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…

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.

The parents of Romy, Savannah and Nick have launched a petition for tougher punishments in Dutch juvenile criminal law. Their children were killed by minors.

In this commentary, Sabine Witting, Assistant Professor at eLaw, provides a comprehensive analysis of the Second Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

Months after the case of the abused foster child from Vlaardingen (Zuid-Holland) came to light, many questions still remain. Why was the child not listened to? Marielle Bruning, Professor of Child Law, discussed this with NOS, NPO Radio 1, NRC and Nieuwsuur.

‘We didn’t find any mechanisms in the brain for transmitting child abuse from generation to generation. What we did find is that experiences of neglect and abuse affect the brain differently,’ concludes Lisa van den Berg (Clinical Psychology). PhD defence 30 June.

On 18 October 2017, Leiden Law School was honored to welcome a group of experts upon invitation of Prof. M.R. Bruning, professor of Child Law and head of the Child Law Department of Leiden University, to discuss current and future research projects in the field of international child abduction law and…

Queer youths seeking asylum in the Netherlands are not adequately protected. The system that assesses asylum claims lacks child-specific processes and often fails to notice these youths' suffering.

PhD Candidate Sabine K. Witting has published an article ‘Regulating bodies: child sexuality in the digital era’ in the Critical Quarterly for Legislation and Law, Vol. 1 2019.

Is the current existing legal framework on compulsory and voluntary care - for vulnerable young adults (between the ages of 18 to 23) - in need of revision? And if so, what kind of amendments would be advisable?

On 3 November 2022, Mariëlle Bruning, Professor of Children and the Law, spoke as an expert on child protection at a roundtable discussion with Dutch Lower House members of the Standing Committee on Justice and Security.

Urban riots, violent responses by police, drug-related assassinations, child abuse, bar fights: Violence is a core theme in today’s modern society.

From April 27 to 29 April, the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance & Society in collaboration with the Law Faculty, the Gender Studies Graduate Program and the Center for Women and Gender Studies at Universitas Indonesia will organize a Research Sharing and Academic Writing Workshop on 'Child…

In its broadcast of 28 April 2019, TV programme Medialogica (Human) looked at television programme Ontvoerd (Abducted). Leiden professors Mariëlle Bruning and Jannemieke Ouwerkerk contributed to the broadcast.

On the evening of 11 September 2017, the first five-yearly anniversary of the master’s programme Child Law (Jeugdrecht) was celebrated.

Y.N. (Yannick) van den Brink (LL.M, MA) will be appointed Assistant Professor at the Child Law Department of the Leiden Law School as of 1 August 2016.

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.

On Wednesday 7 December 2016 the Government Commission for Reassessment of parenthood (Staatscommissie Herijking ouderschap) presented the report ‘Child and Parents in the 21st century’ to Minister Van der Steur of Security and Justice. Prof. dr. Ton Liefaard, UNICEF Professor of Children’s Rights at…

What causes depression in a child and how can they get over it? Leiden Professor of Psychology Bernet Elzinga and behavioural scientist Carine Kielstra recently hosted a webinar on the subject of depression in teenagers. The level of interest was overwhelming.

Previous research has shown that extreme shyness is hereditary, but because shyness is such a broad concept it is difficult to identify specific genes. Anita Harrewijn has discovered particular brain measurements that can help. PhD defence 18 January.

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has accused Finland of violating the rights of Finnish children by leaving them in life-threatening conditions in Syrian camps. Ann Skelton, member of the committee, calls the situation 'inhuman'.

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Memorandum of Understanding Signed Between the Child Friendly Justice European Network and Leiden Law School - Child Law Department

The Faculty Board and the Institute of Private Law have agreed to combine the disciplines of child law, international children’s rights and health law into one Department of Child Law and Health Law.

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 the 3rd of March 2016, Professor Bruning welcomed a delegation from the government of the Republic of Kosovo, within the framework of the Matra-project ‘Protecting Children in Kosovo: from Policy to Practice’.

In the summer of 2021, Lucy Opoka was awarded one of the coveted Meijers PhD positions. In October, she arrived back in Leiden, where she obtained her LLM degree Advanced Studies in International Children’s Rights in 2019. Professor Liefaard interviewed Lucy upon arrival.

The Council of State in the Netherlands has drawn up a programme of reflection to evaluate the role of the highest administrative court in the child benefits scandal and to learn lessons for the future.

How long should and may a doctor remain silent if he suspects child abuse? A GP who often sees the whole family, or a paediatrician, fills a crucial role when it comes to picking up signals of child abuse. Mirjam Sombroek-van Doorm examined how tenable professional confidentiality of medical practitioners…

Children’s brains react in the same way to social feedback as adults’ brains. But handling frustration or aggression after being rejected is a different matter, developmental psychologist Michelle Achterberg has discovered. Using fMRI techniques, the development of the child brain has now been studied…

Every day, Veilig Thuis employees receive hundreds of reports of domestic violence and child abuse. Despite their efforts, they are heavily criticised due to the long waiting times. Mariëlle Bruning, Professor of Children and the Law, appeared on talk show ‘Eva’ to discuss the Dutch care and welfare…

In July 2019 Asser Press published the book 'Sweetie 2.0—Using Artificial Intelligence to Fight Webcam Child Sex Tourism’ which was coedited by Simone van der Hof en Bart Schermer from the Center for Law and Digital Technologies, Bert-Jaap Koops from the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society…

By far the majority of users of child sexual abuse networks (or child porn forums as they are sometimes called) on the dark web do not actively communicate there but download illegal material, therefore committing a criminal offence. But they often stay under the police and judiciary’s radar. PhD candidate…

A pregnant woman from Drenthe will lose her baby directly after it is born. A juvenile court has already ruled during her pregnancy that the infant will go to a foster family. The court believes that the child would risk physical neglect.

It is 30 years ago this month that the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified. UNICEF is celebrating this on 20 November in collaboration with Leiden University and the Municipality of Leiden at the (Y)our Rights Festival in Leiden. Children, youths and adults will discuss children’s…

Children are suffering disproportionally from the coronavirus measures. They feel depressed more often compared to other age groups. But what about the legal perspective? Are children’s rights being violated?

Parents appear to be extremely sensitive to feedback they receive about their child. Just how sensitive depends on the (‘rose-tinted’) glasses through which they look at their child. All this can be seen in the brain. Neuroscientist Lisanne van Houtum and her Leiden colleagues published on this issue…