On 13 May 2025, Melanie Fink presented her latest research on the role of the duty to reason and other explanation rights to safeguard human dignity in the automated state at the AI & Law Summer School hosted by the University of Tübingen.

Mahmood Kooria shows in his dissertation that Islam often adapts to the regional context. PhD defense 14 December.

In the media, we hear a lot of worrying news from Africa: refugees, attacks, Ebola, starvation, corruption... But Africa is much more than that: it is a continent in transition, with developments occurring at breakneck speed. African Studies scholars from different academic disciplines in Leiden conduct…

The prestigious American Journal of Comparative Law (2016, pp. 790-4) just published a book review of Sofia Ranchordas monograph ‘Constitutional Sunsets and Experimental Legislation’ (Edward Elgar). The book is partially based on her PhD dissertation for which she was awarded a cum laude doctorate degree…

Roel Becker and Jelle But recently joined the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law as PhD candidates.

Journalists in the Netherlands are unhappy about the handling of their requests under the Dutch Open Government Act (Wet open overheid, Woo). They say these requests take too long, produce too little results, and that communication could be better.

Meet the core staff behind Global Transformations and Governance Challenges, which consists of a Professor, a postdoctoral researcher, three PhD candidates, and a Programme Officer.

How do poor and disadvantaged Indonesians address the injustices they face in daily life and how can their situation be improved?

On Wednesday 27 February, a group of around 30 Leiden Law students visited the EU’s Agency for the coordination of cooperation between police authorities, the European Police Office (Europol) in the world’s legal capital: The Hague.

“Transitional justice” is a field of practice, policy and study that focuses on the ways that societies respond to legacies of large-scale atrocities though tribunals, truth commissions, reparations, and other mechanisms.

Political scientist Corinna Jentzsch (Leiden University) about the organisation of rebel and government auxiliaries in the civil war in Mozambique (1976–1992).

Solving societal problems often requires a solid multidisciplinary preparation. The Economics and Governance specialisation, offered by the Department of Economics and the Institute of Public Administration, combines insights from both disciplines.

The Hague Global Futures Hub was officially launched at the Wijnhaven building on Campus The Hague on 10 June. This collaboration between Leiden University and the University of Edinburgh represents a significant step forward in addressing global challenges.

One of our most engaged and expert scholars is bidding farewell. After forty years at Leiden Law School, first as a student and later as a professor, Niels Blokker reflects on his university career.

The Dutch Tax Authorities leaked information about an international tax audit to Uber. In addition, they ‘obstructed and delayed’ an investigation by other EU Member States, says the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) based on internal documents from the tech company.

The Pre-master’s programme is a programme designed to help students achieve the requirements by removing deficiencies for admission in the Master’s programmes offered by the Institute of Public Administration.

On 1 October 2019, Dr. Darinka Piqani co-organized and moderated a panel discussion on the theme of “Rule of law challenges and prospects in Albania and North Macedonia”.

Examining policy integration's adjustment to diverse implementations in cross-border crisis management, the article analyses institutional choices' impact on the process.

Professor Bob Wessels has published a bibliography of International Insolvency Law as per January 2015. This document is an update of the 2011 bibliography and comprises sources of some 15 countries.

Every year, the Netherlands and Belgium Red Cross organize the Frits Kalshoven IHL Competition, which brings together students from both Dutch and Belgian universities.

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.

PhD defence

Recently, Johan Christensen, Assistant Professor at the FGGA, contributed to the commentary series on technocracy and democracy in global governance that is organised by the Global Governance Centre and the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy.

On Friday 3 February, Minister Bruins Slot of the Interior and Kingdom Relations appointed Fatma Çapkurt, of the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law, to the Dutch State Committee on the Rule of Law. Chaired by Henk Kummeling, Rector Magnificus of Utrecht University, this State Committee…

Onlangs is de eerste aflevering van ESG Law & Litigation (ESGL) verschenen. ESGL is een online uitgave van M.A.D.Lex.

Minority governments only become an option when attempts to form a government collapse. PhD candidate Corné Smit explored why such governments have become rare in the Netherlands and what advantages they might offer. ‘Broad majority coalitions often fail to make substantial progress on key issues.’

On 8 September the students of the European Law Master gathered in the Lorentzzaal for the festive opening of their programme.

On Wednesday 22 July, Professor Maartje van der Woude will hold a webinar for Nusantara University (Indonesia). Her lecture is entitled ‘Governing Through Crises: Civil Liberties Under Pressure’.

In an op-ed and an interview in Dutch newspaper ‘de Volkskrant’, Reijer Passchier, Assistant Professor in Constitutional Law at Leiden University and Professor of Digitalisation and the Democratic Constitutional State at the Open University, stresses that Europe needs to take radical steps to tackle…

Alumnus Petri Freundlich received the first prize for his LL.M. thesis in the category Master’s theses and academic articles of the Max van der Stoel Human Rights awards 2017

Leiden Law School will host the LDE-Majority World Workshop titled ‘Contemporary Migrations in the Americas: Cross-Atlantic Dialogue for Socio-Spatial Justice’, taking place from 24 to 28 March 2025. This workshop will address critical challenges around migration governance and human rights.

This international conference, held in Leiden form 22 to 24 May 2017, focused on adat law in Indonesia a century after the Adat Law Foundation (Adatrechtstichting) was set up in Leiden by the famous professors Van Vollenhoven and Snouck Hurgronje. In the decades that followed the Adat Law Foundation…

Earlier this week, a working group of the United Nations, comprising all 193 of its member states, adopted a consensus report on norms for responsible state behaviour in cyberspace. Dennis Broeders, full professor of Global Security and Technology at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, Leiden…

On Monday 30 May 2016, the Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at UNHCR, Mr. Volker Türk, delivered the Keynote Address at the Advanced Course on International Criminal Justice, Migration and Human Trafficking at the Peace Palace in The Hague.

The authors explore the decision-making processes and debates surrounding EU member states' troop contributions to CSDP military deployments.

On 16 May, three researchers from Leiden University will present their findings on the democratic consequences of decentralisation at a workshop in Leiden. Their research project, Downsize My Democracy?, shows that decentralisation does not automatically lead to a stronger democracy. On the contrary,…

On 22 and 23 November 2018, the international conference ‘Safeguarding Children’s Rights in Immigration Law’ organized by the Institute of Immigration Law and the Department of Child Law took place at Leiden University. Currently, there exists tension between the idea that children deserve specific…

The Netherlands in September 2021 could be characterised as a low-trust society. Trust in the government has declined significantly in the past one-and-a-half years: from almost 70 percent in April 2020 to less than 30 percent in September 2021. There has also been a slight decrease in trust between…

In their third year, students of International Studies get their teeth into difficult issues put forward by government and businesses such as Unilever and the World Food Programme. Students who take part gain valuable experience.

Every year, the Netherlands Red Cross and Belgian Red Cross-Flanders organise the Frits Kalshoven IHL Competition. This competition aims to provide students with an opportunity to practically engage with IHL, the rules that govern the conduct of war, by attending expert lectures and workshops, engaging…

In 2005, the International Crime Court (ICC) in The Hague started an investigation on alleged crimes in Darfur, Sudan. However, Sudan is a non-party state to the Rome Statute, on the basis of which the ICC later was established. PhD candidate Yudan Tan studied the status of the Rome Statute and she’ll…