A research team from Leiden University, in cooperation with Bureau Boekhoorn Sociaal-Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek en Advies (BBSO), is to evaluate Dutch counterterrorism legislation.

Suzan Verberne has been appointed professor of Natural Language Processing at the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) from 1 October. Verberne has been at LIACS since 2017 as group leader of the Text Mining and Retrieval group.

Cathalijne van der Plas will become Professor of Private International Law (0.4 fte) at Leiden University as of 1 October 2021. She succeeds Prof. Sierd Schaafsma who has become a judge at the Supreme Court as of 1 May 2021.

The Board of Governors of Leiden University is pleased to announce that the outgoing Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Robbert Dijkgraaf, has appointed Professor F.B.J. (Ferd) Grapperhaus as the new Chair of the Board of Governors.

Marc Broekema from the Department of Business Studies has received a grant from the Netherlands Institute of Registered Valuators (NiRV) to conduct research into how the value of a business is assessed in legal proceedings.

On 13 March 2024, Carlotta Rigotti, postdoc researcher at eLaw, and Alexandre Puttick, postdoc researcher at Bern University of Applied Sciences, remotely presented the working paper 'Towards mitigating diversity bias of AI in recruitment and selection via value sensitive design' at the ACM Symposium…

Workshop brings multidisciplinary experts together to debate proposed detection technologies and their impact on fundamental rights.

Researchers from Leiden and Indonesia work together on a range of projects on topics such as disappearing languages and cultures, the role of Islam, circular economy, biodiversity and medicine. They also work on projects to improve legal education and make Dutch sources and Indonesian heritage accessible…

Staff from eLaw – Center for Law and Digital Technologies contributed to the ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT), held in Athens from 25 to 27 June 2025. The ACM FAccT conference is one of the world’s leading venues for interdisciplinary research on responsible and ethical…

Through Kiem, Leiden University is providing 25 annual seed grants between 2024 and 2026 to develop new interdisciplinary (interfaculty) teaching/research collaborations and encounters.

Recently, Carlotta Rigotti participated in the ViolenceStop project, a collaboration between Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium) and the Central University “Marta Abreu” of Las Villas (Cuba).

Organisation

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.

It is not possible for juvenile courts to properly assess whether it is necessary to place a child in care. This is evident from a fact sheet that has been prepared by legal scholars from Leiden University, commissioned by the Dutch House of Representatives and others.

The European Commission has selected a consortium of major European launcher and satellite manufacturers, operators and service providers, as well as policy and legal research centres and institutes to study and provide guidelines and recommendations on Space Traffic Management (STM). The IIASL of Leiden…

On Tuesday 5 September, the opening of the faculty year took place at the Kamerlingh Onnes Building. Staff and students gathered in the Cleveringa Room to take part in the interactive part of the programme.

A team led by Dr. Yannick Veilleux-Lepage (Institute of Security and Global Affairs) and Joris Larik (Leiden University College The Hague) have secured research funding from the Canadian Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces funded RWE-CAF Research Network.

On the 1 June 2021, Professor Eric De Brabandere and Dr Daniel Peat of the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies of Leiden Law School launched the Leiden Investment Treaty Arbitration Database.

The European Commission has appointed Dr. Joris Larik, Assistant Professor of Comparative, EU and International Law at Leiden University College The Hague, to a new pool of individuals ‘suitable for appointment as arbitrator’ in the framework of the European Union’s bilateral trade agreements.

Stefaan Van den Bogaert, Vice Dean of Leiden Law School was delighted to announce on 29 March 2023 that the faculty has awarded research funding to all applicants for starter grants.

The legal distinction between victims of human trafficking and victims of migrant smuggling is unjust, argues De Massol Rebetz in her PhD thesis. In certain instances, smuggled migrants should be treated the same as victims of human trafficking.

University lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe is quoted in a Financial Times article on the Republican primaries.

The Dutch Government would like to allow QR checks at work. Legal experts expect that employees who refuse could be dismissed.

At the Leiden University Thesis Awards ceremony, law student Bettina Schmiedler won third prize for her socio-legal study on corporate social responsibility.

Eric De Brabandere, Anna Marhold and Nico Schrijver of the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies have been included as arbitrators and Trade and Sustainable Development experts in the newly established European Commission pool in the framework of EU free trade agreements enforcement.

On Thursday 9 September, Lord Martin Richardson (Scottish Supreme Court judge) gave a keynote speech to the new group of Advanced Master’s students.

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

Organisation

The English-language interdisciplinary minor ‘AI and Society’ explores the role of artificial intelligence in our society. The interdisciplinary nature of the minor is proving beneficiary for students and lecturers alike. We sit in during a class.

In traditional style, 2025 was ushered in at our faculty with the Meijers Lecture followed by the New Year's Reception. On Thursday 16 January 2025, the Meijers Lecture took place in the Lorentz Lecture Hall where the Meijers Prizes and the Van Wersch Springplank Prize were also awarded. At the New…

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

Leiden University has a new FNV representative: Thecla Meyknecht. Employees can come to her with questions and problems related to the workplace. ‘All managers should receive targeted training in which they learn to be proud of their human capital.’

Following our Leiden Brussels Alumni Event, I (external officer M. Blaauw, ed.) met our very own Leiden Law alumna Helena-Loutas Paraskeva. An Australian who works for the European Commission. Interesting, how did she get this job, what does she do and how did her Master in Leiden affect or influence…

During the second Arthur Docters van Leeuwen Lecture on 2 December, AIVD Director Erik Akerboom underlined how the changing threat landscape demands reflective leadership, transparency where possible and close cooperation to protect the democratic legal order.

Alumna Janine Ubink is a Professor of Law, Governance and Development at Leiden University. She researches legal pluralism in various areas of Africa and calls herself a ‘tropical lawyer’. She says, ‘It doesn't really exist, but I am one.’

Alumnus Ben Smulders has worked for the European Commission for the past 33 years. ‘The discipline and depth that I experienced during my student days has helped me through various stages of my professional career.’

Doing a PhD can be challenging. Moving to a foreign country can be challenging too. PhD candidate Ilya Kokorin, who was born in a small town in Siberia, faced both, while at the same time having to overcome a number of additional challenges and build a future post-PhD.

Gianclaudio Malgieri, Associate Professor of Law & Technology at eLaw, was interviewed by EUobserver and Al Jazeera English on the European Commission’s newly unveiled Digital Omnibus package – a set of proposals that would amend the GDPR, the AI Act, cookie rules and parts of the EU’s cybersecurity…

The Board of Leiden University has appointed Armin Cuyvers as a full professor of European Law, specifically EU Constitutional Law and Comparative Regional Integration, effective per 1 September 2021.

Workshop brings multidisciplinary experts together to produce interdisciplinary outcomes on the EU’s Proposal for a Regulation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse.

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

Imagine: you’re seeking asylum in the Netherlands due to your sexual orientation or gender identity. The immigration authorities might question you about your sexuality. PhD candidate Elias Tissandier-Nasom, who is researching asylum applications submitted by LGBTQI+ children, explains that the process…

Marjan van Dasselaar was appointed as the new ombuds officer for staff on 1 May. She will be working to create a safer working atmosphere within the University. 'There is a lot of pain felt by people who experience social insecurity. That pain always has to be taken seriously.'

Arbeidsuitbuiting van migranten wordt als een vorm van het strafrechtelijke delict mensenhandel beschouwd. De rechtspositie van de slachtoffers is mede daardoor ondergeschikt aan de strafrechtelijke procedure. Dat kan en moet anders, stelt Gerrie Lodder in haar proefschrift. Promotie op 21 april 202…

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…

Last week on Monday evening, four international Leiden Law School alumni working in various sectors and areas of expertise came back to their alma mater to talk to current students. So who are these alumni?

Toogdag 2024 onderzoek kennisdelen

Humans are increasingly losing agency on social media. A team of legal scholars from Leiden University, computer scientists from other universities and civil society organisations, is conducting a study into the balance of power between Big Tech and users.

The euro crisis of 2010 has shown that the Eurozone lacks economic cohesion and that EU fiscal integration is needed for a stable euro. But can this integration exist without clashing with the national constitutional interests of the Member States? Frederik Behre looked into this matter in his PhD-thesis…

More people seeking asylum, overcrowded asylum accommodation and asylum procedures that take years because of a lack of capacity. The current government wants to declare an asylum crisis but what is that exactly and can they just do that?