Department of Child Law to become Department of Child Law and Health Law
The Faculty Board and the Institute of Private Law have agreed to combine the disciplines of child law, international children’s rights and health law into one Department of Child Law and Health Law.
Our faculty has had a Child Law department for a long time now. The department conducts academic research and provides education in the field of Dutch child law and international children's rights. Through its teaching and research, the department has built up a unique position in the Netherlands and beyond, and that position is still developing. It plays a role in numerous social issues including child abuse, youth care and juvenile delinquency. Professor Mariëlle Bruning has been responsible for the field of child law at the department since 2004. Professor Ton Liefaard has held the UNICEF Chair in Children's Rights since 2012 and he is Head of Department and in charge of teaching and research in the field of children's rights.
Meanwhile, health law has also become an increasingly important field of law within our faculty. In 2022, Mirjam Sombroek van Doorm was appointed Professor of Law and Health. She works in close, interdisciplinary collaboration with an expanding group of lecturers and researchers from the departments of Child Law, Civil Law and eLaw. Beyond Leiden Law School, that collaboration primarily involves working with the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and the French universities Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne and Paris-Panthéon-Assas University.
There had been a long-term wish to merge Child Law and Health Law into one department. Last week, the Faculty Board and the Institute of Private Law agreed to combine the disciplines of child law, international children's rights and health law into one Department of Child Law and Health Law.
Mirjam Sombroek, Professor of Law and Health, says, ‘I’m delighted with this decision. Our team was already working closely with our colleagues from Child Law. This merger is going to help us collaborate both with each other and with others at the faculty and beyond. I’m really looking forward to that.’
Ton Liefaard, Head of Department, says, ‘This merger allows the three disciplines to join forces and continue to develop together. There’s a clear need, both within academia and society in general, for knowledge in these fields. I’m very much looking forward to working with Mirjam's team – we’re going to achieve great things.’