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'.

Barend Barentsen, Professor of Labour Law, recently spoke at a meeting of experts in Amsterdam on the future of the Dutch incapacity benefit system.

De Nederlandse regering is van plan om een ‘clausule’ in te dienen bij de Europese Commissie om een opt-out te krijgen op het gebied van het asielrecht. Op die manier zou Nederland niet langer gebonden zijn aan het EU recht en daardoor een strenger asielbeleid kunnen voeren.

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.

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.’

On 15-16 December, Simona Demková participated in a Closing conference and a Book launch event of the University of Luxembourg doctoral training programme on the Enforcement Challenges in Multilevel Regulatory Systems – DTU REMS.

Alumnus Ruurt Hazewinkel (90) has presented Leiden University with a special gift: a historic house on Leiden’s Rapenburg canal. He handed over the key to Rector Carel Stolker on Monday 25 January.

Lecture

With inflation skyrocketing, more and more workers are willing to take action for better working conditions. From regional transport to municipal officials, and from healthcare staff to pharmacy workers, it’s one strike after another in the Netherlands.

From January to March 2020 Ymre Schuurmans, full professor in Constitutional and Administrative Law at Leiden University, will be a visiting professor at the University of Cape Town (UCT).

PhD defence

Sweetie 2.0 is a research project commissioned by Terre des Hommes on online child sex tourism and criminal law.

On 16 June 2017, the 3rd CML Rev on tour took place in Berlin. The workshop on ‘The EU and Globalisation: Assets and Liabilities’ was organized in cooperation with LMU Munich and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin.

The Netherlands holds the presidency of the European Union for the coming six months. There are too many urgent issues for the country to spend time on Dutch political hobby horses, says Stefaan Van den Bogaert, Director of the Europa Institute.

When Professor of Tax Law Jan Vleggeert delivered his inaugural lecture in Leiden University’s Academy Building on 30 October 2020, only 30 people were allowed to attend due to coronavirus measures. On 10 June 2022, Vleggeert was therefore given the opportunity to deliver a lecture to a much larger…

On 12 November 2019, the members of The Hague International Space Resources Governance Working Group adopted the Building Blocks for the Development of an International Framework on Space Resource Activities, during the last meeting of the Working Group that took place in Luxembourg from 11 to 12 November…

Ms. Kollmann, a home care worker in the Netherlands, is demanding pension and unemployment benefits from the Dutch Employee Insurance Agency (UWV). An exception in the law means that home carers working for private individuals are not automatically entitled to benefits under social security schemes.

Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition, will deliver the Europa Lecture on 14th June 2017 in the Grand Auditorium of the Academy Building at Leiden University.

Christa Tobler comments on the role of the European Court of Justice in Swiss-EU talks on renewed institutional rules.

On 19 July 2021, Nathan de Arriba-Sellier published an op-ed in Le Monde regarding the integration of climate change in the new monetary policy strategy of the European Central Bank (ECB).

The Health Council of the Netherlands has published an advisory report entitled ‘Ethische en juridische overwegingen Covid-19’ (Covid-19: ethical and legal considerations). According to the Council, businesses and organisations may request a vaccination certificate, but can only do so under strict c…

Due to an exception in the law, domestic workers employed by private persons cannot automatially benefit from social security schemes. Home help Carol Kollmann did not agree with this and took her case to court.

Children aged between 12 and 17 years can decide themselves whether they want to be vaccinated or not. Experts say that children are capable of taking a well-considered decision.

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 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.’

The legal protection of parents and children in cases involving placement in care must improve. That is the opinion of Mariëlle Bruning, Professor of Children and the Law.

Chances that Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will become Secretary General of NATO are becoming increasingly likely now that the US and most western countries have expressed their support. The question now is how to appoint someone to the position of Prime Minister, who to appoint and when the situation…

Since August 2020, Vasco has been living in a shelter for the homeless in Leiden, because he has no job and receives no social security benefits. He has no idea how long this will go on for. ‘I’m stuck in a vacuum. Because I don’t have a passport, I can’t register in Leiden, so I can’t get health insurance…

No, the Netherlands is not a tax haven, the new State Secretary for Tax Affairs Marnix van Rij said shortly after his introductory meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Rutte. Yet there are numerous reports that describe the Netherlands' role as a tax haven.

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’.

The Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) is to investigate whether comments made by 'Forum voor Democratie' MP Gideon van Meijeren about going to parliament to protest are punishable. How should the political centre in The Hague respond?

On 4 March 2024, the Local Public Sector Alliance (LPSA) held a meeting of its Working Group on Local Democracy and Inclusive Governance, in which theoretical ideas and experiences about local governance and decentralisation were discussed. Esteban Szmulewicz, PhD candidate at the Department of Constitutional…

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.

Moritz Jesse, Associate Professor at the Europa Institute Leiden, was a speaker at the International Conference European Constitutionalism And the Virus of Distrust Conference, which took place on 27 and 28 April in Prague. The Conference brought together academics from all over the European Union to…

The tally now stands at a 19th no-confidence motion in the Rutte IV cabinet, though it is just one year old. All Rutte cabinets combined have faced more no-confidence motions in the past 12 years than the entire parliamentary history before it. The score is 1.5 per month, 87 in total as of 2010 which…

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.

Dr Moritz Jesse, Associate Professor at the Europa Institute organised two panels at the bi-annual European Studies Association (EUSA) general conference. The conference took place in Miami (US) 19 until 21 May. The first panel, titled ‘(Still) the “Others amongst Us”? European Societies, Migration…

Ralph Keuning, the former director of Museum de Fundatie, a museum for the visual arts in Zwolle, stepped down in 2022 following complaints about authoritarian leadership. On top of that, an independent investigation has shown that he received almost €200,000 from the struggling museum after his departure.…

Uit onderzoek van het NRC blijkt dat het salaris van oud-directielid Van Hove, van het inmiddels wegens grensoverschrijdend gedrag op de werkvloer in opspraak geraakte theatergezelschap ITA, bij menigeen de wenkbrauwen doet fronsen. Gerrard Boot, hoogleraar arbeidsrecht, spreekt zich over deze salariskwestie…

Debate, Lunch

At the end of 2020, the Advisory Committee on Aliens Affairs issued the report 'Nadeel van de twijfel' (The Doubt) on the way the (age) registration of asylum seekers in another EU member state is dealt with.

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.

- Presentations - Report

Graduation ceremony

In 2018, the Swiss Federal Government published the draft text of a Swiss-EU agreement intended to adapt the institutional rules of five existing EU Agreements.

On 6 December, the Clingendael Institute on international relations, organised a round table on the occasion of the publication of its report on the instrumentalisation of migration.