On 3 December 2019, Meda Couzens defended her thesis 'The application of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child by national courts'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. T. Liefaard and Prof. J.J. Sloth-Nielsen.

The book 'The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child' is the result of the international academic conference – ’25 Years CRC’ – which was held in November 2014 in Leiden on the occasion of the 25th birthday of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

This book examines the impact of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on national and international jurisprudence, since its adoption in 1989.

As children learn, develop and acquire more skills, their legal position also changes. Professor of Children’s Rights Ton Liefaard works closely together with Leiden social sciences researchers to shed light on these growing capacities and their implications for our legal system. ‘Our ideas about children’s…

On 18 June 2019, Peter Kempees defended his thesis 'Hard power and the European Convention on Human Rights'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. R.A. Lawson and Prof. H. Duffy.

In 2007, a number of countries signed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. In collaboration with academics and activists in the field, Leiden researchers help to bring these agreements to life. They are mapping indigenous languages for educational purposes and defending the rights…

The book 'The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child' is the result of the international academic conference – ’25 Years CRC’ – which was held in November 2014 in Leiden on the occasion of the 25th birthday of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Description of The Regional Network on the Synergy between the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

The drafting of a handbook that serves as the first guide to European law in the area of children's rights, taking into account the case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), as well as the decisions of the European Committee of Social Rights…

To what extent does the Law Ombudsperson for Children achieve its goals as intended by the legislator when introducing the law?

This research evaluates the Youth Act. It will provide an overview of how the transition takes place, whether the transformation process develops in the right direction and whether the legal safeguards are functioning properly.

This commentary on the United Nations Convention Against Corruption discusses each provision of the treaty, traces the provisions’ drafting history, and explores their implementation in domestic legal systems.

The China Region Group develops and monitors Leiden University's cooperation with China. It is chaired by the Dean of the Faculty of Science, Prof. Jasper Knoester, and consists of representatives of Leiden University's faculties and various policy departments.

On Thursday 15 December, Elisavet Alexiadou has defended her doctoral thesis ‘The Right to Health. A Human Rights Perspective with a Case Study on Greece.’ at the Academy Building of Leiden University. Supervisor was Prof.dr. A.C. Hendriks.

Audrey Heijns defended her thesis on 28 June 2016

The Children’s Rights Monitor provides a thematic overview of the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Netherlands.

The Leiden Children's Rights Observatory is an open access online database of case commentaries, written by international experts on children’s rights, referring to the decisions of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on…

Researchers of the department of Child Law have submitted an advice to the Committee on the Rights of the Child of the United Nations, which monitors the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, on 7 January 2019.

On Thursday 16 November 2017, Lalin Kovudhikulrungsri defended her doctoral thesis entitled ‘The Right to Travel by Air of Persons with Disabilities’. The supervisors are Professor P.M.J. Mendes de Leon and Professor A.C. Hendriks.

On 10 november 2021, Carmel van Niekerk-Jacobs defended the thesis 'Realising the right to reproduce with assistance in South Africa'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. J.J. Sloth-Nielsen and Prof. T. Liefaard.

On Thursday 11 January 2018, Xiang Li defended her doctoral thesis: “Collective Labour Rights and Collective Labour Relations of China”. The supervisors are Professor Guus Heerma van Voss and Professor Barend Barentsen.

In tracing the deeper historical roots of what Xi Jinping contemporarily frames as a “Chinese dream” of “wealth and power,” the article discerns key actors, events, and organizing principles in a long process toward restoring China’s deemed rightful place in the regional system.

Rising geopolitical tensions are causing states and national elites to innovate their use of the past for present-day political ends. This is certainly true for the People’s Republic of China, which prepares to celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2024 amid mounting superpower rivalry, ideological tensions…

CSC-Leiden University joint scholarship program

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child anchors the right of every child; to protection, healthcare, education, participation and more. Though this is the most ratified international human rights instrument, children today still face significant rights violations. In this Advanced Studies in International…

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child anchors the right of every child; to protection, healthcare, education, participation and more. Though this is the most ratified international human rights instrument, children today still face significant rights violations. In this Advanced Studies in International…

This project will explore how Chinese digital networks are grounded in real-world institutions, and how interest groups and individuals use digital infrastructures to shape public discourse on national history.

The Children’s Rights Monitor provides a thematic overview of the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Netherlands.

Although official law generally conceives of personal injury victims as individual rights holders, the actual experience of physical injury and its consequences is relational. Indeed, many researchers in the global North as well as the global South have contended that the very concept of the Self should…

On 7 September, Francesc Claret Traid defended the thesis 'On the nature of the right to resist: a rights-based theory of the ius resistendi in liberal democracies'. The doctoral research was supervised by Afshin Ellian and Gelijn Molier.

Choosing a study programme is fun and exciting, but it’s not always easy. Your choice of study is a major decision; after all, it is about your future. At the same time, it’s good to remember that this choice will not determine the rest of your life.

The Children’s Rights Monitor provides a thematic overview of the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Netherlands.

The central question in this book is whether there is a human right to family unification.

This book rigorously investigates the contemporary state of children's rights and the multifaceted challenges facing children, uncovering the complexities at their core.

In the Netherlands, various local VVD parties are calling for an asylum stop. Other political parties, Ja21, BBB, PVV and FvD, also see an asylum stop as the solution to the continuing asylum problems. Earlier, an opinion poll showed that a majority (69 per cent) of the Dutch population agrees. Is an…

The UN is highly critical of the Netherlands over the effect of its Work and Income (Capacity for Work) Act (WIA). Contrary to agreements, workers who are less than 35% incapacitated for work receive no benefits and the income of their partner is taken into account when they apply for welfare benefits.…

In this article in International Affairs, Saskia Postema and Jan Melissen examine Chinese celebrities' UN-affiliated Weibo activism in the context of China's increasing engagement in the United Nations, which coincides with a shrinking domestic public sphere under Xi Jinping's leadership.

Recently the Department of Child Law of Leiden Law School (Leiden University) launched the Leiden Children’s Rights Observatory.

To what extent are the rights to street children violated en how can their rights be protected?

Recently, Ingrid Leijten’s book Core Socio-Economic Rights and the European Court of Human Rights was published with Cambridge University Press. The monograph was published in the series Cambridge Studies in European Law and Policy (edited by Laurence Gormley and Jo Shaw) and deals with the protection…

This report highlights the huge potential of public inquiries to ensure that lessons are learned from COVID-19 to help the UK prepare for a future pandemic.

Leiden University’s Master of Laws in International Children’s Rights (LL.M.) looks at human rights laws for children from a comparative perspective.

This article discusses the degree of independence that is required for national human rights institutions to function successfully.

On 19 September 2023 Tabitha Speelman successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On October 20th, the advanced International Children’s Rights master program and the Leiden Institute of Immigration Law co-organized a public lecture and Q&A session with Ms. Margaret Tuite, the European Commission Coordinator for the Rights of the Child.

This is a research project on the implementation of national mathematics curriculum reform in Chinese junior high school. The research is expected to provide insight into the ways and reasons of mathematics teachers in Chinese junior high school for implementing national curriculum reform.

How to contribute to a quantum leap of eco-industrial symbiosis in China?

Kim Stroet is examining how the interaction between teachers and pupils influences pupils’ motivation. ‘Children need to have the feeling that they are in control of their own learning process.’