On 28 October 2021, the ombuds office of the city of Zurich - incidentally the very first communal ombuds office in Europe - celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Mark Klaassen, assistant professor at the Institute of Immigration Law, has been appointed as a committee member in the Advisory Committee on Migration Affairs.

On 3 March 2024, the Swiss electorate decided in a sensational referendum in favour of an increase in the state old-age pension.

Stefan Sagel heeft op 10 februari de Gouden Peer arbeidsrecht van het juridische platform Mr. ontvangen. De hoogleraar arbeidsrecht kreeg de onderscheiding op voordracht van twintig juristen uit hetzelfde rechtsgebied.

On Thursday 26 October, the Europa Institute held its fourth ‘Meet the Author’ event.

On Friday, 24.11.2017, the Europa Institute organised together with EURO-CEFG a Leiden Law Exchange-event (LLX) on the second preliminary reference of the German Federal Constitutional Court to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

On 5 December, Luuk van Middelaar appeared as a guest on Dutch current affairs programme Buitenhof to talk about various European issues, including how Europe had tackled the coronavirus pandemic.

The Earth-Space Symposium is set to take place on 12 and 13 November. This year’s symposium will be hosted by Utrecht University and its theme will be 'Sustainability, Governance, Futures'.

Het opiniestuk in het NRC van Luuk van Middelaar, historicus, politiek filosoof en hoogleraar Grondslagen en praktijk van de Europese unie, is een reflectie op de rol van Europese leiders in geopolitieke context, naar het verleden, heden en hoe de visie voor de toekomst verder moet worden uitgebreid…

From Thursday 14 to Sunday 17 June the Hugo Sinzheimer Moot Court Competition took place in Cassino, Italy. During this moot court, in the field of European employment and labour law, thirteen teams acted as lawyers in front of a special court composed of professors, judges and lawyers.

De discussie is aangewakkerd door recente onthullingen over de deelname van topambtenaren en politici aan besloten bijeenkomsten, Wim Voermans, hoogleraar Staatsrecht, spreekt over de kwestie in Metro en FTM.

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.’

Labour law experts have called on the Dutch government to review the bill for the Dutch Assessment of Employment Relationships and Legal Presumption (Clarification) Act (‘VBAR’). Experts consider this legislative proposal, which aims to clarify the criteria for assessing employment relationships, as…

The Hague has announced that 70,000 refugees are expected to come to the Netherlands this year. How can situations like at the Ter Apel asylum centre - where asylum seekers had to sleep outside due to a lack of space - be prevented.

Legal experts, including Jens Iverson, a lecturer in international law, warned in Le Soir that any attempt by former U.S. president Donald Trump to annex Greenland would violate international law. They argue that this would remain the case regardless of recent diplomatic talks or security arguments…

De Europese Commissie is van mening dat de EU-beschermingsclausule (art. 42.7 EU-verdrag) van toepassing is, wanneer de VS Groenland zou annexeren. Experts, waaronder hoogleraar europeesrecht, Armin Cuyvers, zeggen in het Noord-Hollands Dagblad, het hier niet mee eens te zijn, omdat het in deze kwestie…

Tanja Masson-Zwaan and Dimitra Stefoudi of the International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL) in Leiden, along with two others, co-edited the book ‘Building Blocks for the Development of an International Framework for the Governance of Space Resource Activities. A Commentary’.

Erkens and Boot were participants at the 21st Conference of the European Association of Labour Court Judges that took place from 8 to 10 June 2017 in Prague.

Mariëlle Bruning, Professor of Children and the Law at Leiden University, responded in various media to the new draft agreement aimed at reducing work pressure of youth protectors.

The moon exerts a pull on us. The Americans won the space race and were first to land there. In the Universiteit van Nederland, space law expert Tanja Masson explores the questions that this raises. Who owns the moon and the valuable resources that are found there?

The legal relationship between Switzerland and the EU dates back to the 1950s and 1960s, when Switzerland concluded its first agreements with the then European Communities. Since then, numerous other agreements have been concluded. In view of this long history of development, it is not surprising that…

In Spring 2023, Simona Demková and Daniel Mândrescu from the Europa Institute secured the new Leiden University Starting Grant, valued at EUR 240,000, for a collaborative project: ‘The EU’s Human-Centred Digital Transformation.’

Darinka Piqani and Moritz Jesse, both from the Europa Institute Leiden, were invited as speakers at the Centre for Constitutionalism and Human Rights, established at the Faculty of Law of Charles University, Prague.

Government leaders have been searching for words to condemn the actions of Belarus which intercepted a passenger aircraft flying from Athens to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, having a fighter plane divert it to Minsk.

During a working visit to a company that cleans up space debris, the British Prince Charles suggested that a climate agreement specifically for space might be a good idea. Experts, including Leiden Law School’s Tanja Masson-Zwaan, say the idea is wishful thinking.

Het faculteitsbestuur heeft prof. Van den Bogaert benoemd tot wetenschappelijk directeur van het Instituut voor Publiekrecht. Van den Bogaert is hoogleraar Europees recht en al meer dan 10 jaar hoofd van de afdeling Europees recht. Hij is tevens directeur van de Stichting Europa Instituut.

Too often, tax scholars have a dual role: advising the government on legislation, while at the same time helping companies to pay as little tax as possible. This needs to change according to Bart Snels, a member of parliament for Dutch GreenLeft party.

At the request of the Dutch Parliament, Professor Marielle Bruning, Dr Kartica van der Zon (Dept. of Child Law), Professor Lenneke Alink and Dr Sabine van der Asdonk (Education and Child Studies) have produced a fact sheet on the placement of children in care in the Netherlands.

Door een uitzondering in de wet kunnen zzp-ers, waaronder NOS bestuurder Eringa, ontkomen aan de maximumbeloning van 233.000 Euro uit de Wet normering topinkomens (Wnt), blijkt uit onderzoek van RTL-nieuws. Barend Barentsen, hoogleraar sociaal recht, zegt tegen de omroep dat ‘zij binnen de regels blijft,…

On 14 February, the second student edition of Mediaforum, journal of media and communication law, was festively launched with a symposium in the Academy Building of Leiden University. During the symposium, the student authors, some of them from our own ranks (Roosmarijn Altink, Roosmarijn Niesing and…

- Presentations - Report

According to Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, there are currently no plans to introduce mandatory vaccinations in the Netherlands. In surrounding European countries, however, the situation is very different. Professor of Health Law and deputy judge Aart Hendriks: ‘The idea that freedom rights are more…

The volume includes contributions on various aspects of the legal relationship between Switzerland and the European Union.

Now the number of people with COVID-19 is increasing and we are faced with stricter measures once again, the question arises whether compulsory vaccination could be allowed.

The EU and Switzerland have negotiated a broad package of agreements that awaits formal signature by the parties.

The Dutch Government would like to allow QR checks at work. Legal experts expect that employees who refuse could be dismissed.

On 10 April the Verfassungsblog published the blog by Armin Cuyvers entitled: Five Scenarios for Europe – Understanding the EU Commission’s White Paper on the Future of Europe.

As of 1 October 2024, Professor Gerrard Boot, Senior Justice at the Amsterdam Court of Appeal, will transfer to the Central Appeals Tribunal. He has already been a Deputy Justice at the Tribunal for some time now.

On 6 July 2023, the Dutch Advisory Council on International Affairs organized an expert meeting on European solidarity.

Mariana Gkliati recently published a paper on the accountability of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, co-authored with Herbert Rosenfeldt.

On the 28th of January 2019 Beryl ter Haar gave a guest lecture at Tbilisi State University organised by the European Law School Association (ELSA). The lecture addressed issues of EU fundamental rights, more particularly it was on the freedom to conduct a business versus several labour rights, among…

Associate Professor Mirjam Sombroek has been asked for advice on account of her expertise in the area of health law and children’s rights.

The Centro de Estudos Internacionais at Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL) will host the

This theme is central to the recently published book 'Onze Constitutie' by Wim Voermans, professor of constitutional and administrative law. The colossal book has no fewer than 911 pages, but Voermans has managed to turn it into one very readable book, with fluent pen, with an eloquent tone and, moreover,…

The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations has awarded the Dutch Administrative Law Association (VAR) a start-up grant for one of the projects of the initiative 'Bestuursrecht beter' (better administrative law): a Digital Helpdesk for the Elderly. The grant will enable the VAR to take the first…

Prime Minister Rutte has broken the Archiefwet (Dutch Public Records Act) for years by deleting his text messages. That was the conclusion of the Information and Heritage Inspectorate in a scathing report. On Monday, Speaker of the Dutch House of Representatives Vera Bergkamp also filed charges after…

A large delegation from Leiden University’s Grotius Centre attended the annual conference of the European Society of International Law (ESIL) in Aix-en-Provence from 31 August to 2 September 2023. Staff members presented their research on various topics, adding to the scholarly discussion surrounding…

On 20 May 2019, Dr Yannick van den Brink, Assistant Professor at the Department of Child Law, participated in a live webinar titled ‘Child Pre-trial Detention. A Global Movement to Reduce Length of Stay’, together with colleagues from the United States and Mexico.

In 2014, the Dutch Ministry of Defence received signals from employees and former employees suspecting that they had become ill from working with chrome paint and CARC. Among them, former and current employees who had previously worked at the former American storage sites (POMS-sites). As a response,…

Space is of enormous strategic value. Having rules in space therefore is to everyone’s advantage.