Inspirational start to faculty year
On Friday 5 September, to mark our 450th anniversary we celebrated the opening of the faculty year together with the Leiden Revisited alumni event. Combining both annual events was a huge success, especially as staff brought along their family, partner or friends.
The KOG building soon filled up with a diverse crowd of young and old. The programme included a well-attended plenary session in the Cleveringa Lecture Hall, followed by various expert talks, skills workshops, guided tours and boat trips.
Welkome speech
Dean Suzan Stoter welcomed everyone and had a message for all. She started by explaining how remarkable the 450th anniversary of our faculty is, something we can all be very proud of.
She then proceeded to speak of the importance of diversity: ‘Of course, we’ve all heard of the great names of our predecessors, and their impressive contributions to law: Hugo de Groot, Thorbecke, Van Vollenhoven, Meijers, and I could name many more.
Quite rightly, these heroes are often mentioned at the important moments we commemorate. That said, many women – though often invisible – have also contributed to the development of the faculty.’
'Times don't just change by themselves, it's up to us to make the changes and sometimes try things out to make progress. When we look at the proportion of female students, PhD candidates and staff today, we hope and expect that over the next 450 years women will be more visible in helping to determine the future of the faculty.'
Stoter called for building an inclusive future together: 'Staff as well as alumni, we all have a great reputation to uphold. It is our responsibility to ensure that a faculty with such a rich history has a promising future. Let us continue to invest, especially in one another, giving men, women, everyone, the space to grow – and in difficult situations, let us strive to stay true to ourselves, stay connected and make the right choices.'
Impression of the Opening of the Faculty Year & Leiden Revisited
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Watch the video on the original website or450-talk by Tanja Masson-Zwaan
A 450-talk, of course, had to feature in the programme. On this occasion, the honour fell to Tanja Masson-Zwaan and she chose safety in space as the topic of her talk. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Institute of Air and Space Law. Last Friday, this milestone was celebrated at a conference attended by around 170 alumni.
In her talk, Masson-Zwaan underscored society’s strong dependence on satellites for navigation, communication and observation. She warned of how vulnerable these systems are for disruption, espionage, and attacks, especially since the war in Ukraine. International space law states that space must be used for peaceful means. In practice, however, a different picture is emerging. Legal questions about neutrality, commercial actors and dual-use applications (civilian and military) are playing an increasingly important role. In addition to geopolitical risks, space debris is also a growing threat. ‘Transparent agreements and international cooperation are essential to guarantee safety.’
Pub quiz
Much fun was had at the 450 pub quiz which was organised and presented by Yvonne Erkens and Egbert Koops. Using a quiz they had created in Wooclap, this ‘sparkling’ duo tested participants’ knowledge of current and past times at the faculty. There was also lots to be learned from the quiz. Who knows what degree Christiaan Bauer, son of famous Dutch singer Frans Bauer, studied at our faculty? What is Lady Justice’s favourite pet? Why was a renovation to the KOG building necessary that ended up reducing transparency? The answers to these questions were provided by the quizmasters, who for the occasion were dressed up in full ‘showmaster glam’ style.
Workshops and activities
After the plenary session, many alumni and staff set off to attend the sessions or activities they had signed up for beforehand. Visitors could choose between expert talks on various current issues (see photos below). There were also skills workshops and recreational activities in the shape of a boat trip along the Leiden canals or a guided tour of the Academy Building. The Student Living Room had been set up to welcome children and young people, offering traditional Dutch games, colouring books and a film on the big screen.
Photos of expert talks & workshops
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Michiel Smit - AI and Copyright update -
Dirk Visser - Copyright and AI update -
Danny Mekic - Me, Myself and AI -
Gerrit Jan Zwenne - Me, myself and AI -
Wim Voermans - Our constitution -
Joe Powderly, Giulia Pinzauti, Anna Marhold, and Jens Iverson - International Law in an Era of Geopolitical Rupture -
Harald van Hilten - Colleagues and conflicts: what makes a conflict at work different? -
Tamara Buruma - Incitement and the right to demonstrate: is calling for a demonstration a crime? -
Jan Joost Aten - A presentation that makes a difference
Prizes!
To round off the day, several prizes were awarded. After presenting prizes to the winners of the pub quiz, Student Assessor Roel Kwast presented the faculty teaching prizes which are awarded each year by the Juridische Studieverenigingen Voorzitters Overleg (JSVO, the collective chairs of the faculty study associations). There was one group prize for Dirk Visser, Michiel Smit, Willem Leppink, Cyril van der Net and Barbara Mooij for the best-rated course: IE Auteursrecht (Intellectual Property, Copyright Law). The jury report mentioned a pleasant and structured student learning experience thanks to the well-aligned lectures, tutorials and other educational activities.
The teaching prize for best student engagement went to Michael Berkel for the course Negotiation & Mediation. According to the jury, the students were most involved in this course and thus motivated in their learning process. By encouraging critical thinking, students participated more actively in the course and learned to understand the material better.
And finally, Egbert Koops, Dean of Leiden Law Academy, presented Tycho de Graaf with the prize for the best teacher of a course at Leiden Law Academy. Course participants awarded him with a 9.2 assessment score for the specialist course Artificial Intelligence, Recht en Ethiek (Artificial Intelligence, Law and Ethics) and the course Actualiteiten Europese Regelgeving Artificial Intelligence (Current Issues in European Regulations Artificial Intelligence).
Photos of prizewinners
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Tamara Buruma won the 450 pub quiz -
Michael Berkel won the JSVO Prize for the most engaging teaching in the course Negotiation & Mediation -
Willem Leppink, Cyril van der Net, Michiel Smit, Barbara Mooij and Dirk Visser won the JSVO Prize for the best rated course: IP Copyright Law -
Tycho de Graaf won the prize for the best teacher at Leiden Law Academy
True to tradition, the day concluded with an informal reception and a group photo!
