On 3 December 2019, Meda Couzens defended her thesis 'The application of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child by national courts'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. T. Liefaard and Prof. J.J. Sloth-Nielsen.

How did rulers in the Netherlands and in adjacent smaller German territories adapt their regimes to ongoing change in legitimacy and decision-making during the transition period 1780-1820?

International prosecutors, for instance at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, investigate particularly serious crimes such as genocide. They decide, among other things, whether or not to prosecute. PhD candidate Cale Davis investigated how prosecutors come to such decisions and will defend…

Recently, Ingrid Leijten’s book Core Socio-Economic Rights and the European Court of Human Rights was published with Cambridge University Press. The monograph was published in the series Cambridge Studies in European Law and Policy (edited by Laurence Gormley and Jo Shaw) and deals with the protection…

Ioana Moraru is in charge of organising the International Criminal Court Moot Court Competition in The Hague, one of the largest competitions in International Criminal Law worldwide. Registration for the upcoming edition just opened. A good time to ask her a few questions.

Jasmina Mačkić, Assistant Professor of Human Rights Law at the Europa Institute, has published her book, Proving Discriminatory Violence at the European Court of Human Rights. This work is based on her doctoral dissertation, which she defended in May 2017 and which was funded by the Netherlands Organisation…

This project examines the meaning of this historical place, and the way it has been used by the political institutions that have had their seat there.

This comparative study investigates court politics in four kingdoms that succeeded the south Indian Vijayanagara empire during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries: Ikkeri, Tanjavur, Madurai, and Ramnad. Building on a unique combination of unexplored Indian texts and Dutch archival records, this research…

The central aim is to systematically study differences in gendered crime patterns in the records of different types of courts in various Dutch cities in the early modern period.

The programme International Criminal Law at Leiden University prepares you for a succesful career. Read more about our career preparation activities

In the programme, we will prepare you for your career. We provide you the knowledge and professional skills to practice public international law.

The LUGO team is part of the Administration and Central Services department of the university, with it falling under the Strategy and Academic Affairs department. Naturally, it falls into the sustainability team of the University, which consists of two full-time employees alongside the LUGO Team. The…

Videos shared on social media have become important evidence to hold perpetrators of human rights violations accountable. What does this increased use of digital open source evidence mean for the quality of international human rights accountability? Through an innovative experimental design, this project…

Anthropology of Law in Muslim Sudan analyses the hybridity of law systems and the plurality of legal practices in rural and urban contexts of contemporary Sudan, shedding light on the complex relation between Islam and society.

On 1 February 2018 Charlotte Vrendenbarg defended her PhD dissertation

This course explains the functions of each international court and tribunal in The Hague. On the basis of cases and interviews with judges and lawyers, this course explores the role of these courts and tribunals and their potential to contribute to global justice.

Examining cybercrime from criminological, legal, administrative, and technical perspectives. The new Bachelor's programme in Cybersecurity & Cybercrime addresses the growing demand for versatile cyber professionals..

Since its inception, a central preoccupation of and for the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been the nature of its relationship to national jurisdictions. Complementarity—the idea that the Court is intended to supplement, not supplant, national jurisdictions—has been the dominant juridical logic…

In the early modern period women played a prominent role in crime. At times they even made up half of all defendants. Female criminality was a typically urban phenomenon. Why do we find so many women before the Dutch criminal courts?

The university aims to expose all students to sustainability topics and issues that are relevant to their field during their time studying here. Students are educated to become academic professionals with the necessary knowledge and skills to contribute to the sustainability transition.

Leiden Law School at the heart of society

We give you more information about the programme LL.M. International Dispute Settlement and Arbitration and about the programme overview.

The Department of Child Law is a knowledge centre dedicated to academic research and education for both students and professionals in the field of child law and children's rights.

The programme works to shed light on transnational, international and comparative aspects of law. We will focus on theory and the practical application.

Are you interested in current affairs, developments in society and people? Are you highly motivated, willing to be challenged and able to go just a bit further in finding creative solutions to legal issues, then Rechtsgeleerdheid is the master’s programme for you.

We would all like to live in a world in which individuals feel safe, conflicts are resolved peacefully and the interests of future generations are taken into consideration. At Leiden University legal scholars investigate to what extent public international law meets the needs of a globalised society.…

In this project diverse aspects of the duchesses’ roles in the complex and dynamic relations between town and crown are studied on the basis of systematic research in the account books of four cities (Ghent, Bruges, Leuven and Mechelen) in the Burgundian Netherlands (ca. 1430-1503).

On 3 December 2019, Hanna Bosdriesz defended her thesis 'Furthering the fight against impunity in Latin America: the contributions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to domestic accountability processes'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. L.J. van den Herik and Prof. M.A.H. van…

In 2023, a number of students from the bachelor’s, master’s and advanced master’s degree programmes won prizes for their outstanding achievements. Congratulations to the award winners and their supervisors who contributed to these successes.

Vincent Mul is deputy president on the board of The Hague Court of Appeal. Together with Jan Crijns, Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure, he stood at the cradle of the collaboration between Leiden Law School and The Hague Court of Appeal. ‘By joining forces, we all benefit.’

The ECtHR needs to provide effective rights protection, but it also needs to set clear standards while showing deference to decisions made at the national level. Especially when socio-economic issues are concerned, meeting these different demands is a challenging task.

On September 20 and 21, a conference on the governance of international courts and tribunals took place at Leiden Law School.

What role do the Islamic courts play in protecting women’s divorce rights? How do they perform with regard to spousal support, child support and marital property? Stijn van Huis defends his PhD thesis on September 8, 2015

The European Law Master’s specialisation distinguishes itself by its broad intra-disciplinary approach, covering institutional, constitutional as well as substantive law of the EU in addition to human rights from an EU perspective.

On 14 and 15 September, the 'Lobbying the Courts' workshop took place in Paris. This was an interdisciplinary workshop in which researchers from different disciplines came together to brainstorm on whether, how, and when interest groups focus on the judicial process and the courts in their lobbying…

We are happy to give you 10 reasons why you should study the specialization International Criminal Law at Leiden University. Read more.

10 reasons why you should study Air and Space Law (LL.M. Advanced) at Leiden University.

European Law is a one-year Master’s specialisation at the internationally renowned Leiden Law School at Leiden University. The programme distinguishes itself by its broad intra-disciplinary approach, covering institutional, constitutional as well as internal market and competition law of the EU in addition…

The Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies is offering two internships on a full-time basis in spring 2020.

How did free agents oppose the monopolies held by the VOC and WIC in court?

On Thursday 27 October 2016 Alke Metselaar will defend her PhD dissertation ‘Drie rechters en één norm. Handhaving van de Europese staatssteunregels voor de Nederlandse rechter en de grenzen van de nationale procedurele autonomie’ (Three courts and one standard. Enforcement of European state aid regulations…

Over the past year, many students and staff members of Leiden Law School have been lauded for their extraordinary achievements. For instance: a grant received, an award won, or an appointment by a special committee. We have combined all these achievements in our Honours Gallery 2022:

Prof. Jaap van den Herik was a guest in the latest episode of the Nationale Data Podcast.

Catherine Harwood joined the Grotius Centre in The Hague a few years ago. She received her Advanced Master’s degree in Public International Law in 2012 and continued her PhD studies at Leiden University.

Throughout this past year many students and staff at Leiden Law Staff received a prize or grant, were shortlisted for a prize or appointed to an academic body, or were honoured in some other way. All good reason to include them in our Hall of Fame 2020 to show how very proud we are of them!

Under the invitation of Labour Law and Social Security Law Department of Faculty of Law of the

On 8 and 9 July 2022, Leiden Law School hosted the second conference of the Research Group on Institutions for Conflict Resolution (COI).

The Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies is offering two internships on a full-time basis in spring 2019.