Arbitration law has grown into a ‘sexy’ area of practice about which students are keen to write a thesis and in which many lawyers specialise.

Library

The Honours College Law (HC Law) is soon going to look very different. What does the HC Law currently do, and what’s going to change? Why should you apply for it? To answer these questions, we spoke to Maartje van der Woude, Designated Professor at the HC Law. She’s designing the new programme in collaboration…

The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is the world’s largest moot court competition. The Competition is a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice. This year more than 570 law schools from across the world participated.

Leiden Law School is organising a summer conference on Law and Artificial Intelligence as part of the interfaculty and interdisciplinary research programme on Artificial Intelligence (SAILS) at Leiden University.

Many problems in criminal law can be predicted by the academic world and using knowledge from criminal law practice, says criminal lawyer Professor Patrick van der Meij.

A new website has been set up that provides information about the government funded Law Sector Plan in the Netherlands, including the plans of the participating universities and developments within the agreed themes.

Should criminal law have a greater role in protecting this democracy? In his inaugural lecture, Professor Jeroen ten Voorde urges caution.

Education

Research

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

Now the Dutch national Law Sector Plan has been positively evaluated, the temporary funding provided to Leiden Law School for the research projects ‘Institutions for Conflict Resolution’ and ‘Empirical Legal Studies’ will become structural.

Research, Social

As of 1 May 2025, Professor Kartica van der Zon has been appointed professor by special appointment of Family Law, Law of Persons and Juvenile Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of Groningen.

Is the child benefits scandal an omen for the future and will people’s lives soon be fully dominated by algorithms? Assistant Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law Reijer Passchier warns that the encroaching digitalisation is giving the executive branch even more power, leaving parliament…

The first eLaw Conference held at Leiden University was a success and fostered timely discussions on the legal challenges and opportunities presented by digital technologies.

A presentation on the latest developments in artificial intelligence and law, several public lectures on Criminal Justice, and a brand new trial in which Leiden female serial killer ‘Goeie Mie’ was acquitted after all. It was all possible during Leiden European City of Science 2022. Below is an overview…

Starting 1 October 2022, Mirjam Sombroek-van Doorn has been appointed as Professor Law and Health.

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

On Friday 10 December 2021, the Center for Law and Digital Technologies (eLaw) of the Leiden Law School, hosted its annual Research Colloquium exploring the theme 'Law Gone Digital'. The event gathered presentations by eLaw PhD candidates and professors on a wide range of topics at the interface of…

The sixth edition of the lecture series Duurzaamheid & Recht was held during the last semester. Once again, it attracted many students.

Organisation

Yousef Yousef (39), a successful entrepreneur in the water-quality industry, recently joined the Advisory Board at Leiden Law School. Read the interview about his career.

The law and Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications need to be better aligned to ensure our personal data and privacy are protected. PhD candidate Andreas Häuselmann can see opportunities with AI, but dangers if this does not happen.

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

2023 was a busy year for the faculty. Many colleagues won awards and important progress was made on the Kernvisie. We said farewell to the previous Faculty Board and welcomed our new Interim Board. All this and lots more. Watch the video below for an overview of 2023 in a nutshell.

The chance that it will do so is about zero, but Russia is legally obliged to investigate violations of law during the war in Ukraine. States that enter into an armed conflict often deny liability, but under international humanitarian law and human rights they are obliged to investigate their military…

Hastings College of the Law and Leiden Law School have a long-standing exchange programme. Each year, students participate in a student exchange programme. Likewise, professors from Hastings College of Law have been visiting Leiden Law School and vice versa.

The Executive Board of Leiden University has appointed Bart Joosen as Professor of Financial Law commencing on 1 July 2023. The chair is attached to the Hazelhoff Centre for Financial Law, part of the Institute of Private Law at Leiden Law School.

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

On 24 March 2023, the University of Tartu, Estonia hosted a Workshop on ‘'Algorithms, Rule of Law, and the Future of Justice: Implications in the Estonian Justice System’.

Until now, systematic discussions of gender, race and law have received little attention from Dutch law faculties, especially at the undergraduate teaching level. At the same time, public calls for discussion of these issues increases rapidly.

On 10 June 2022, a conference on topical issues in Dutch subsidy law was held at the Old Observatory building of Leiden University. With almost 90 enthusiastic participants, it was a huge success!

Leiden Law School has moved up three places in the global ranking of law faculties and is now in 21st place.