Multinationals use loopholes in the tax treaties between different states. A possible solution would be to eliminate all these loopholes in one go by creating a central global treaty. Leiden researchers are investigating whether this kind of mega-treaty is feasible.

This book presents concrete solutions for managing the legal risks distorting the development of various areas of EU law. It pursues an innovative and effective approach to identify legal risks, their causes at the EU level and their impacts on the functioning of the Union and its Member States. It…

The ultimate aim of this project (initated by the European Law Institute) is to design a framework that will enable the further development of coherent and functional rules for business rescue in Europe.

How has democracy’s decline affected law making processes, enabling powerful stakeholders’ influence while minimalizing the protection of public interest and the environment?

AI MAPS adopts a freedom and social well-being perspective and focuses on three themes to address key security challenges; Social disorder and public nuisances in neighbourhoods, High-impact crime, and Crowds and events.

On 23 February 2022, Cale Davis defended the thesis 'Prosecutorial Discretion in International Criminal Justice'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. C. Stahn en Dr. J.C. Powderly.

On 21 March 2019, James Welch defended his thesis 'The Grotius Sanction: Deus Ex Machina. The legal, ethical, and strategic use of drones in transnational armed conflict and counterterrorism'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. P.B Cliteur.

On 23 juni 2019, Zygimantas Juska defended his thesis 'The Role of Collective Redress Actions to Achieve Full Compensation for Violations of European Union Competition Law'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. T.R Ottervanger.

Assessing the risks of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) solely on the basis of experimental assays is time-consuming, resource intensive, and constrained by ethical considerations (such as the principles of the 3Rs of animal testing). The adoption of computational toxicology in this field is a high p…

To argue that people can control the relative contributions of goal-driven and stimulus-driven processes to decision-making and action selection.

This project explores how Muslim authorities and writers use Russian to transmit Islamic contents, and whether this leads to a specific

Adopting a largely chronological approach, Gerrits links the historiography of post-war Europe and the major theoretical approaches to nationalism with analysis of key historical developments and events.

How do parliamentarians secure their political future? Are their activities in the legislature connected to their place on the candidate list from one election to the next? Political scientists Tom Louwerse and Cynthia van Vonno examine the Dutch case. Their main finding is that speaking in the plenary…

The Department of Economics concentrates its research on Social Policies, Public Finance and Law and Economics.

NASA is offering to buy lunar samples collected by companies for a token sum primarily to set a precedent for space resource rights on the moon. However, there is not international consensus on the U.S. position on the rights to extracted resources.

How many of our laws in the Netherlands are actually determined by the European Union? In many areas, the influence of the EU has increased. But 80 per cent – a figure referred to in 1989 by then European Commission President Jacques Delors – is a very wide estimate. Research from around 15 years ago…

The institute hosts criminal lawyers and criminologists who engage in high-quality scientific research that is also relevant for society.

Loopholes in international tax legislation contribute to the misuse of tax rules by multinationals. Leiden University legal experts investigate how the complex national and international tax rules can be made more consistent in order to create a better tax system.

Sentencing is becoming increasingly complex for the courts. Legal scholars and criminologists from Leiden document the process of sentencing in the Netherlands. They use this knowledge to advise legislators and those who implement this legislation on how to make sentencing more consistent and effect…

Labour law is constantly changing. Concurrently, the laws dealing with workers address fundamental issues which are invariably of major significance and value. The research carried out at the Department of Labour Law and Social Security focusses on both the (constant) changes in labour law and social…

We’re delighted to announce our plenary speakers.

In early medieval England, there was an interest in the history of the Roman Empire and kings adopted such imperial titles as 'imperator' or 'basileus'. How can we explain this interest and what functions did imperial ideas and the reception of the classical world serve in early medieval England?

'Audible locality' is the first thorough study on the cultural ramifications of recording technology on ethnic sensibility in Southeast Asia. Exploring chronologically the representation of Indonesia's regional culture through recording media, it recounts the Dutch East Indies colonial society's initial…

This paper examines cyber intelligence in the context of national and international security.

Twelve researchers of our Law School have been awarded an ILS seed money grant. This grant enables researchers to create space for preparing a grant proposal for NWO, ERC or otherwise.

The Hazelhoff Centre for Financial Law offers the Dutch master Financial Law and the Advanced Master Law & Finance. Furthermore, they provide a course within the bachelor International Business Law and offer a wide variety of postgraduate education.

Our library contains around 23,000 books, journals and historical documents under the care of a specialized librarian.

Develop a tool to assess land tenure, access to land and, and land tenure conflict in Timor-Leste

An important aspect of the promotion and safeguarding of good practices at the Institute of Psychology is to make sure that employees are being facilitated and guided by offering information about and resources for training. On this page, an overview of various mandatory and recommended training is…

The Law & Finance programme of Leiden University looks at financial law from multiple perspectives to illustrate the links between law, economics and ethics.

Lotte Melenhorst, PhD candidate at Leiden University’s Institute of Political Science, has been granted a Top Student Award by the International Communication Association's (ICA) Political Communication Panel for her paper on the role of the media in the legislative process. This was announced in May…

Social science research helps us understand human behaviour and social structures. These are determined by various factors, which makes the research complex and increases the likelihood of drawing the wrong conclusions. The choice of research method and analysis is therefore extremely important. It…

To what extent are, can, and should, human trafficking and human smuggling be(ing) seen as interlinked phenomena? What are the consequences of seeing the phenomena as either distinct or interlinked for the way in which migrants crossing intra-Schengen borders are treated.

Law and Digital Technologies (L.L.M.) examines the legislation and governance regarding internet, computers, persuasive technologies and ambient intelligence.

Mental health issues in the Dutch court: The criminal court as a border guard between the regular Mental Health System and the Criminal Justice system?

Op 17 November 2020, Shuai Guo defended his thesis 'Recognition of Foreign Bank Resolution Actions'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. R.D. Vriesendorp and Prof. M. Haentjens.

Former clients en projects

Governments in parliamentary democracies have limited time in office to fulfill their policy agendas. So, how do they optimise the timing of legislative bills to assure their passage and avoid lengthy parliamentary scrutiny? This question is especially puzzling under coalition governments, in which…

Political scientists Joop van Holsteyn and Tom Louwerse (Leiden University) find that the Dutch government is having a hard time coping with referendum outcomes in general, and ‘anti-European’ sentiments among voters in particular.

The Institute of Private Law is part of the Leiden Law School.

For most of the past ten years, Europe has been in a state of ‘crisis’. The bank crisis mutated seamlessly via the Euro crisis to the present migrant crisis. Whereas previously the general assumption was that even closer cooperation within the European Union was a foregone conclusion, the EU is now…

On 2 September 2019, the Constitutional and Administrative Law Department of Leiden Law School and Review of European Administrative Law REALaw are organising a Conference on the Europeanisation of national administrative law through general principles of law: from resistance to voluntary adoption. Subsequently,…

The bi-annual interactive seminars of the Platform for Postcolonial Readings are all about sharing our enthusiasm about our field of research and our eagerness to learn more about its theoretical intricacies. Our seminars, although informal, adopt a well-defined format. Each meeting is organized around…

What are the genes and molecular mechanisms involved in bacteria-mediated plant drought tolerance?

The Institute of Political Science has a multi-dimensional research programme that promotes the unity of the institute as an intellectual community rooted in the social sciences and especially political science, while enabling overlapping groups of colleagues to develop particular research agendas within…

On 10 September 2020 the European Law Institute (ELI) launched the book Rescue of Business in Europe. The volume presents the results of a study led by Prof. Em. Bob Wessels (Leiden University, The Netherlands) and Prof. Stephan Madaus (Martin-Luther University, Germany), assisted by Gert-Jan Boon (Leiden…

The number of cases of coronavirus in the Netherlands is on the rise. Some mayors are now calling for measures that are more far-reaching than those at present. For example, they want it to be possible to enforce measures behind the front door. Would that be allowed?

The database research community has made tremendous strides in developing powerful database engines that allow for efficient analytical query processing.

Introducing five papers about of the impact of crises on the governance, decision-making, and institutional design of the Euro Area, political scientists Valerie D'Erman (University of Victoria, Canada), Paul Schure (University of Victoria, Canada) and Amy Verdun (Leiden University) summarise the 'lessons…