The International Health Regulations are a set of binding rules which organise the global response to viral outbreaks and other similar transboundary risks to public health.

Dr. Vanessa Newby (ISGA) and Dr. Catherine Jones from St Andrews won a grant worth over €23.000 from the RSE Saltire Facilitation Network Award entitled: ‘Worse Things Happen at Sea’: The Governance & Security of the Ocean. The grant will comprise three workshops in 2022: one in Leiden, one in Edinburgh…

In mid-March 2020, the European Commission adopted, against the background of the Corona pandemic, temporal common rules for the export into third countries of personal protective equipment, needed in the context of the Corona pandemic, out of the EU.

Study information

From October 1-3, 2017, the 24th Annual International Law and Religion Symposium was held at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, USA. The Symposium was attended by 100 participants, from 50 different countries, while interpretation at the venue was available in 11 languages (Arabic, French, Italian,…

From indigenous space to colonial setting. Archaeological investigations at El Chorro de Maita in Cuba wins prestigious prize.

Should the law and norms applicable to armed conflict include a distinct category covering the transition from armed conflict to peace, jus post bellum, and if so what are its characteristics?

Het Internationaal Strafhof krijgt veel kritiek op haar tanende invloed als het gaat om gerechtigheid in Oekraïne en Palestina. Larissa van den Herik, hoogleraar internationaal publiekrecht, sprak met Trouw: ‘Internationaal recht is altijd in ontwikkeling en is altijd imperfect.’

A preparatory seminar in Bonn leading up to the Annual Meeting in Johannesburg in August of this year

On 14 April 2016, Professor Carsten Stahn, Programme Director of the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies in The Hague, and Ambassador Bernd Borchardt, Founding Director of the International Nuremberg Principles Academy, signed a new partnership agreement on research cooperation and joint…

Jason Rudall, Assistant Professor of Public International Law at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, has been awarded the Hsu Mo Prize at the 2023 International Law Association-American Society of International Law Research Forum in Taiwan.

The Leiden Political Economy Group (L-PEG) is a multi-disciplinary network of scholars with a research interest in (comparative / global) political economy based at Leiden University. Our members belong to various institutes and faculties across Leiden University, and from other universities across…

Directors of museums in the Netherlands announced in March 2019 that they would be taking new steps in relation to the return of looted colonial artefacts. So what has happened since?

Two researchers from the Institute of Political Science were recently awarded prizes. Claire Vergerio received the Francesco Guicciardini Prize for her book on the historical origins of the primacy of the state in international law ('best book in the historical international relations category'). In…

Columnist Folkert Jensma spreekt in zijn recente NRC column over een monumentaal NJB themanummer over de Gaza-oorlog. Larissa van den Herik, hoogleraar internationaal recht, droeg hieraan bij met een NJB-artikel over de vraag of de situatie in Gaza kan worden gekwalificeerd als genocide en wat verplichtingen…

Russia is required to pay billions of dollars to shareholders of Russian oil company Yukos. This was decided by the appeals court in The Hague.

'The kind of knowledge you gain in International Studies can take you anywhere,' says Gaby van de Wal (26, The Hague, The Netherlands), who graduated from the programme in 2018. Her own career path is proof that indeed, an International Studies degree comes with many opportunities.

The Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, in collaboration with the Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy and Natural Resource Governance (‘C-EENRG’, University of Cambridge) and the ESIL Interest Group (IG) on International Criminal Justice, is pleased to invite public international scholars,…

The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is the world’s leading institution devoted to international investment dispute settlement.

Professor Paul van der Heijden (international labour law Leiden University) has been appointed the honorary Marcel Storme chair at the University of Ghent. The Marcel Storme chair is a rotating professorship at the law faculty of the University of Ghent which according to the regulations is solely…

On 2 April 2025, Anna Marhold, a member of the Peace and Security Committee of the AIV and Assistant Professor at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, joined a technical briefing to parliament providing advice on hybrid threats and societal resilience.

The Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, in collaboration with the ESIL Interest Group on International Criminal Justice and the Journal of International Criminal Justice (JICJ, OUP), is pleased to invite public international scholars, students and practitioners to attend a conference that…

Leiden University won three prizes at the International Criminal Court (ICC) Moot Court Competition – English edition. The final round was held on 27 June 2022 in Courtroom I of the ICC in The Hague (the Netherlands). Due to current COVID-19 related restrictions, it was a hybrid hearing with judges…

Last week, the 12th Annual Conference of the European Society of International Law (ESIL) took place on the topic of How International Law Works in Times of Crisis. The conference was hosted by the Riga Graduate School of Law in cooperation with the Latvian Constitutional Court. The conference intended…

On Wednesday 9 March, a Faculty meeting about the war in Ukraine was held for staff and students in the Lorentz Lecture Hall. By the time the meeting started at 17.00 hrs, the 220 available seats in the lecture hall had been filled mainly by large numbers of students.

For the first time, a court has ordered a company to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions. Lawyers see it as a landmark ruling that will have far-reaching consequences for Shell and possibly also other similar companies.

South Africa is suing Israel on charges of genocide in Gaza. The case is being heard at the International Court of Justice in The Hague this week. Professor Larissa van den Herik, an expert in Public International Law specialising in the law on genocide, explains the situation to NOS.

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 Public Prosecution Service in the Netherlands is examining the possibility to prosecute Dutch national Jitse Akse on the suspicion of the multiple murder of Islamic State fighters. As a foreign fighter Akse joined the Kurdish militia YPG in its armed struggle against the Islamic State.

The United States has recently imposed sanctions on four more senior officials of the International Criminal Court, including Judge Prost, who is a Canadian national. Jens Iverson, assistant professor of international law, commented on this in The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper.

While the interim ruling passed down by the International Court of Justice did not order a ceasefire, it did state that Israel must take all measures to prevent further victims and genocidal acts in Gaza. South Africa brought the case as it alleges that the war in Gaza constitutes a violation of the…

Lidstaten negeren steeds vaker gemaakte afspraken wanneer het hen uitkomt, waardoor de grondbeginselen van de VN meer dan ooit onder druk komen te staan. In een recente VN-spoedvergadering hekelde topman Guterres de lidstaten en zei dat ‘het handvest geen menu á la carte is.’ Niels Blokker, emeritus…

Helen Duffy was appointed as the Gieskes Chair of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law last year. As the title suggests, her research, and to a large extent her teaching, focuses on how diverse areas of international law co-apply and interrelate.

De online cursis begint op maandag 12 november en de inschrijving is nu geopend.

De VN-Veiligheidsraad kwam maandag 5 januari bijeen over de Amerikaanse militaire actie tegen Venezuela, waarbij de Venezolaanse leider Nicolás Maduro gevangen werd genomen en overgebracht naar de VS. Hoogleraar internationaal recht, Larissa van den Herik, zegt voor de NOS geen veroordeling van de VS…

A deliberate attack on a tangible element of a culture, such as a temple, is often also an attack on intangible elements: the religion or religious customs. Equally, the intangible can be attacked without the involvement of the tangible, for example the brutal curtailment of rights. How are these reflected…

The Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies welcomes abstracts for a workshop on Common Interests and Common Spaces: Institutional Approaches to Dispute Settlement to be held in The Hague on Wednesday 13 December 2023. This event kicks off a new series of events hosted by the Leiden Forum on…

In light of her outstanding and inspiring achievements in the field of international dispute settlement, the Law & Practice of International Courts and Tribunals (LPICT) named a Prize in honour of H.E. Rosalyn Higgins in 2019.

The wave of restitutions expected after French President Emmanuel Macron’s 2017 promise to return stolen art to Africa has hit legal and political roadblocks. But while former colonial powers are shying away, it seems 'New World' countries have started doing more to repair crimes against First Natio…

On Friday, November 17, 2017, Assistant Professor Jens Iverson provided the Keynote for the annual symposium by the Minnesota Journal of International Law: Jus Post Bellum: Justice After the War.

Friday 22 September marked the launch of the “Investment Support Programme for the LDCs” at the United Nations in New York.

Mariana Gkliati participated on 4 April in the course International Human Rights offered by the SIM, Netherlands Institute of Human Rights, at the University College Utrecht.

The Clingendael Institute welcomes first-year MIRD students of the 2025-2027 cohort in an exclusive welcome event. Students explore internships, panel discussions, and electives on global politics, diplomacy, and climate advocacy, gaining both academic insights and practical experience.

Leading experts claim the Dutch government is doing too little about the situation in Gaza, even pointing to a violation of the 1948 Genocide Convention. Larissa van den Herik, Professor of International Law, comments on the topic in RTL News and BNR Radio.

Meet Thomas King, alumnus BA International Studies: ‘I’m currently living in London which is a really amazing experience! I’m a British citizen and I moved to the Netherlands to study BA International Studies back in 2017. I had the best three years ever living in The Hague and studying at Leiden.’

Bhumika Gupta (21), International Studies alumna, secured an internship in the OPCW, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. She has set a path for herself, leading towards the job of her dreams, and this internship is a big step towards that future job.

Alumni associations are there for both recent and older alumni to exchange experiences about the field and more. We spoke to Arla Mannersuo, board member of the International Studies Alumni Association, about the benefits of membership and what happens behind the scenes.

Simon van Hoeve is a student of the master’s degree programme International Relations. Every week, he makes a podcast episode for his study association, in which he discusses topics related to his study programme with his guests.