The research focus area ‘Trust in institutions’ is an open invitation for researchers at Leiden Law School and Leiden University to jointly explore how trust in institutions, both from citizens and between institutions themselves, can be safeguarded and strengthened.

Building on the Law Sector Plan COI

This research focus area builds on the successful collaboration within the theme Institutions for Conflict Resolution (COI), part of the National Law Sector Plan, funded by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. This theme focused on the role of the judiciary in solving minor and major conflicts. Courts are increasingly asked to rule on complex societal issues, such as climate change, migration, nitrogen emissions, and discrimination, as well as disputes arising from citizens’ everyday problems. Within COI, we examined which processes lead people to turn to the courts (or not), how parties experience legal proceedings, and how the judiciary’s problem-solving capacity can be strengthened.

The legitimacy of the judiciary is at stake

This research focus area will particularly examine the challenges arising when an increasing number of actors turn to the courts. The judiciary in the Netherlands currently enjoys a high level of public trust. However, when courts are repeatedly asked to rule on unresolved political issues, their legitimacy may eventually come under pressure. This process can be exacerbated when other branches of government criticise court decisions, or even refuse to comply with them. The growing involvement of courts in minor conflicts also raises questions. Is the judiciary the appropriate institution to handle these kinds of disputes? And does the increasing burden on the judiciary risk undermining its legitimacy if expectations cannot be met?

Trust in a broader sense

One reason for more people to turn to the courts is that other institutions in society seem less able to effectively address problems: service-oriented and administrative institutions are struggling due to budget cuts; the legislature and political arena are affected by fragmentation and polarisation. In the past, Dutch citizens generally trusted institutions; today, however, that trust is far less self-evident as illustrated by the child benefits scandal (Toeslagenaffaire). Trust in European institutions is arguably even more fragile. Trust between institutions themselves also appears to be eroding: rather than reinforcing each other, institutions increasingly seem to be in conflict.

Expanding the scope of research

This research focus area raises the following key questions: What is the current state of trust in institutions? How can a potential decline in trust be explained and reversed? Or could the rule of law and democracy in fact benefit from a certain level of healthy distrust by citizens? What role does the reliability of information and government communication play in building or eroding trust? How can cooperation between governmental bodies be improved? So that, for example, the legislature is informed faster when things go wrong, for example within the judiciary?

Answering these questions calls for a multidisciplinary approach and input from various fields of law. Researchers from different departments, such as administrative law, civil law, criminology, European law, juvenile law, legal sociology, legal philosophy, and criminal law, will collaborate within this research focus area.

Contact

If you have any questions, please send an email to: trust@law.leidenuniv.nl

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