As a result of production pressure, judicial powers focus more on efficiency and less on making sure they get to the truth. Professor of Criminology Jan de Keijser believes that establishing the truth in court cases is under threat. Inaugural lecture 7 November.

Dr Nadine Akkerman, lecturer in Early Modern Literature and postdoctoral researcher in Leiden, has written a new book to accompany the exhibition on Elizabeth Stuart and Amalia von Solms at the Historical Museum of The Hague. ‘They were like goddesses, constantly trying to upstage one another,’ says…

Maarten Feteris, the former president of the Court of Appeal and an alumnus of Leiden University, composed the piece ‘Intermezzo’ to mark the transfer of the rectorate during the Dies Natalis on 8 February 2021.

Rogier Hartendorp is professor by special appointment of social effectiveness of justice at Leiden University and a judge at The Hague District Court. So, the perfect person to liaise between our faculty and the Court. We asked him some questions about this role.

The Rt. Hon. the Lord Mance, Judge at the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom delivered the Europa Lecture on 29th September 2016 in the Grand Auditorium of the Academy Building at Leiden University. The lecture was entitled: “Jurisdiction, judgments and proper law relating to states outside the Brussels…

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.

The documentary ‘De Stem van het Kind’ (The Voice of the Child) gives an impressive insight into the work of juvenile court judges. Documentary maker Pieter Fleury, Professor of Children’s Rights Ton Liefaard and juvenile court judge Johan Visser worked together for the past seven years to make the…

What can criminal courts do when the course of justice is obstructed? Countries such as England and Wales apply the instrument contempt of court, which enables the court to act according to criminal law in such a case. Could that work in the Netherlands too? PhD defence on 18 December.

One Lecture about Immigrant Integration in the EU and its Member State at the Institute of European Studies at George Washington University, one class in a course on Immigration and Integration at Georgetown University, and a lot of judging in the international rounds of the Phillip C. Jessup International…

Claire van den Helder (fourth-year Cultural Anthropology student) and Orestes Kyrgiakis (second-year Cultural Anthropology student) won the Pieter de la Court Medal 2021. The Pieter de la Court Medal is an initiative for students by students and is awarded annually to students who voluntarily contribute…

On July 8 - 9, 2022, Leiden University will be hosting a two-day, international conference on the theme of Courts as an Arena for Societal Change. The conference will bring together researchers and practitioners from around the world to discuss the evolving role of the judiciary in addressing difficult…

On 27 February, Rodrigo Pica, Secretary of Chile’s Constitutional Court, gave a lecture to the students of the Advanced Master’s in European and International Human Rights Law at Leiden Law School.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) by the UN General Assembly. How do countries implement this treaty and how does it relate to their own national legal system? PhD defence on 3 December 2019.

On 22 November, Tom Buitelaar, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, presents his new book ‘Assisting International Justice’. Five questions to Buitelaar about the book and the book presentation.

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…

A group of Chinese law students currently study this semester at the Leiden Law Faculty with a special focus on public international law. These top talents have been selected by the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs to be China’s future diplomats, if they successfully finish their semester in Leiden…

A team of three Leiden tax law students have reached the finals of the most prestigious worldwide moot court competition in the field of international and European tax law.

Suzanne Kingston will be officially sworn in in mid-January. She graduated from the Leiden Advanced LLM European and International Business Law (EIBL) in 2000.

President Zelensky of Ukraine has asked the UN International Court of Justice to issue an urgent order to stop Russian military activity in his country. According to Zelensky, Russia has twisted the concept of genocide to justify aggression.

From 20 to 23 June 2024, the prestigious Hugo Sinzheimer Moot Court Competition took place in Vienna. Students from Leiden Law School also participated.

Recently, the German Federal Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) issued its second preliminary reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union. Following its earlier reference on the European Central Bank’s bond buying programme Outright Monetary Transactions, the German court now…

Quite a lot went wrong during the virtual hearings that courts held during the coronavirus crisis. Researchers from three universities, including Leiden University, concluded that citizens did not always feel heard and that their legal position was compromised.

Around 200 scholars from around the world are expected in Leiden to discuss the contribution of courts to societal change. Leiden Law School is hosting the conference.

Who should try the fallen Sudanese president Bashir? The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague wants to put the former dictator on trial for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur, but the Sudanese military is refusing to hand him over and wants to try him in their own…

Ten underage boys are due to appear before a juvenile court. They are accused of luring and attacking nine men whom they believed were paedophiles. Last October, one attack cost a 73-year-old former teacher from Arnhem his life.

Environmental organisation Greenpeace wants to see a drastic reduction in nitrogen deposition on the Netherlands’ most vulnerable nature conservation areas. This would extend beyond the nitrogen targets that the Dutch government is currently striving to meet. Rogier Kegge, Assistant Professor of Constitutional…

This book by Dirk Jacob Jansen traces the career of Jacopo Strada (Mantua 1515-Vienna 1588), examining his role at court in Vienna, where he served as Imperial architect and antiquary. Strada’s career was unusually wide in scope and cosmopolitan in outlook even for a Renaissance artist.

On 30 October 2017, the current class of students of the advanced LL.M. programme International Children’s Rights visited the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

On Saturday 25 February, the Pieter de la Court Building opened its doors for many future students during the Bachelor Open Day. These potential social scientists could get a taste of the study programmes and the atmosphere of our Faculty during the presentation sessions, at the information market and…

On I February 2018, at 15.00 hrs, Charlotte Vrendenbarg will defend her PhD dissertation ‘Proceskostenveroordeling en toegang tot de rechter in IE-zaken. Regelingen over proceskosten getoetst aan het EU-recht’ (Litigation costs orders and access to the courts in IP cases. A comparison of litigation…

The Pieter de la Court Medal is awarded annually by the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences for an initiative by a student or group of students that, over the last academic year, has made a particular contribution to at least one of the Pieter de la Court themes. This year, this medal has been…

Alumna Jolien Schukking has been working as a judge at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg since 2017. In this special role, she provides legal protection at an international level in major cases and concerning various topics. What is her job like and what motivates her?

Away from the public eye, the court case in Turkey against the Dutch jihadist Reda N. came to a close this week. The verdict has far reaching implications for the case against Reda scheduled to appear in front of a Dutch court next week. Edwin Bakker, Professor Terrorism and Counterterrorism at the…

On 29 and 30 January, The Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies hosted the Dutch Qualifying Round of the 2019 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.

Via expedited proceedings at Leeuwarden Court of Appeal, a mother is trying to impose a relatively new treatment for her 15-year-old daughter’s eating disorder. The girl is suffering from anorexia nervosa and if she does not receive urgent treatment which the girl herself supports, there is a chance…

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.

On 16 February, Leiden University participated in the Dutch National Rounds of the 2024 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, the world's largest moot court competition featuring participants from approximately 700 law schools across the world.

During the New Year’s Reception on 11 January 2022, the Pieter de la Court Medal was awarded to two students of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences: Orestes Kyrgiakis and Claire van den Helder. They tell us about the causes they fight for and what it means for the University to be better.…

24 October was UN Day. To mark the 75th anniversary of the organization the Chair of UN Studies in Peace and Justice and partners hosted a UN75 Dialogue in the Hague at the International Court of Justice with the President of the International Court of Justice, Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf and Minister…

The coronavirus crisis had a major impact on the judicial system in the Netherlands: courts closed at the start of the pandemic and instead held virtual hearings. Research now shows that things did not always go smoothly.

It is sufficiently plausible that the professor from the Faculty of Archaeology exhibited the ‘inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour’ detailed in the advice of the investigating committee. That is is unless the professor provides counter-evidence. This is the conclusion of the Subdistrict Court…