Leiden University’s Executive Board has appointed South African Professor Ann Skelton as the new Chair of Children’s Rights in a Sustainable World as of 1 October 2022.

On 24 November 2022, Simone van der Hof delivered the annual Mulock Houwer Lecture. The title of the lecture was ‘Niet om de knikkers maar om het spel – Over de digitale versie van een vergeten kinderrecht’.

Leiden Law School and the Center for Constitutional Studies of the Mexican Supreme Court (CEC-SCJN) have signed a memorandum of understanding, to carry out joint activities in the field of constitutional law and children's rights.

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Grotius Dialogue

In a collaborative effort between the Leiden Children’s Rights Observatory, the Leiden Law Academy, UNICEF and the Petitions Section of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, a symposium held last week commemorated the tenth anniversary of the Optional Protocol to the Convention…

Sexual exploitation of children abroad: the Dutch government calls on its citizens to not look away from 'suspicious situations’ while turning a blind eye to the root causes of the problem themselves. Koning, who recently obtained her PhD on transnational sexual exploitation of children from Leiden…

For the academic year 2025-2026, nine (teams of) teachers will receive a Grassroots or Grass shoots grant. Here you can read about their projects.

In the Netherlands, children attend school from the age of 4 and are legally required to do so from the age of 5. Elementary school, or primary education (basisschool), lasts 8 years.

Research into depression in children, Leiden alumni in the Dutch House of Representatives and an exceptional achievement by one of our students: what do this topics have in common? They are among our most read stories of 2021.

48 student teams from all over the world will be taking part in the international online moot court competition. The event is organised by Leiden University in partnership with Baker McKenzie.

Teens with depression appear to be more sensitive to criticism from their parents than their healthy peers are.

Drug use during pregnancy seems like a choice without any consequences. However, the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) has decided to prosecute a mother for using alcohol and drugs during her pregnancy. Mariëlle Bruning, Professor of Child Law, tells current affairs programme ‘Nieuwsuur’ that she…

New Report Launched by ACPF with the support of the Department of Child Law and Health Law

The documentary ‘De Stem van het Kind’ (The Voice of the Child) gives an impressive insight into the work of juvenile court judges. Documentary maker Pieter Fleury, Professor of Children’s Rights Ton Liefaard and juvenile court judge Johan Visser worked together for the past seven years to make the…

Preventie, signalering en opsporing van seksuele uitbuiting van jongeren kan effectiever via buren, klasgenoten en andere mensen uit hun sociale leefomgeving. Dit volgt na onderzoek van universitair docent Ieke de Vries in samenwerking met het Centrum Kinderhandel en Mensenhandel (CKM).

Eye contact between parents and children improves their mood and increases feelings of connectedness on both sides; but not in the case of depressed adolescents, Mirjam Wever discovered. Where the parent-child bond has been disrupted, it can be strengthened not only with therapy for the child but also…

Hoogleraar Jeugdrecht Mariëlle Bruning vertelde in Met het Oog op Morgen over schadelijke patronen in de pleegzorg.

Leiden University and African Child Policy Forum hold ‘ground-breaking’ workshop on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and human rights in Africa

A child who receives fewer nutrients in the womb than their identical twin brother or sister is more likely to have developmental problems later in life. This is what researchers from the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) write in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health. This study shows that unfavourable…

Professor Ann Skelton has been elected as Chairperson of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Colleagues from three departments were treated to cake by Vice Dean Jan Crijns. This was to celebrate the ratings, excellent and above-average, awarded in the Keuzegids, the master’s programmes guide for 2025.

Following a special donation, the Stichting Pro Juventute foundation is facilitating a new special chair in Educational Theory and Law. Through the chair, Pro Juventute hopes to realise optimum child protection from a coherent legal and educational perspective.

A variety of age checks are required, both in order to protect children and to ensure that they can participate online, a new study funded by the European Commission finds. The article on the study, co-authored by Simone van der Hof, Professor of Law and Digital Technologies at eLaw, was published in…

Leiden University co-hosts Council of Europe expert exchange on accountability for crimes against children in Ukraine

People suffer from anxiety wait on average twelve years before seeking professional help. That’s a pity and it’s unnecessary, says development psychologist Leonie Vreeke. She is therefore developing prevention programmes where parents learn to react in a helpful way to anxious behaviour on the part…