PhD defence

Which laws govern the commercial use of outer space? Are States responsible for mitigating space debris? Who is liable for accidents that happen onboard an the aircraft? In our Advanced Master Air and Space Law you will learn how to deal with questions like these from both an international and a European…

Which laws govern the commercial use of outer space? Are States responsible for mitigating space debris? Who is liable for accidents that happen onboard an the aircraft? In our Advanced Master Air and Space Law you will learn how to deal with questions like these from both an international and a European…

Most people know what law is. But what it should be or where it comes from is what interests the researchers from the Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of the Law. Key to their approach are topics that go right to the heart of philosophy of law. What is a state? What are the limitations of…

In our European and International Business Law Advanced Master programme, you learn to decipher the hierarchy of European & international business law

Law and peace in the work of Hans Kelsen. A re-evaluation of Kelsen’s legal philosophy: legal pacifism as tacit meaning of his Pure Theory of Law

Leiden University’s Master of International Civil and Commercial Law (L.L.M.) examines the interrelated layers of hard law, soft law, and relevant case law.

How can legal education in Indonesia become more relevant for graduates who will work in contexts of legal pluralism, aiming for social justice and providing legal services that common citizens need?

State utilization of 'hukum adat' and its implication for the Indonesian rule of law

The Duke-Leiden Institute in Global and Transnational Law is a one-month programme providing a strong foundation for those interested in international and comparative law as well as for those planning to study law in the United States. The programme will focus on subjects such as trade agreements, human…

International organisations that represent collaborations between States are becoming increasingly more powerful, and they have an increasing impact on our daily lives. For example, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasburg established that minors have a right to legal aid immediately following…

Growing public backlash against international organizations (IOs) and attacks of national political elites on the rule of law increasingly challenge governance by IOs.

On Wednesday 13 December 2017 Jaap Wieland defended his doctoral thesis entitled ‘De bescherming van concurrentiebelangen in het bestuursrecht’ (the Protection of Competition Interests in Administrative Law).

Our Master Law in European and International Human Rights Law (LL.M.) looks at the various human rights protection mechanisms from a comparative perspective

The International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL) offers PhD candidates the possibility to enroll in the IIASL PhD Track. It is designed for 'external' PhD candidates (buitenpromovendi), who seek to pursue a PhD in Air Law or Space Law while honouring their professional commitments in paralle…

On Thursday 11 May 2017, Qiang Yu defended his doctoral thesis ‘Market Power and Competition Law in the Software Industry’. The supervisors of the research are Professor T.R. Ottervanger and Professor S.C.G. Van den Bogaert. A brief summary of his thesis is provided below.

The Schoof cabinet has several plans that are just not legally feasible. Yet they are often still forced through, knowing, or even hoping, that the courts will intervene. This is dangerous policy that in the long run even undermines trust in politics, the judiciary, and the law itself, argues Armin…

This month we interview alumna Dominique Mars who made an interesting career choice: she tells us how she chose to be a teacher at a primary school whilst having obtained her Master in Child Law.

On 14 September, Erik Plas defended the thesis'Material amendments to public contracts in public procurement law'. The doctoral research was supervised by Jan Hebly and Bart Krans.

What are the rights of migrants in Morocco and how do this receiving state and migrants deal with them in practice?

On 9 April 2019, Yudan Tan defended her thesis 'The Rome Statute as Evidence of Customary International Law'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. W.A. Schabas.

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

The starting point for this research project is the notion that the human brain is susceptible to all kinds of fallacies and biases that affect our perceptions and influence our reasoning outside of our conscious awareness. Indeed, most people think they are merely observing facts and that they process…

Are you thinking about studying European and International Business Law? Learn more and watch the videos.

Are you thinking about studying European and International Human Rights Law? Learn more and watch the videos.

‘Visibility and secrecy are both valuable tactics and should not be antagonized in LGBT movements, ’ says Jingshu Zhu. Zhu defended her dissertation on Wednesday 21 February.

How can we assist Universitas Indonesia's department of International law to improve their educational and applied research programs on Transnational Law, Asset Recovery and International Investment Arbitration, with an eye on Indonesia’s security and rule of law reform agenda and the needs of the…

Ruling Overseas: Connected Practices of Governance of Law

Jens Iverson, Assistant Professor of International Law and a Researcher in the Jus Post Bellum Project, defended his Ph.D. dissertation on 21 September 2017.

On 21 February 2019, Ruben Zandvliet defended his thesis 'Trade, Investment and Labour: Interactions in International Law'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. N.J. Schrijver.

This research studies the future perspectives for Malaysian space law. It aims at demonstrating the development of Malaysian outer space activities inclusive of her status with respect to United Nations space conventions and her membership of international and regional space-related organizations.

On 23 April, Andreas Häuselmann defended the thesis 'EU privacy and data protection law applied to AI: unveiling the legal problems for individuals'. The doctoral research was supervised by Gerrit-Jan Zwenne and Bart Custers.

Due to the almost complete disappearance of the archive of the Old Dutch West India Company (WIC, 1621-1674) not much is known about the ships and crews of this company. In this project we start the reconstruction of this basic information making use of new digital humanities techniques to extract this…

On 31 January 2018 Vestert Borger defended his dissertation entitled ‘The Transformation of the Euro: Law, Contract, Solidarity’. The dissertation has been written under the supervision of Professor Stefaan Van den Bogaert (supervisor) and Dr Jorrit Rijpma (co-supervisor).

Questions of justice are not only the concern of legal professionals, politicians and activists, they also permeate culture at large. Literature, Cinema, Music and Artworks often revolve around questions about rights, justice and fairness, raising a wide range of issues, such as: how do we understand…

On 8 July 2020, Andres Sarmiento Lamus defended his thesis 'The Proliferation of Dissenting Opinions in International Law'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. L.J. van den Herik and Prof. Y.A.A.S. Radi (UCLouvain).

The central question is whether the current regime of international humanitarian law governing the conduct of hostilities in armed conflict is still adequate to deal with modern conflict scenarios, or whether it needs revision or amendment.

Willemijn de Best’s career path led her to the media sector. Besides the more obvious legal professions, a degree in law actually offers many other possibilities: film and television production with celebrities as clients, for example.

Inaugural lecture