Vasiliki Kosta spoke at the international conference on ‘La liberté academique dans la démocratie universitaire’, taking place at Nantes University on 17 – 18 November 2025.

The manner and context in which the government supports citizens' initiatives are often more important than the legal framework. In practice, it only creates unnecessary division and there are no solid grounds for it. Esmée Driessen, PhD candidate at the Department of Constitutional and Administrative…

Hiring commercial consultancy firms by (local or regional) authorities remains controversial and it is at the centre of attention. This was previously revealed in an investigation carried out by Dutch television programme ‘Nieuwsuur’. Dutch news platform Binnenlands Bestuur also sheds light on this…

Municipalities are increasingly attempting to solve problems without issuing decisions. A notification procedure (notification – investigation – application – decision) has recently been introduced that replaces part of the traditional application procedure. Ymre Schuurmans, Professor of Constitutional…

Today is the general election in the Netherlands – although the polling stations have actually been open for two days already because of the coronavirus restrictions. Leiden researchers and students are involved in all manner of ways, and are analysing the campaigns and possible results.

A civil servant in the Zuidplas municipality stole a saddle from an old bicycle from the municipal waste depot. Although the theft concerned an item of little value, the subdistrict court agreed with the municipality's decision to dismiss the employee with immediate effect. Lecturer in employment law…

For the second time in six months, Hans-Martien ten Napel has been invited to write the opening essay for a series of international blog posts.

The ‘spreidingswet’ (dispersal law) has been passed by Dutch Senate and will take effect on 1 February. In the municipality of Westland, however, a majority in the council is unwilling to create 700 extra reception places.

This year The Netherlands once again chairs the EU Council. In the book ‘Fit for the Future’ Leiden researchers reflect on the priorities that the Dutch presidency has put forward for 2016 and raise the question: is the EU fit for the future?

On 12th July 2016, Wim Voermans spoke in the ZDF-heute documentary 'Glamour, Gold und die Liebe: Europas Königshäuser'

Last weekend, Reijer Passchier talked about the constitutional right of the king to renounce the kingship.

The Faculties of Archaeology and Humanities at Leiden University invite applications for a part time Full Professorship in Classical Archaeology. Appointment as soon as possible but not later than 1 September 2016.

Het bestuur van de Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen maakt bekend dat de Dr. Elizabeth Schram-Mulley (ESM) Stichting met ingang van 2023 jaarlijks een prijs van € 10.000,- beschikbaar stelt ter bekroning van onderzoek met een bijzonder interdisciplinair karakter dat de grenzen tussen…

The minors offered by the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs in The Hague are closely linked to the defining image of The Hague as a city of international justice, peace and security as well as the centre of Dutch public administration and international governance.

From 16 to 23 October 2025, the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) will host the second edition of Cyber Week. Following last year’s success, we will once again shine a daily spotlight on our teaching and research in the field of cybersecurity through LinkedIn and Instagram. Today’s societal…

From 16 to 23 October 2025, the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) will host the second edition of Cyber Week. Following last year’s success, we will once again shine a daily spotlight on our teaching and research in the field of cybersecurity through LinkedIn and Instagram. Today’s societal…

Geert Wilders’ PVV Party believes that Islam is a totalitarian ideology and not a religion, and thus Muslims are not equally entitled to the same freedom of religion or belief as other believers. This view is incompatible with liberal democracy, according to Hans-Martien ten Napel.

On 15 September Armin Cuyvers lectured on the legal challenges surrounding Brexit for the The Academy for Legislation, the most important educational institute for legislative lawyers in the Netherlands.

Luc Verheij, Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law (Kircheiner chair) at Leiden Law School has been appointed as a member of the 'Raad van State', the Dutch Council of State. Verheij was already a State Councillor at the Advisory Division since 2011. He will continue to fulfill this role…

On Tuesday June 14th, Dr. Armin Cuyvers of Leiden Law School discussed the legal consequences of a possible Brexit in the radio program Juridische Zaken (Legal Matters) of Business News Radio (BNR).

From January to March 2020 Ymre Schuurmans, full professor in Constitutional and Administrative Law at Leiden University, will be a visiting professor at the University of Cape Town (UCT).

Conatus News has publiced an extensive review of the book The Fall and Rise of Blasphemy Law by Paul Cliteur and Tom Herrenberg.

Students attending Richard Albert’s seminar on constitutional change asked Reijer critical questions about an article he recently wrote with Maarten Stremler.

Ymre Schuurmans, Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law, has been appointed Chair of the Dutch Legal Aid Board’s Advisory Council following permission from the Dutch Minister for Legal Protection.

On 29 June 2018, Jan Michiel Otto, professor of Law and Governance in Developing Countries and director of the Van Vollenhoven Institute until 2018, delivered his valedictory lecture entitled De ander als spiegel: reflecties over recht en bestuur in ontwikkelingslanden (The Other as a Mirror. Reflections…

The organisers of the big protest march against government policy, held on Sunday in Amsterdam, want to bring preliminary relief proceedings against the refusal to allow British conspiracy theorist David Icke to enter the Netherlands. Icke was due to give a speech at the meeting of the organisation…

On 2 and 3 September 2016, the International Conference on ASEAN Development (ICAD) 2016 took place in Leiden. The conference aimed to draw comparative lessons from the EU for the development of the ASEAN Economic Community, which was launched in 2015.

The Municipality of Veere wants to limit accommodation for tourists. However, this puts a number of council members in a dilemma. Are they allowed to debate the future of tourism in the area while being landlords themselves? Wim Voermans, Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law, comments…

Those who seek justice do not always manage to find their way through the legal system. Yet the Dutch Legal Aid Act assumes that citizens are self-reliant and can stand up for their interests in cases that are not legally complex. However, in the childcare benefits affair in the Netherlands, this proved…

The process of forming a new coalition government in the Netherlands continued in the city of Hilversum last week. Geert Wilders has promised to withdraw three controversial own-initiative proposals in order to accommodate potential coalition partners. But is that enough to persuade Pieter Omtzigt,…

The Dutch government chairs the EU council this year. Researchers from Leiden took this opportunity to reflect on the future of the European Union and to give recommendations where possible. The book will be presented on Friday 29 April, 10.15 AM in Nieuws Poort (Den Haag). Attending the event are Ankie…

For some time now, discussions have been held within the legal profession in the Netherlands about strengthening supervision in the sector and the establishment of a national supervisory authority ('landelijke toezichtautoriteit', LTA). Tom Barkhuysen, Professor of Constitutional and Administrative…

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

Dutch right-wing political party Forum for Democracy has repeatedly demonstrated that it has no lower limit when it comes to morals. Should the courts in the Netherlands protect democracy by banning parties like Forum? Several legal experts from Leiden University commented on this question in newspaper…

On 11 November, Armin Cuyvers, Assistant Professor at the Europa Institute in Leiden, was one of the speakers on Brexit during the autumn meeting of the Netherlands Association for European Law (NVER).

On 5 December, Armin Cuyvers gave a lecture on the legal complications surrounding Brexit for Clingendael, the Netherlands Institute for International Relations.

Between 5 and 8 September, PhD Candidate Esteban Szmulewicz attended the 45th annual Conference of the European Group for Public Administration (EGPA), which was organised in close cooperation with The Faculty of Law of the University of Zagreb and other key partners.

The fact that sexual harassment in the workplace is a persistent problem became painfully clear again last year, especially after the widely watched ‘Boos’ broadcast on Dutch television. In June, the Supreme Court in the Netherlands settled a matter related to employment law: sexual harassment does…

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Environmental organisation Greenpeace wants to see a drastic reduction in nitrogen deposition on the Netherlands’ most vulnerable nature conservation areas. This would extend beyond the nitrogen targets that the Dutch government is currently striving to meet. Rogier Kegge, Assistant Professor of Constitutional…

For Dutch politician Pieter Omtzigt, the PVV’s unconstitutional party manifesto remains a stumbling block to form a coalition. Referring to a study conducted by Wim Voermans, Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law, Marc Chavannes sets out the options on Dutch news website De Corresponden…