The section Civil Law provides education and research in the field of civil law.

The Department of Civil Law is responsible for education and research in the field of civil law. We teach the master’s degree programme Civiel Recht (Civil Law LL.M.), attracting many students each year from Leiden and elsewhere.

Civil Law is a specialisation of the master’s programme Rechtsgeleerdheid (Law) at the renowned Leiden Law School of Leiden University.

How and why governments engage with civil society as well as how civil society organizes itself and exerts political influence constitute the key focus of the research programme Public Governance & Civil Society. As such, this research programme offers unique expertise within the field of public administration…

The section Civil Procedure Law offers education in the bachelor and master fase of the Law program.

Why do some civil wars experience quagmire, a situation in which belligerents are trapped in fighting? To explain this puzzle, Jonah Schulhofer-Wohl (Leiden University Institute of Political Science) analyses the overlapping strategic interactions between foreign powers and the warring parties. Studying…

Recently, Ingrid Leijten’s book Core Socio-Economic Rights and the European Court of Human Rights was published with Cambridge University Press. The monograph was published in the series Cambridge Studies in European Law and Policy (edited by Laurence Gormley and Jo Shaw) and deals with the protection…

The MA Classics and Ancient Civilizations at Leiden University covers the entire range of present-day research on the civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Syria and Palestine, Greece and the Roman Empire. In chronological terms, the program covers thousands of years, from the early origins…

This project aims to provide evidence-based knowledge on the conditions for successful anti-corruption activism in Ukraine.

The Classics and Ancient Civilizations (Research) master's at Leiden University covers the entire range of present-day research on the civilisations of Greece and Rome, Egypt and the Ancient Near East.

On 18 April, Alexandre Tavadian defended the thesis 'The International Civil Service: Redefining Its Independence'. The doctoral research was supervised by Niels Blokker and Brian McGarry.

Why do communities form militias to defend themselves against violence during civil war? Using original interviews with former combatants and civilians and archival material from extensive fieldwork in Mozambique, Corinna Jentzsch (Leiden University Institute of Political Science) explains the timing,…

Are you thinking about studying the Advanced LL.M. Civil and Commercial Law? Learn more and watch the videos.

'The Routledge Handbook of Civil and Uncivil Society in Southeast Asia' explores the nature and implications of civil society across the region, engaging systematically with both theoretical approaches and empirical nuance for a systematic, comparative, and informative approach.

Leiden University’s Master of International Civil and Commercial Law (L.L.M.) examines the interrelated layers of hard law, soft law, and relevant case law.

On 17 December 2018, Dejian Kong defended his thesis 'Civil Liability for Damage caused by Global Navigation Satellite System'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. P.M.J. Mendes de Leon.

Are you thinking about studying Classics and Ancient Civilizations? Learn more and watch the introduction video.

Political scientist Corinna Jentzsch (Leiden University) about the organisation of rebel and government auxiliaries in the civil war in Mozambique (1976–1992).

This is the 2017 paperback release of William Michael Schmidli's The Fate of Freedom Elsewhere, which won the 2013 Foreign Affairs Magazine Best Book of the Year.

Miriam Cohen defended her PhD dissertation entitled “Reparations for International Crimes and the development of a Civil Dimension of International Criminal Justice” on 28 June 2017. She wrote her thesis under the supervision of Professor L.J. van den Herik and Professor C. Stahn.

In Freedom on the Offensive, William Michael Schmidli illuminates how the Reagan administration's embrace of democracy promotion was a defining development in US foreign relations in the late twentieth century.

This book examines the impact of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on national and international jurisprudence, since its adoption in 1989.

This project aims to explore, in general, what explains civil servants’ attitudes and behavior, and, in particular, why some civil servants are more committed to professional norms and public service values – such as impartiality, equity, efficiency, and innovation – than others.

Melanie Fink, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Europa Institute of Leiden University, has published her book Frontex and Human Rights, Responsibility in 'Multi-Actor Situations' under the ECHR and EU Public Liability Law. This work is based on her doctoral dissertation, which she defended in December…

The Research Handbook on Labour, Business and Human Rights Law edited by prof. Janice Bellace of the University of Pennsylvania and ass. prof. Beryl ter Haar of Leiden University. The book is publisehd in Edward Elgars series on Human Rights.

On 1 October 2019 the Hazelhoff Centre for Financial law hosted its 19th guest lecture starring Paul Sharma, managing director at Alvarez & Marsal and co-head of the European Financial Industry Regulatory Advisory Services practices.

Recently, Prime Minister Dirk Schoof caused quite the stir in the political arena of The Hague following the release of policy documents on the asylum debate. This came ahead of a decision that had not yet been made. The question has since arisen as to whether it’s still possible for civil servants…

This article discusses the degree of independence that is required for national human rights institutions to function successfully.

This book explores the reception of foreign news during the late sixteenth-century civil wars in France and the Netherlands.

The central question in this book is whether there is a human right to family unification.

In what ways do matters of cybersecurity affect the relationship between governments and citizens, have a bearing on (fundamental) rights and civil liberties, and alter the role and responsibilities of governments?

On Thursday 15 December, Elisavet Alexiadou has defended her doctoral thesis ‘The Right to Health. A Human Rights Perspective with a Case Study on Greece.’ at the Academy Building of Leiden University. Supervisor was Prof.dr. A.C. Hendriks.

A civil servant employed by the municipality of The Hague was cause for discussion after taking part in an Extinction Rebellion protest. Only under additional conditions could the employee in question stay on at the municipality. She decided to resign. According to Barend Barentsen, Professor of Labour…

This thesis aims at thinking through the ethical position of animals in a way that differs radically from the manner in which this ethical position is thought within contemporary animal rights discourse.

Jasmina Mačkić, Assistant Professor of Human Rights Law at the Europa Institute, has published her book, Proving Discriminatory Violence at the European Court of Human Rights. This work is based on her doctoral dissertation, which she defended in May 2017 and which was funded by the Netherlands Organisation…

Develop a tool to assess land tenure, access to land and, and land tenure conflict in Timor-Leste

In this article, Maria-Elena Kisyova, Yannick Veilleux-Lepage and Vanessa Newby shed some light on how a small but highly visible group of influencers are actively working to promote a dangerous far-right ideology.

The Leiden Children's Rights Observatory is an open access online database of case commentaries, written by international experts on children’s rights, referring to the decisions of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on…

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.

It is difficult to deny the value and importance of human rights, and yet their application in the context of climate change is increasingly contested. While some argue that it is difficult to establish the violation of human rights by climate change processes, others contend that human rights are anthropocentric,…

Frontiers of Children's Rights Summer School