Law and Digital Technologies has officially launched its participation in AI:Liner, a Horizon Europe project that will transform how Europe manages its aging sewer infrastructure through artificial intelligence and digital innovation.

A hack at Ajax let season tickets be stolen and stadium bans viewed and changed. Bart Schermer, Professor of Privacy & Cybercrime, spoke to RTL News about the impact. ‘This information can be used against you.’

The Role of Law in Libya’s National Reconciliation (RoLLNaR) was a research project that ran from 2017 to 2020. It identified and assessed the role of law – both actual and potential, enabling and constraining – with regard to major challenges of reconciliation in Libya. The project was led by Dr. Suliman…

Gianclaudio Malgieri, Associate Professor at eLaw, has published a new article together with Cristiana Santos, Assistant Professor at Utrecht University, titled 'Assessing (the Severity of) Impact on Fundamental Rights' in the journal Computer Law & Security Review (CLSR), published by Elsevier.

On 15 November in Brussels, the Brussels Privacy Hub and the Future of Privacy Forum held the 6th edition of the 'Brussels Privacy Symposium'. The topic of this year was 'Vulnerable People, Marginalisation and Data Protection'.

The Dutch Police may receive an additional 300 million euros next year. Bart Custers, Professor of Law and Data Science, spoke with current affairs programme 'EenVandaag' about the possibilities of using AI to support police work.

For years, the Dutch National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV) has collected and shared privacy-sensitive information about citizens. Experts say this is in breach of the law.

Marloes van Noorloos is appointed Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure at Leiden University from 1 February 2025.

Women, the elderly, LGBT people and children are all at risk because artificial intelligence, algorithms and exoskeletons are tailored to the straight white male. Research conducted by Leiden University aims to ensure that new developments work for everyone.

On Tuesday 6 September, the faculty year 2022-2023 got off to a great start with Leiden Law Op 1, our yearly talkshow live from the Kamerlingh Onnes Gebouw. Together with the Faculty Board, academic staff and students, we looked ahead to the upcoming academic year.

The abundance of images in our everyday lives-and the speed at which they are consumed-seems to have left us unable to critique them. To rectify this situation, artists such as Daniel Richter, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, and Artur Zmijewski have demonstrated that painting is brilliantly equipped to produce…

On Thursday 17 February 2022, a mid-term review was held for the Advanced LLM programmes Air and Space Law, European and International Business Law, International Civil and Commercial Law, Law and Digital Technologies, International Children’s Rights, European and International Human Rights Law, Public…

On 24 April 2024, Carlotta Rigotti and Gianclaudio presented their new report on sexual violence and harassment in the metaverse during a webinar co-organised by AUDRi, Equality Now, and VULNERA.

On 28 and 29 May, Carlotta Rigotti, postdoctoral researcher at eLaw, held a workshop on fairness and diversity bias in AI-driven recruitment at the annual symposium of the Japanese Society on Artificial Intelligence (JSAI) in Hamamatsu, Japan. The workshop was organised as part of the BIAS project in…

On 20 November 2025, eLaw hosted the second capacity-building session of the BIAS project, coinciding with the city’s first snowfall of the year. The training brought together HR practitioners, scholars, consultants, and policymakers to discuss the opportunities and challenges of using AI systems in…

Carlotta Rigotti and Dr Eduard Fosch-Villaronga from Leiden University presented the Horizon Europe BIAS project and its preliminary findings on fairness and diversity biases of AI applications in the labour market during the 'Algorithms for Her?' conference.

On Tuesday December 19, Museum Boerhaave, the Lorentz Center and eLaw organize a public lecture on ‘Fairness and Accountability of Sociotechnical Algorithmic Systems’.

Smart digital infrastructures predicated on myriads of sensors distributed in the environment are often rendered as key to contemporary urban security governance to detect risky or suspicious entities before or during a criminal event takes place. At the same time, they often involve surveillance of…

Leiden Law School offers a broad range of study programmes.

Door de totale anonimiteit van online servers is het erg lastig om cybercriminelen op te sporen. Dat moet anders, vindt Femke Halsema. Universitair docent Jan-Jaap Oerlemans en hoogleraar Law and Data Science Bart Custers spraken met de Volkskrant.

The Institute for Philosophy at Leiden University is host to the NWO programme,