Modderman Prize 2024 awarded to Elco Nab

Published on 19 September 2024

The Modderman Prize for the years 2022-2023 is to be awarded to Elco Nab. This prize is awarded once every two years to advance research in the field of criminal law.

Modderman was Professor of Criminal Law in Leiden at the end of the 19th century

Elco Nab, who currently works as an Assistant Professor of Criminal Law and Criminology at Radboud University in Nijmegen, will be awarded the prize for his dissertation entitled ‘Limits of criminal law in the preliminary phase. On divergent interpretations of the basic principles of substantive criminal law’. He wrote his dissertation with supervision from Professor Piet Hein van Kempen and Professor Masha Fedorova, defending it cum laude at Radboud University on 23 October 2023.

The Modderman Prize is awarded by the Professor A.E.J. Modderman Foundation, which is affiliated with Leiden University. The aim of the prize is to advance academic research within the field of criminal law. The prize is awarded once every two years to somebody who has defended a doctoral thesis at a Dutch University in the previous two years on a topic relating to criminal law and other related scientific fields, insofar as relevant for a good understanding of criminal law and demonstrating particular scientific qualities.

This year, the selection committee comprised Professor Elies van Sliedregt (Tilburg University), Professor Denis Abels (Open Universiteit), Professor Jan de Keijser (Leiden University) and Professor Jan Crijns (Leiden University).

The award will be substantiated by the selection committee during the presentation ceremony on Thursday 14 November 2024 in Leiden University's Academy Building. The prize consists of a bronze medal designed by sculptor Frank Letterie.

The medal

The front of the medal shows the head of Professor Modderman (1838-1885), Professor of Criminal Law in Leiden from 1870 to 1879 and later Dutch Minister of Justice. On the back, the motto of Leiden University is displayed as an artistic image.

Professor Modderman studied law at Leiden University and was awarded a doctorate in 1863 for his thesis entitled ‘The reform of our criminal legislation’. In 1864, he became a professor at the predecessor to the University of Amsterdam. This was followed by a professorship in Leiden in 1870. From 1870 onwards, he was also a member of the Government Committee for the compilation of a Penal Code. As Minister of Justice (1879-1883), he managed to implement a new Penal Code.