Research from Dutch news organisation NOS shows that gambling companies, including Holland Casino and the Dutch Lottery, have more influence on the creation of new rules on gambling adverts than addiction experts.

Veel arbeidsongeschikten kregen jarenlang te veel of juist te weinig uitkering, omdat er fouten zijn gemaakt bij de berekening van het loon waarop de uitkering is gebaseerd. Barend Barentsen, hoogleraar Sociaal Recht, zegt op BNR radio, dat hij niet helemaal begrijpt hoe het zo fout heeft kunnen gaan…

Two open letters are currently circulating among civil servants in the Netherlands calling for the Dutch government to take a different stance towards Israel. Wim Voermans, Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law in Leiden, says in a national radio broadcast that this is an unusual and unique…

'Bestaanszekerheid' (socio-economic security) is the buzzword in the Netherlands and the magic word in the current election campaign. The King also dropped the word in his Speech from the Throne on Budget Day.

Branda Katan is per 1 maart 2023 benoemd tot bijzonder hoogleraar Corporate Litigation aan de Universiteit Leiden. Deze leerstoel gaat uit van de Vereniging Corporate Litigation.

There’s a trend going around within administrative law: submitting court documents late to make things as difficult as possible for the opposing party. As Mr. magazine reports, Tom Barkhuysen, Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law and partner in administrative law at Stibbe, argues in the…

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…

On Monday 13 July, the gift of the artwork Homs by Syrian artist Rabi Koria was officially accepted at the Kamerlingh Onnes Building. The tableau can be viewed in the KOG restaurant.

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…

On 22 April the 5th edition of the book Introduction to Dutch Law (edited by Jeroen Chorus, Ewoud Hondius and Wim Voermans) was presented to dr. Geert Corstens, former president of the Dutch Supreme Court.

On 15 March, the 28-year-old Australian right-wing extremist Brenton Tarrant committed a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch in New Zealand. Jelle van Buuren, Bart Schuurman, Daan Weggemans and Tahir Abbas all working at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) have been approached…

De uitnodiging staat ter discussie vanwege Bosmans controversiële uitspraken over het slavernijverleden. Bosman is echter in de hoedanigheid van voorzitter van de Tweede Kamer uitgenodigd en niet als PVV’er. Wim Voermans, hoogleraar Staatsrecht, spreekt over dit onderwerp in het Parool.

Ever since the coronavirus crisis began, people have been arguing about the legal justification for measures. The problem: far-reaching measures such as an obligation to wear face masks, get tested, or school closures violate the Constitution. The Cabinet had the difficult task of weighing fundamental…

Following the recent debate on the formation of a new Dutch government, there seems to be no clear definition of an extra parliamentary cabinet. Wim Voermans, Professor of Constitutional Law, discusses this in Dutch magazine ‘Vrij Nederland’ (VN).

The manner and context in which the government supports citizens' initiatives are often more important than the legal framework. In practice, it only creates unnecessary division and there are no solid grounds for it. Esmée Driessen, PhD candidate at the Department of Constitutional and Administrative…

Door de geopolitieke spanningen wereldwijd waaronder de oorlog in Oekraïne, wil Defensie overal in het land fors uitbreiden. Dit zal o.a. gevolgen hebben voor de opvanglokaties waar asielzoekers verblijven, maar ook voor burgers waarvan de woningen voor de plannen moet wijken.

How can more people take ownership of technology? Underlying this question is the assumption that not enough people currently own technology. According to Reijer Passchier, Associate Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law in Leiden, and Professor of Digitisation and the Democratic Rule of…

Will Belgian politician Didier Reynders become the new secretary-general of the Council of Europa? At the end of January he submitted his candidacy and he now only has one rival: the Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs Marija Burić.

The European Court of Human Rights recently ruled in favour of a group of older Swiss women. The issued concerned the health of senior citizens, especially women, who experienced symptoms as a result of climate change. They claimed that the Swiss Government should have taken more climate action, as…

It occurs on a regular basis: a public administrator resigns or is dismissed when their integrity is at stake. To what extent does that damage their image? Geerten Boogaard, Professor of Local Government, discusses this in an item published by regional public broadcaster ‘Omroep Gelderland’.

Het kabinet wil noodrecht toepassen in het asielbeleid. Minister Faber meent dat dit juridisch ook is getoetst. Verschillende juristen, waaronder Mark Klaassen, universitair docent Migratierecht en Wim Voermans, hoogleraar Staatsrecht, betwisten dat het noodrecht in de huidige situatie een geschikt…

The social coalition 'Over Informatie Gesproken' (meaning ‘Speaking of Information’) recently approved eleven grant applications for research aimed at improving the information relationship between the government and the citizen. Meuwese and Çapkurt’s grant application for research into algorithmic…

It rarely happens: halting a decision by walking out of a meeting. ‘But there’s nothing wrong with it from a constitutional law perspective,’ says Geerten Boogaard, Professor by Special Appointment of Local Government, in ‘Leidsch Dagblad’.

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

Pieter Omtzigt, leader of the ‘Nieuw Sociaal Contract’ (‘New Social Contract’) party, has withdrawn from talks to form a new Dutch government. Government finances are a divisive issue, and Ronald Plasterk’s decision to withhold documents on government finances seems to have particularly broken trust.…

Recently, the University of Amsterdam was the scene of pro-Palestinian demonstrations that got out of hand. The demonstrators included rioters who wished to remain anonymous by wearing face coverings. Several experts, including Wim Voermans, Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law, spoke…

'Een nieuw commentaar op de Grondwet' is the title of a book published this week. The book uses 35 essays to describe the importance of the Constitution to the Dutch democratic rule of law.

As UN Youth Delegate on Sustainable Development, Leiden student Aoife Fleming is currently in Madrid for the UN Climate Change Conference COP25.

Tijdens de campagnes voor de Europese Verkiezingen werd beweerd dat 70 of zelfs 80 procent van onze wetten door de EU worden bepaald. Maar klopt dit wel? Hoogleraren Armin Cuyvers en Kutsal Yesilkagit spraken erover met Pointer.

Recently, a pro-Palestine demonstration was held outside the National Holocaust Museum in Amsterdam during its opening, which was being attended by President Herzog of Israel. Wilders’ response? ‘It smells like a political campaign by the far-left mayor of Amsterdam. Irresponsible.’

Naar aanleiding van de aanhoudende oorlog tussen Rusland en Oekraïne willen verschillende Europese landen een inreisverbod invoeren tegen Russische staatsburgers. Maar mogen zij dit zomaar doen?

Recently, Prime Minister Dirk Schoof caused quite the stir in the political arena of The Hague following the release of policy documents on the asylum debate. This came ahead of a decision that had not yet been made. The question has since arisen as to whether it’s still possible for civil servants…

The Court of Justice of the European Union has rocked European relations within the world of sport. In its long-awaited ruling, the Court found that UEFA ‘abused its dominant position’ by imposing sanctions on the twelve clubs that founded the Super League – an elite football competition – back in 2…

According to research conducted by regional Dutch newspaper ‘BN DeStem’, emigration to Russia certainly isn’t off the cards for some Dutch people. Information sessions are being held for anyone interested in emigrating to these countries. Is it acceptable for civil servants to get involved in these…

Ticketmaster – the largest ticket sales company in the world – is under fire from both consumers and Dutch MPs. The reason is the sale of tickets for the Lowlands festival, where resale tickets are costing at least 100 euros more than the original ticket price of 300 euros. Political parties GroenLinks,…

The Europa Instituut is pleased to announce that this week a new handbook “EU State Aids” (31 Chapters, 1500 pages) was published.

Denmark, Poland and Germany are a few of the countries that have closed their borders, entirely or certain sections, in response to the continued advancement of coronavirus. Normally, this is only possible when there is a threat to public order or national security.

Rose Horstman bewerkte haar scriptie tot een artikel met de titel ‘de L-factor’ over de rol die de leeftijd van een werknemer speelt bij de begroting van de billijke vergoeding. De billijke vergoeding is een financiële tegemoetkoming die onder bijzondere omstandigheden bij ontslag wordt verstrekt.

On 11 November 2022, a number of (internal and external) PhD candidates in the field of civil procedural law presented their research. The seminar took place in the building of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands.

Het boek met de titel ‘the story of constitutions’ probeert interdisciplinair te begrijpen waar de grondwet vandaan komt en waarom het juist nu in korte tijd viral is gegaan. Waarom is dit oeroude fenomeen de laatste jaren zo in populariteit toegenomen en ook nog eens in een tijd, waarin democratieën…

How can party bans be justified? Which parties were banned in post-war Europe – and why? Do militant democracy instruments work? Is an international militant democracy concept in the making?

On Wednesday 23 September 2020, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte gave an online lecture together with Professor Afshin Ellian as part of the course Introduction to Law. The lecture had the title ‘The European Union in times of coronavirus’, and the Prime Minister answered questions from students. Hundreds…

Many employers are unaware that work-related accidents must be reported immediately to the Netherlands Labour Authority (NLA) and therefore they neglect to do so. Therefore, there is often no investigation into the cause of an accident. The NLA is aware of only half of the number of work-related accidents…

During the coronavirus years 2020 and 2021, Dutch citizens became poorer, more anxious, less free and more rebellious. The State gained more power and entered the lives of citizens in all manner of ways to protect their health. Only recently did the State give citizens their freedom back – in part.

Universiteiten moeten niet verbaasd zijn dat studenten ChatGPT gebruiken, schrijven de Leidse universitair docenten Femke Klaver en Alexander de Wit in Trouw. Want studenten reageren op efficiëntie en doelmatigheid. Hun suggestie: Leid studenten op om kritisch na te denken.

Matthias Haentjens and Jouke Tegelaar held a presentation on the European dimension of judicial review of financial supervision at the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten, AFM).

Almost two weeks after the general elections in the Netherlands, negotiations between the leaders of the four parties who were expected to form a new coalition government are still not going smoothly. Ronald Plasterk, appointed as ‘scout’ to explore possible alliances, has said he will need one more…

Research by Dutch television programme ‘Nieuwsuur’ shows that local councils in the Netherlands often lack civil servants and experts to support the implementation of the energy transition. As a result, they have become more dependent on commercial consultancy firms.

Szmulewicz, a PhD candidate at the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law at Leiden University, gave two online presentations on ‘The unitary and decentralized state’ and ‘The need to strengthen the autonomy of the territories in the new Constitution in order to reduce regional inequalities’…

Professor of Modern China Florian Schneider researches what people do with technology and what technology does with people. Social media, for example. And then mainly in China.