18 September 2025

The Jaap Doek Children’s Rights Thesis Award

The Jaap Doek Children’s Rights Thesis Award is an annual prize for the best thesis in the field of Children’s Rights, awarded by Defence for Children and Leiden Law School's Department of Child Law and Health Law

On 1 November 2012, the Jaap Doek Children’s Rights Thesis Award was set up in honour of Professor Jaap Doek's outstanding achievements in the field of children's rights, both in the Netherlands and across the globe.

Both law students and students from other disciplines can apply. For several years now, candidates from the Dutch Caribbean, Surinam and Flanders are also cordially invited to submit their theses.

Prize and conditions
The winner of the Jaap Doek Thesis Award is rewarded with an organised trip to Geneva – including a visit to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child – and prize money of €500 to be spent freely. Only master’s theses graded with (the equivalent of) an 8 or over in the preceding academic year (1 September 2024 to 31 August 2025) will be considered. Master’s theses must be submitted by midnight on Monday 13 October 2025. Detailed information on the conditions is available in the regulations.

Jury
The jury comprises experts with special merits in the field of Children’s Rights, including:
Jaap Doek (Chair), Emeritus Professor of Children’s Rights (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam);
Karin Arts, Professor of International Law and Development (ISS The Hague, part of Erasmus University Rotterdam);
Sharon Detrick, Senior Legal Adviser, PhD (Defence for Children);
Ton Liefaard, UNICEF Chair of Children’s Rights (Leiden University);
Johan Put, Professor of Law and Criminological Sciences (Catholic University of Leuven).

Award ceremony
The prize will be awarded on the afternoon of Thursday 11 December at 14.00. The award ceremony will take place at Leiden Law School (Leiden University), Steenschuur 25, in room A051. Participants nominated by the jury will be invited to present their theses during the award ceremony.

Contact
For further information, please contact the secretarial office of the Department of Child Law and Health Law by sending an email to jeugdrecht@law.leidenuniv.nl or calling +31 (0)71 527 60 56.