Confidentiality clauses that contain penalty clauses in television production contracts are common, permissible and useful, but can never be invoked against disclosing misconduct, such as unacceptable behaviour. This is claimed by Dirk Visser, Charlotte Vrendenbarg and Richard Trouborst in their article…

On 4 May, Leiden University remembered the victims of the Second World War from our university community. Alumni, students and present and former staff of the University came together for this Hour of Remembrance.

Van Es is the successor to Professor Huijgen whose retirement is approaching after nearly 27 years’ professorship. This new appointment is from October 2022, but Van Es has been working at the faculty for some time.

Quietly read a book in our new reading nook, listen to interesting and bizarre stories set in early twentieth-century Leiden, walk past literary locations in Leiden and watch the best film adapted from a Leiden novel as decided on by you. April is Literary Leiden month! A month in which we pay special…

Education, Research

On 24 May 2023, Professor Wannes VandenBussche of Ghent University delivered his inaugural lecture to accept the TPR rotating professorship in the Leiden Academy Building. The title of his inaugural lecture was: ‘De EU-dimensie van het burgerlijk bewijsrecht: een mozaïek van opportuniteiten en valkuilen’…

The Netherlands cannot stop European labour migrants coming here. Nor does The Hague have much influence on the influx of asylum seekers. But experts believe that we should be able to reduce the need for labour migrants by using intelligent economic policies.

The acquittal of Richard de Mos and his fellow party member has caused quite a stir in the Netherlands. Can De Mos simply return to local politics now? And has the issue finally been settled?

How can we guarantee the safety of the crown witness scheme for both crown witnesses and lawyers? How can we ensure that online conversations between lawyers and their clients remain confidential? And what are the risks of extra secure communication tools?

Academics increasingly face threats, intimidation and abuse. The WetenschapVeilig platform has been launched to address this. Academics who are being threatened or intimidated can seek help from the platform 24 hours a day. It’s good that we now have this platform. But at the same time, it’s awful that…

Are you planning to go abroad for work for more than one month? Do you have some ancillary activities abroad? Or are you planning to move abroad? If you are going abroad on behalf of Leiden University, it is important to make the necessary arrangements for working there.

Organisations like the UN and the EU should be given more powers to combat transboundary problems. This is the message of a report published by the Swedish SNS Democracy Council, whose authors include Prof. Jan Aart Scholte of Leiden University. The researchers also wrote the following article.

From forwarding promising calls and arranging budgets to assisting in legal issues and keeping track of important deadlines: to associate professor Roxanne Kieltyka, the research support offered by project managers Inge Rietveld en Christina Schlüpen is fundamental. ‘The combination of our expertise…

Aoife Fleming attended the climate summit in Glasgow as UN Youth Delegate for the Netherlands. She recently graduated with a master’s degree in Financial Law.

A team of four Leiden master's students has qualified for the final of the prestigious Helga Pederson Moot Court Competition 2022. This final will take place in May at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

More than 130 countries, including the Netherlands, have decided to introduce a minimum corporate tax rate of 15 percent. The plan would lead to 125 billion euro in extra tax revenue globally.

Too often, tax scholars have a dual role: advising the government on legislation, while at the same time helping companies to pay as little tax as possible. This needs to change according to Bart Snels, a member of parliament for Dutch GreenLeft party.

At the end of June 2021, The Dutch Ministry of Finance made a policy document public that dates back to 2016. In it, civil servants acknowledge that the Netherlands risked providing unauthorized State aid to American multinationals by allowing them to use a controversial, but favourable, fiscal construction:…

Europe is working full steam towards a digital identity for every EU citizen. And although it might be really useful to be able to hire a car everywhere in the EU with no hassles, Bart Custers, Professor of Law and Data Science at eLaw, the Center for Law and Digital Technologies, sees many loose ends.…

eLaw is thrilled to let you know that on 29 April (17:00-19:00), we will be hosting Prof. Luciano Floridi, Prof. Brett Frischmann and Prof. Shoshana Zuboff on the online (zoom) panel discussion with the question – Should online targeted advertisement be banned on the premise that it violates human d…

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has awarded a KNAW Early Career Partnership 2023 to Philippe van Gruisen for interdisciplinary research on (labour) migration from a broad perspective on societal wellbeing.

On 15 June 2023, the book presentation for the ‘Panta Rhei: recht en duurzaamheid’ (Panta Rhei: law and sustainability) was held at the Oude Sterrenwacht in Leiden. The book provides an overview of research in the field of sustainability conducted at Leiden Law School and was compiled by Yvonne Erkens,…

Prof. Suzan Stoter will be the Dean of Leiden Law School at Leiden University as of 1 January 2024. The Leiden University Executive Board has appointed her for a period of four years. Stoter succeeds Joanne van der Leun, who, together with the other members of the Faculty Board, brought great verve…

Conference

On 4 December Professor Emile van Rouveroy van Nieuwaal passed away. Van Rouveroy van Nieuwaal worked at the African Studies Centre from 1967 to 2002, when the ASC was not part of Leiden University yet. He became professor by special appointment at Leiden University on behalf of Leiden Law School in…

Historic and iconic yet expensive and cold. It’s with mixed feelings that the university is leaving the Gravensteen building, which dates back to the 12th century. How was it to work and study in this former Leiden prison?

In a packed lecture hall at Wijnhaven, Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman succinctly summed up the essence of his argument on Wednesday 17 September: ‘Running a good society is hard’. His lecture held up a mirror to economists and policymakers.

Each research institute has its own dynamic. The Executive Board is visiting our institutes to find out what they are up to. On 24 June, it was the turn of the Institute for History. ‘History helps us make sense the present, whether through family stories, local issues or world politics.’

It is sufficiently plausible that the professor from the Faculty of Archaeology exhibited the ‘inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour’ detailed in the advice of the investigating committee. That is is unless the professor provides counter-evidence. This is the conclusion of the Subdistrict Court…

The Schoof cabinet has presented its budget. As expected, higher education is facing severe cuts. In the coming period, the Executive Board will regularly look at the consequences of what it deems an irresponsible policy.

People from the Dutch islands of Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius say that violence (mainly verbal) is fairly common in families. This is according to research by Leiden University, the University of Curaçao and UNICEF Netherlands. The researchers make recommendations for preventing such violence over…

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

Wearing All Stars and ‘just’ a pair of jeans, with a backpack slung over his shoulder. It was an informal Friday afternoon with Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General, at Wijnhaven. Perched on a desk, he took questions from students in the audience.

Wie de Nederlandse taal spreekt, heeft betere kansen op de arbeidsmarkt. Investeer daarom in taalles van migranten, is de boodschap van wetenschapper Giacomo Boffi.

An impressive 12 researchers from Leiden University have been awarded an 800,000-euro grant by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). This will enable them to develop their own line of research over the next five years.

The cost-sharing standard (kostendelersnorm) – a regulation affecting recipients of supplementary income for older people, often with a migrant background – may lead to financial and health problems for thousands of people, economists Ernst-Jan de Bruijn and Heike Vethaak have found.

For the second time this academic year, Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman visited The Hague. Addressing a packed lecture theatre in our new Spui building, he spoke to students, staff and professionals about the tension between economic advice and political decision-making.

How many children are born with the help of a surrogate mother in the Netherlands, and which legal obstacles can arise? Through a new interdisciplinary study, researchers at Leiden University are attempting to provide clarity about surrogacy processes.

It’s time to announce a major development within the teaching and education we provide at our faculty: the launch of the Atelier pilot! Atelier will be a new teaching format within the bachelor’s programme in Law. The pilot will be conducted in the 2024-2025 academic year during the third block of the…

Playgrounds often fail to accommodate children with autism, according to researchers Carolien Rieffe and colleagues. They have published an essay offering practical advice on how to make all children feel safe and welcome for Autism Week (Dutch) and World Autism Autism Awareness/ Acceptance Day on 2…

Organisation

Researchers from Leiden Law School and the LUMC have received a grant for a joint research project. They will be looking into ways in which caregivers and patients can work together to come to a better decision.

In opdracht van het WODC doen onderzoekers van de Universiteit Leiden onderzoek naar de landelijke daling van het aantal jeugdbeschermingsmaatregelen en jeugdreclasseringstrajecten. Bij dit interdisciplinaire onderzoek zijn onderzoekers van de afdelingen Jeugdrecht en Gezondheidsrecht, Bedrijfswetenschappen…

On Tuesday 12 January 2021, the annual Meijers prizes and thesis prizes were awarded at the online New Year’s event broadcast from the Old Observatory.

A diverse (ad hoc) committee will advise Leiden University’s Executive Board on its exhibitions policy in a broad sense, with a special focus on the painting by Rein Dool in the Academy Building.

De Leiden Lawcast: de facultaire podcast door en voor studenten. Iedere aflevering bespreken de hosts een actueel onderwerp met een interessante gast die het onderwerp belicht vanuit hun wetenschappelijke of juridische expertise. Na een mooi startseizoen in 2022 hebben Irem Çakir en Hamza Duprée het…

Two Cleveringa books from Theo ten Kate's law library were donated to Leiden University by grandson Sebastiaan ten Kate on 24 November. They are the dissertations of W. Hugenholtz and J.G.L Röder, both PhD students of Rudolph Cleveringa. Ten Kate: 'The University is the right place for the books. Here,…

In our teaching, Leiden University gives all students the opportunity to learn about sustainability themes and issues. Social issues, including sustainable development, are addressed in the teaching and research at all of our faculties. On this Day of Sustainability, we highlight a number of subject…

Organisation