Universiteit Leiden

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Conference

Courts as an Arena for Societal Change

Date
Friday 8 July 2022 - Saturday 9 July 2022
Address
Kamerlingh Onnes Gebouw
Steenschuur 25
2311 ES Leiden

Leiden University is hosting the second Conference of the Research Group on Institutions for Conflict Resolution (Conflictoplossende Instituties).

COI is a joint collaboration between Radboud University Nijmegen, Utrecht University, and Leiden University, funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science under the Dutch Sector Plan for Law.

The theme of this year’s conference is Courts as an Arena for Societal Change. This conference presents an opportunity to bring together researchers and practitioners from around the world to discuss the evolving role of the judiciary in addressing difficult and contentious social and political issues. With public confidence in some institutions waning, citizens and civil society organizations are increasingly turning to the courts for answers. This has challenged traditional notions of the proper role of the judiciary and raised a number of important questions. For example, what moves citizens to take socially charged issues to the judiciary, and how do administrative, civil or criminal institutional procedures affect the possibilities for addressing such issues in court? What roles do governments, parliaments, courts and civil society play in these processes? What leads courts to render substantive decisions on these issues, or why do they refrain from doing so? What kind of problems arise if judges rule in such politically charged contexts? How can concerns about judicial independence and impartiality be balanced with changing public expectations around the role of the courts? And what consequences does the evolving role of the courts have for the judiciary’s self-perception and its legitimacy?

Program and speakers

For detailed information on the program and speakers, please see here.

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