Constitutional and administrative law covers a broad area of law. It provides the rules with which issues in society can be solved by government authorities.

Constitutional and administrative law is a specialisation of the master’s programme Rechtsgeleerdheid (Law) at the renowned Leiden Law School of Leiden University. This programme looks closely at the interaction between national and European law.

Femke Binnendijk and Olaf van Loon have been appointed as lecturers at the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law at Leiden Law School.

On Tuesday 12 January 2021, the Leiden Law School thesis prizes were awarded at the New Year’s event.

On Wednesday, September 27th the mayor of Leiden, Henri Lenferink, gave a lecture to the master's-degree students of Child Law, Criminal Law and Constitutional and administrative law.

Managing scarcity to serve the public interest is a classic government task. An important way to execute this task is by allocating individual rights that are only available in limited quantities, such as CO2 emission allowances, gambling licences, subsidies, radio frequencies, public contracts and…

The institute that focuses on Public Law is as broad as the field itself. The Institute of Public Law has six departments, each with its own research agenda.

The Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law of Leiden University has published a collection of research essays on the separation of powers. This collection addresses the main question of whether the historically developed combination of concepts of democratic legitimacy and the separation…

Sofia Ranchordas (1985) has been appointed Chair European and Comparative Public Law and Rosalind Franklin Fellow at the University of Groningen. She will start this position on October 1st.

The Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport is to appeal against a recent court ruling on the Public Access to Government Information Act (Wet openbaarheid van bestuur, WOB). The court ruled that the way in which the Ministry handles WOB requests was not in accordance with the law.

The Council of State in the Netherlands has drawn up a programme of reflection to evaluate the role of the highest administrative court in the child benefits scandal and to learn lessons for the future.

On 22 April the 5th edition of the book Introduction to Dutch Law (edited by Jeroen Chorus, Ewoud Hondius and Wim Voermans) was presented to dr. Geert Corstens, former president of the Dutch Supreme Court.

On 21 March, the Rode Hoed in Amsterdam hosted a debate evening on the data ‘hunger’ of the distrustful government, partly in response to publications by Dutch newspaper NRC on the undercover investigation into mosque attendance at the behest of the NCTV (National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and…

At the request of outgoing minister Stef Blok, the Province of Groningen wrote a letter to support the minister in his rejection of two amendments by the Dutch House of Representatives.

Louis Honée, a student assistant for the Thorbecke chair and the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law, is one of the new European Universities Debating Champions. Together with his team partner, he beat around 150 teams in the English as a Second Language category.

More and more countries have decided to introduce compulsory vaccination. According to various experts, compulsory vaccination, under certain conditions, could help the situation in the Netherlands.

The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management is refusing to release documents on the safety of Schiphol Airport, despite a court ruling that they must be made public. The case has been running for four years and was brought by current affairs programme EenVandaag.

The introduction of a compulsory coronavirus entry pass in the workplace is currently being considered behind the scenes. Dutch Minister of Health Hugo de Jonge spoke about this at the press conference on Tuesday 2 November. But such a measure is not without problems.

The Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law of Leiden University is active in education in various ways.

In the aftermath of the childcare benefits affair in the Netherlands, the treatment of citizens by public authorities is more often a subject of discussion. This also applies to the period within which citizens can lodge an objection to a government decision.

The department of Constitutional and administrative law is situated in the Kamerlingh Onnes building

On 29 and 30 June, Ingrid Leijten participated in an international workshop held at the International Institute for the Sociology of Law (IISJ) in Oñati, Spain.

The Dutch government will be unable to make wearing face masks mandatory in public spaces in the short term, according to three constitutional and administrative law experts in NRC newspaper, including Wim Voermans.

Leiden Law Cast is a podcast made by Leiden Law School, Leiden University, for everyone who wants to learn more about current legal issues.

It was already clear that the Dutch tax office had been working with black lists for years, containing the names of people who, according to the authorities, had a high risk of committing fraud. But reports by research agency PwC make it clear how systematically the Dutch tax office discriminated when…

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.

The research performed by the staff of the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law of Leiden University is presented in the personal webpages of its staff.

The Netherlands Council of State ruled at the end of March that WhatsApp and text messages on the work and private cell phones of civil servants are considered to be official records. This decision puts the government in a difficult position. How are you going to store millions of texts and WhatsApp…

Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (VVD) has resigned as Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management with immediate effect. She has decided to take up a position outside politics and will become chair of the lobby organisation for the energy sector, Energie Nederland.

From 26-30 June 2017 the first edition of the summer course on the Europeanisation of administrative law in the EU Member States took place in The Hague.

To what extent can Parliament limit freedom with the so-called 2G policy? Associate Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law Ingrid Leijten of Leiden University discussed this topic on NOS Nieuws en Co.

On 13 April, an expert meeting to discuss the doctoral thesis of Eduardo Arenas Catalán was held at Leiden Law School. The discussion, chaired by Aart Hendriks, Professor of Health Law at Leiden Law School, included the contributions from Javier Couso Salas, Professor at Universidad Diego Portales and…

On 17 and 18 November 2016 the World Bank in Washington, D.C. hosted the Fourth International Conference on Legislation and Law Reform.

Are you interested in current affairs, developments in society and people? Are you highly motivated, willing to be challenged and able to go just a bit further in finding creative solutions to legal issues, then Rechtsgeleerdheid is the master’s programme for you.

The number of cases of coronavirus in the Netherlands is on the rise. Some mayors are now calling for measures that are more far-reaching than those at present. For example, they want it to be possible to enforce measures behind the front door. Would that be allowed?

Willemien den Ouden, Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law and Academic Director of the Institute of Public Law has been appointed State Councillor at the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State in the Netherlands.

Paul Adriaanse, together with eight other candidates, has been nominated in the administration law category for the title ‘Magna Charta Lawyer of the year’. The public will vote to decide the winner

Emily is a Master's student in Constitutional and Administrative Law at Leiden Law School.

Anne Meuwese is appointed Professor of Public Law & Governance of AI at Leiden University as of 1 November 2020. This position is part of the University SAILS network, one of the new university-wide interdisciplinary development programmes funded by the Executive Board of Leiden University.

Hugo de Jonge, currently Minister of Housing, has chosen to appear before the Dutch House of Representatives to talk about his time as ‘Covid Minister’. This sets a dangerous precedent according to Wim Voermans, Professor of Constitutional Law at Leiden University. However, under Dutch constitutional…

The Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport in the Netherlands is being flooded with applications for information under the Dutch Public Access to Government Information Act (WOB) and according to Minister Hugo de Jonge is unable to provide the information on time. News programme Nieuwsuur has been waiting…

The Moria deal has been marked as a controversial issue in the formation process for a new Dutch government – a development that fits with the government’s hesitancy in implementing what is already a meagre asylum policy, writes master’s student Nina Fokkink in an article in Dutch newspaper NRC.

From 26 to 30 June 2017 a summer course on Europeanisation of administrative law in the Member States of the European Union will be held by the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law.

In October 2020, the Dutch Journal of Administrative Law had a special PhD issue, giving an overview of all PhD research currently being conducted in the area of administrative law in the Netherlands.

On 11 February 2022, the Urban Governance Research Network (Ugovern) organised a webinar ‘Understanding Recent Changes in Belgium and the Netherlands Planning Law’. Rogier Kegge was one of the panel members during the webinar.

The formation of a new government is in full swing in the Netherlands. Or more accurately, it is in full deadlock. As a result, the possibility of a minority government is being discussed. Would that be a good idea?