Dr. Pauline Aarten tries to find answers of the impact a road traffic accident has on the victims and surviving relatives and how we can improve their position.

More than 600 staff members and students of Leiden University did not survive the war. Two of them were Caroline van Loen and Elsa Oppenheim .

The Second World War took the lives of at least 663 students, staff and alumni of Leiden University. They were killed in raids, deported to concentration camps or, out of desperation, took their own lives.

This article examines the position of victims and those affected within communication theory. Current research has broadly been skewed toward reputation management and protecting brand value as primary goals of crisis communication efforts. The authors offer recommendations for crisis communication…

How does the criminal justice system in Indonesia safeguard the rights of and access to justice for witnesses and victims?

On 1 February 2018 Nathalie-Sharon Koster defended her doctoral thesis ‘Crime victims and the police’. The doctoral research was supervised by Professor J.P. van der Leun and M.J.J. Kunst.

The judge as a problem-solver in domestic violence cases involving child victims.

Sanne Kellij and colleagues systematically reviewed 142 articles, examining evidence for three hypotheses on the relation between victimization and social information processing.

A political-legal study of rights invocation by pollution victims in China and Indonesia

The position of child victims, globally and in Liberia and their right to physical and psychological recovery and social reintegration covered by art. 39 CRC.

What do scholars, the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service, the police, the National Rapporteur Human Trafficking, Victim Support Netherlands, and the Violent Offences Compensation Fund have in common? They all work with victims, each from their own expertise. High time to combine that knowledge,…

This study adds nuance to the empirical literature that interrogates the link between exposure to mass violence and post-conflict justice preferences.

Crime victims cannot always fully exercise their rights, said Maarten Kunst, Professor of Criminology, in his inaugural lecture on 26 October. His mission is to find out why exactly this is and to see whether change can be brought about.

On 1 June 2022, Maarten Kunst, Professor of Criminology at Leiden Law School, gave a lecture on his research into the effects of the right to be heard on both the defendant and the victim. Victims have certain rights in the Dutch criminal process, including the right to be heard in criminal proceedings.…

On 1 February 2018, at 16.15 hrs, Nathalie-Sharon Koster will defend her doctoral thesis ‘Crime victims and the police’ at the Academy Building of Leiden University. The doctoral research was supervised by Professor J.P. van der Leun and M.J.J. Kunst.

In the middle of doing research for her master’s thesis, Sara Kalf (24) was hit by a car and got seriously injured. After a long period of rehabilitation and hard work, this week she can finally add her signature to the wall of the Academy Building’s ‘Sweat Room’.

Criminology students Simone Kruijt and Noor Hekker conducted research into cybercrime in Leiden and presented their findings to the regional police and an enthusiastic Mayor Lenferink. The conclusions call for a new approach, said Lenferink.

Herta Mohr was a promising Egyptologist who died in Bergen-Belsen. Lawyer Amandus Wolfsbergen died in Auschwitz, without knowing that the his work would continue to be a respected authority for many years. Thanks to research by PhD candidate Adriënne Baars, some more personal information has been added…

Every year on 26 November Leiden University commemorates the protest speech given by Professor Cleveringa against the Nazis. At least 663 students, staff and alumni of the University lost their lives during the Second World War, yet little was known about these victims. PhD candidate Adriënne Baars…

Leiden University mourns the victims of the terrorist attacks in Brussels. These attacks are an assault on our democratic society. We will continue to defend our European values of freedom and tolerance against all attempts to undermine them.

From 29 to 30 October 2024, the Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum (KGF) and the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies had the pleasure of hosting an inspiring authors’ workshop in The Hague for the forthcoming Research Handbook, Victims' Rights under Public International Law, edited by Dr Robert Heinsch…

The number of victims of child abuse is estimated to be higher during the first lockdown compared with a period without a lockdown. This is mainly due to an increase in the number of victims of emotional neglect, including educational neglect and witnessing domestic abuse. Families with children about…

Dr. Pauline Aarten onderzoekt welke impact een verkeersongeval heeft op slachtoffers en nabestaanden en hoe we de positie van deze mensen kunnen verbeteren.

On 4 May, Leiden University remembered the victims of the Second World War from our university community. Alumni, students and present and former staff of the University came together for this Hour of Remembrance.

Marieke Liem, Associate Professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs and crime reporter Gerlof Leistra made an analysis of the Murder List 2019. They discussed their findings on Dutch NPO Radio 1 and in an article for Dutch news magazine 'Elsevier Weekblad'.

Two Stolpersteine (stumbling stones) have been placed in front of the University Library in memory of the Jewish Cosman family. At the time of the Second World War, they lived in one of the houses where the library is now located.

A research into homicide.

Remembrance Day on 4 May may be different this year, but it will make no less of an impression. Ethan Mark, who specialises in modern Japanese history, will give an online lecture about forgotten stories from the Second World War. Via Open Jewish Homes, moving stories can be heard online of Jewish alumni.…

In court, victims of violent crime and sexual offences are permitted to comment on the defendant’s guilt and the sentence to be imposed. But legal experts believe this allows them to influence the judge. Lecturer Joyce Schot has received a Meijers PhD grant to investigate whether the right to speak…

During the ‘Hour of Remembrance’ on 4 May, the University community remembers its students and staff who were killed in the Second World War. It also looks at freedom and oppression today. Three questions for Sara Polak, chair of the Hour of Remembrance committee.

The proposal made by the Dutch Benefits Agency (part of the Ministry of Finance) to issue one-off compensation payments of €5,000 in the wake of the Dutch childcare benefits scandal is causing a stir among the affected parents, lawyers and academics. Ymre Schuurmans, Professor of Administrative Law,…

It is becoming increasingly common to collect data from children and young people through digital means. The impact of this so-called ‘dataveillance’ on children, who are monitored from birth via smartphones and Fitbits, is great.

Leiden Law Cast is a podcast made by Leiden Law School, Leiden University, for everyone who wants to learn more about current legal issues.

Almost a century passed since the much-celebrated judgement in the case concerning the Factory of Chorzów was delivered. This 1928 judgement of the Permanent Court of International Justice affirmed the essential principle of ‘reparation’ in international law, claiming that ‘restitution’ is the preferred…

The European Homicide Monitor (EHM) offers a standardized framework for countries and regions to compare homicide characteristics, patterns and trends.

Sex without mutual consent is a criminal offence. The proposed new Dutch sexual offences law aims to better protect victims of sexually transgressive behaviour. But the key issue is this: the rules of evidence have not changed, so will victims actually benefit from the new legislation?

The Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society (VVI) is part of the Leiden Law School.

In the academic year 2023-2024 the SRS interdisciplinary programme will offer four courses for interested students who are entering the third year of their Bachelor's degree. You can sign up for these courses in your elective (minor) space. You can follow the courses individually as an elective, or…

Andrei Poama, Assistant Professor at Leiden University, published a piece in the journal of Political Philosophy about social injustice, disadvantaged offenders and the state's authority to punish.

On 25 May, Roxane de Massol de Rebetz defended the thesis 'Beyond the dichotomy between migrant smuggling and human trafficking: a Belgian case study on the governance of migrants in transit'. The doctoral research was supervised by Maartje van der Woude, Joanne van der Leun and Masja van Meeteren.

This article presents an evidence-based investigation of spontaneous hospitalization and distribution of patients after the Manchester terrorist attack.

Although official law generally conceives of personal injury victims as individual rights holders, the actual experience of physical injury and its consequences is relational. Indeed, many researchers in the global North as well as the global South have contended that the very concept of the Self should…