The Law & Finance programme of Leiden University looks at financial law from multiple perspectives to illustrate the links between law, economics and ethics.

On 20 October 2021 Michael Ramsden defended the thesis 'The Role of the United Nations General Assembly in Advancing Accountability for Atrocity Crimes: Legal Powers and Effects'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. N.M. Blokker.

Former clients en projects

Governments in parliamentary democracies have limited time in office to fulfill their policy agendas. So, how do they optimise the timing of legislative bills to assure their passage and avoid lengthy parliamentary scrutiny? This question is especially puzzling under coalition governments, in which…

Op 17 November 2020, Shuai Guo defended his thesis 'Recognition of Foreign Bank Resolution Actions'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. R.D. Vriesendorp and Prof. M. Haentjens.

Mental health issues in the Dutch court: The criminal court as a border guard between the regular Mental Health System and the Criminal Justice system?

Political scientists Joop van Holsteyn and Tom Louwerse (Leiden University) find that the Dutch government is having a hard time coping with referendum outcomes in general, and ‘anti-European’ sentiments among voters in particular.

The 8th Global Conference on Transparency Research (GCTR) took place between 15 and 17 May.

For most of the past ten years, Europe has been in a state of ‘crisis’. The bank crisis mutated seamlessly via the Euro crisis to the present migrant crisis. Whereas previously the general assumption was that even closer cooperation within the European Union was a foregone conclusion, the EU is now…

The Role of Law in Libya’s National Reconciliation (RoLLNaR) was a research project that ran from 2017 to 2020. It identified and assessed the role of law – both actual and potential, enabling and constraining – with regard to major challenges of reconciliation in Libya. The project was led by Dr. Suliman…

How can and should tasks and competences for the purpose of the criminal justice system (i.e. legislation, enforcement, the administration of justice and sentencing) be defined and formulated, factoring in the chain concept, adjoining national and international legal domains and standards arising from…

Every year, more than three thousand businesses are declared insolvent in the Netherlands. The purpose of bankruptcy is to divide the assets of these companies among the creditors. However, the value of the claims of the creditors often exceed the value of the assets of the company

INFORM (Introduction of the data protection reform to the judicial system) is a project granted by the Directorate-General Justice and Consumers of the European Commission.

On 10 november 2021, Carmel van Niekerk-Jacobs defended the thesis 'Realising the right to reproduce with assistance in South Africa'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. J.J. Sloth-Nielsen and Prof. T. Liefaard.

The Dutch atlas with pesticides concentrations in surface waters have been overhauled. This new, free accessible, website is in line with the European Framework Directive on Water (In Dutch: KRW).

Systematic investigations into religious precepts, worldly rules of law and legal practices in the Muslim world show clearly how these societies deal with justice and injustice. Sharia, the Islamic ‘legal system’, plays an important role in this context.

The European Law Master’s specialisation distinguishes itself by its broad intra-disciplinary approach, covering institutional, constitutional as well as substantive law of the EU in addition to human rights from an EU perspective.

On 25 September 2019, Luuk Esser defended his thesis 'De strafbaarstelling van mensenhandel ontrafeld'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. C.P.M. Cleiren and Prof. J.M. ten Voorde.

Promotores: C. J. ten Cate; M. A. Ainslie. Co-promotor: W. Slabbekoorn

This commentary on the United Nations Convention Against Corruption discusses each provision of the treaty, traces the provisions’ drafting history, and explores their implementation in domestic legal systems.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), often referred to as drones, have become easy and inexpensive to buy, and it is generally expected that the use of drones by private individuals, businesses and public authorities will increase tremendously in the coming years. This raises questions as to what is technologically…

Müller, Braun & Fraussen examine the conditions under which commissioners appear in the news and which communication strategies they pursue.

This collection considers such issues as the cognitive, linguistic and emotional benefits of speaking two languages, the perceptions, attitudes and issues relating to identity in minority language areas, and the number of grammatical aspects amongst those who speak these minority languages.

CML report 192

This project maps the policy of ‘Paz Total’ (Total Peace) and ongoing peace negotiations between non-state armed groups and the government of Colombia under the presidency of Gustavo Petro (2022-2026).

Aviation safety is of global concern. Yet 43% of countries worldwide lack the expertise and administrative capacity to ensure effective safety oversight of the aviation activities for which they are responsible under international law.

This dissertation presents a legal geographical analysis of the heritage laws of the independent English-speaking islands of the Lesser Antilles.

Nadine Raaphorst wrote an chapter for The Oxford Handbook of Administrative Justice about how two notions of fairness are studied in street-level bureaucracy literature and about the factors that influence how bureaucrats behave in this regard.

“JARAK: the commoditization of an alternative biofuel crop in Indonesia” was a research program from 2010-2014 in which researchers from Indonesia and the Netherlands collaborated.

English The purpose of this research is to identify and examine the challenges faced by African States in the field of foreign investment with a view to contribute not only to the academic debate, but also to foster awareness and develop the capacities of these States with regard to the drafting, negotiation…

In the wake of controversial disclosures of classified government information by WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden, questions about the democratic status of secret uses of political power are rarely far from the headlines. Despite an increase in initiatives aimed at enhancing government transparency – such…

Hart Publishing in Oxford has published the first book in a series entitled ‘Restatement of Labour Law in Europe’. This particular book deals with the question of which employees are protected by labour law (‘The concept of employee’).

What consequences does Brexit have for the protection of personal data?

How do citizens think about government debt? This project investigates the political roots of government debt crises by exploring the drivers of citizens’ preferences towards fiscal policies.

Complex systems can be characterized as systems in which multiple components interact with each other, often in non-linear ways. The main goal of this research will be to investigate if and how the international tax system can be defined and modelled as a complex system. Approaching the international…

What legislative and regulatory questions arise when children, adolescents or elderly people use the Internet?

Serhan Afacan defended his thesis on 23 June 2015

This reflection for Critical Studies on Terrorism, explores two decades of the 'War of Terror' and what it means today.

This edited volume offers a critical discussion of the trade-offs between transparency and secrecy in the actual political practice of democratic states in Europe. As such, it answers to a growing need to systematically analyse the problem of secrecy in governance in this political and geographical…

The Effects of the 1881 Liquor Act on the Leiden Alcohol Trade

The Indonesian Experience after the Fall of Suharto

This project aims to assess the risk of spread of antimicrobial resistance genes in the environment derived from currently used synthetic biology approaches in the field of drug discovery.

Jaroslaw Kantorowicz, assistant professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, isolated the reaction of the public to the potential breach of constitutional fiscal rules from the reaction of other players, such as the opposition, media and civil society organizations.

The Children’s Rights Monitor provides a thematic overview of the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in the Netherlands.

This edited volume provides a synthesis on the question of business attitudes towards and its influence over the development of the modern welfare state. It gathers leading scholars in the field to offer both in-depth historical country case studies and comparative chapters that discuss contemporary…

The starting hypothesis of the project is that secrecy is not always inimical to democratic governance as conventional wisdom has it.

On 22 November 2018, Teico Sikkema defended his thesis 'Beginsel en begrip van verdeling'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. mr. W.G. Huijgen and Prof. dr. F. Sonneveldt.

This article explores how ISIS and the Taliban have fostered support through their parallel legal systems.

At the moment, over 350.000 chemicals are registered worldwide for production and use. Their application, however, may harm human health and the environment.

Do you like solving complex legal puzzles? Do you like analysing problems? If so, the bachelor’s programme Fiscaal Recht is right for you.