The use of virtual girl Sweetie, used by the police to investigate pedofiles, is problematic in the Netherlands. Researchers of Leiden University and Tilburg University conclude that this is due to the criminal law applicable at the moment.

Leiden Child Law Department at Leiden University in the Netherlands formally entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF)

Child marriage has become an increasingly important topic on the international human rights and development agenda. Many organisations are calling for a ban, but what problem would such a ban solve? PhD defence on 18 March 2020.

Professor Ian Lilley, the Faculty of Archaeology’s Willem Willems Chair in Archaeological Heritage, was invited by Her Excellency Mrs. Marion Derckx, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Australia, to present the 2022 commemoration speech for Netherlands Memorial Day on May 4th at the Netherlands-Australia…

Last Thursday the Dutch House of Representatives held a debate on children being put into care when the childcare benefits scandal (toeslagenaffaire) had caused problems for their families. Four Leiden University academics were asked by the House to produce a fact sheet for this debate, bringing together…

Conceptualizing ceasefires as bargaining instruments challenges established ideas about the processes that lead up to conflict settlement, and about war re-emergence, with important implications for our understanding of war and peace.

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.

On 14 December 2017 Charlotte Mol was awarded the fifth Jaap Doek Child Law Thesis Prize for her thesis: ‘The Child's Right to Representation of Article 12 UNCRC in Family Law Proceedings: A comparison and evaluation of the legal frameworks in Australia, France, the Netherlands and South Africa’. This…

In an essay published in three prominent European newspapers, Professor Luuk van Middelaar takes a close look at Europe’s role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. ‘Europe shows plenty of political energy, but what is still lacking is strategic cool-headedness, in facing a nuclear power.’

On Wednesday 18 May, the students of the LL.M. Advanced Studies in International Children’s Rights presented their work to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child with the aim to provide recommendations on how to make its decision more accessible to children.

What is the origin of educational ideas, e.g., the idea that intervention in infancy has long-lasting effects on development.

On Thursday 17 November 2016 a delegation from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Social affairs and UNICEF Tunisia paid a visit to Leiden Law School, organised by the International Juvenile Justice Observatory.

Tensions ran high last week after China published a list on Wednesday of $50 billion in American products that would be hit by tariffs; a direct response to the United States' decision to implement $50 billion of tariffs on Chinese products. Could this be the start of a new trade war? And if so, what…

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.

Mozambican politician and child rights activist Graça Machel will receive an honorary doctorate from Leiden University for her commitment to the rights of women and children in Africa and elsewhere. She will be awarded the honorary doctorate on the Dies Natalis, the University’s foundation day, on 8…

Thanks to the virtual girl Sweetie created by Terre des Hommes, more than a thousand men who had webcam sex have been identified worldwide. They thought they were chatting with a ten-year-old girl. Whether that is punishable by law depends on the country, Leiden legal experts conclude.

The master’s programme 'Jeugdrecht' (Child Law) at Leiden Law School has been awarded the gold medal by EW Beste Studies. It is the only degree programme at Leiden University to have earned this top award. Professor Mariëlle Bruning says, 'it’s the best compliment you could ever get in your career'.

According to Russian propaganda Ukrainians are Nazis and people from the West are Satanists. Egbert Fortuin thinks we should take this propaganda seriously.

When Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February, normal life there came to a halt. To ensure that affected students and researchers can continue their studies and work, professor Ellen Rutten (UvA) and assistant professor Dorine Schellens (Leiden) set up an international mentor network.

Simon Willmetts provides evidence for systematic policy of direct collussion between the TIme Inc. media empire and U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.

Claire Vergerio, political scientist at Leiden University, has been awarded a VENI grant by Dutch research organisation NWO. This will allow her to conduct an in-depth analysis of the legal rights and duties of non-state actors involved in warfare. The aim is to tackle some persistent blindspots in…

The Dutch cabinet faces a challenging task. On 1 December, they are expected to present a plan for the accommodation of child asylum seekers at locations where there are adequate arrangements in place for education, healthcare and indoor and outdoor play facilities. Mark Klaassen, Assistant Professor…

Stories of resistance in the Second World War are widely covered in Dutch historiography: Hannie Schaft, Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema, and Professor Cleveringa are some of the best known. But these accounts largely focus on the Dutch domestic perspective. On the other side of the world, a complex colonial…

The war in Ukraine has lasted almost two weeks now. What does Putin expect to achieve with his invasion and how big is the chance that the West will get involved? We phoned André Gerrits, professor and expert on Russia.

On the 6th of March 2023, Santino Regilme presented his work-in-progress titled 'Global Drug Wars: Contested Normative Orders of Peace, Security, and Human Rights'. If the battle against illegal drugs is construed as a war, how is victory in such a war defined and constructed? If the oppositional…

The 16-year-old girl was staying in a closed juvenile care institution where, among other things, she was administered 'pain stimuli'. The charges are the first of their kind, says Mariëlle Bruning, Professor of Children and the Law, to Dutch newspaper the Volkskrant.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) by the UN General Assembly. How do countries implement this treaty and how does it relate to their own national legal system? PhD defence on 3 December 2019.

This article explores how notions of citizenship are negotiated in encounters between parents and youth care professionals in Amsterdam in the context of heated debates over citizenship and belonging. We draw on ethnographic research on Egyptian migrant parents’ interactions with the welfare state,…

Denying war crimes and genocide is prohibited by law in the Netherlands. Minimising international crimes can also have far-reaching consequences, warns Marloes van Noorloos, Professor of Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure, in Trouw newspaper.

On 27 september historian Adam Zamoyski held a captivating lecture on his new book Napoleon: the Man behind the Myth. During this lecture, which was an initiative by Polen in Beeld and the Central and Eastern European Studies Center, Zamoyski answered the question: ‘what were the Napoleonic Wars really…

Drugs-related violence in Mexico is similar in terms of dynamics and strategy to the IS hybrid war in the West. This is the claim made by Teun Voeten. PhD defence 20 September.

In this study the central question to be answered is whether children are able to participate in decisions and at which moments these decisions are taken in the youth care trajectory.

Political scientist Corinna Jentzsch (Leiden University) explains why Mozambique is not (yet) a success story.

This collection includes six short policy-focused contributions exploring how legislation and policy on counter cyber terrorism unfold at the national level in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Russia, France, and at the regional level of the European Union.

Paul Christiaan Flu, originally from Surinam, was a brilliant tropical doctor, who in 1938 rose to the position of Rector Magnificus of Leiden University. The war years brought his lightning career to an abrupt end: his son was murdered and he himself was imprisoned in a concentration camp. A sad family…

In this research project child language phonology is studied from the perspective of a psycholinguistic speech-production model and this model is in turn studied from the perspective of developmental phonology.

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.

‘That hornets’ nest in Leiden must be destroyed,’ said Dutch National Socialist Party member Robert van Genechten in November 1942. He was referring to Leiden University. Why this hatred? Emeritus Professor of University History Willem Otterspeer has written a book about Leiden University during the…

Dr Anouk Goemans has been appointed professor by special appointment of Youth Services and Child Protection from an Educational and Legal Perspective as of 1 November 2024. This chair is funded by the 'Stichting Steunfonds Pro Juventute' support fund foundation and serves as a bridge between the Department…

On Tuesday 10 January 2023, former master’s students in Child Law – Fien Bouwmeester, Renee Muller, Imaani Stegeman, Demi Onclin and Rosa Passchier – held presentations on their master’s theses at the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security.

Courts that adjudicate war crimes or other crimes against humanity are increasingly taking regional norms and cultural values into consideration. PhD candidate Seun Bakare examined whether this could also be an asset in cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC).

On Sunday night 25 September, all the lights in Leiden will switch off and we will see the starry sky above us twinkling in all its glory. A unique opportunity for all residents of Leiden to experience the vastness of the cosmos and view the impressive artwork that hangs over our heads every night.…

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…

From 27-29 August, the Conference of the International Society for Child Indicators (ISCI) took place in Tartu (Estonia). Prof. Ton Liefaard was one of the key-note speakers during that conference.

Wars, climate change and the effects of covid have caused a global decline in children’s well-being. In her inaugural lecture Ann Skelton, Professor of Children’s Rights in a Sustainable World, points to the disastrous effects of multiple interacting crises.