Adults are more likely to reoffend after a short prison sentence than comparable adults with a non-custodial sentence, Leiden University research shows. This is true for the likelihood and extent of repeat crime.

Since the beginning of September, urban criminologist Marianne Franken has been the linchpin of a special partnership between Leiden University, the municipality of Leiden and the police. As a PhD candidate she will spend four years conducting research into how safe the people of Leiden feel.

Conference

Increasingly, crime and immigration are mentioned in one breath. This 'interweaving' of these terms is referred to as crimmigration, an expression mainly used in legal science. But what does crimmigration actually entail in practice? Defence on 8 January 2020.

When under duress innocent suspects can make a false confession. Why is this? Legal psychologist Linda Geven will give a talk about this at the Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition’s Brain & Law event. At this symposium (in Dutch) on 16 September you can attend talks on fascinating brain research…

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

Lecture, Leiden Interdisciplinary Migration Seminar (LIMS)

The minors offered by the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs in The Hague are closely linked to the defining image of The Hague as a city of international justice, peace and security as well as the centre of Dutch public administration and international governance.

This unique, interdisciplinary Master focuses on the interaction and gaps between the “law on the books” and the “law in action.” It combines theories and methods from both law and the social sciences to the practical operation of law. The core curriculum equips students with the conceptual approaches…

Law

Researchers from five different discplines work together in this interdisciplinary initiative.

Research is the basis for good security policy. By analysing the motives of radicalised people and identifying the biggest risks in the area of digital communication, Leiden University researchers are helping governments to formulate effective countermeasures.

The institute hosts criminal lawyers and criminologists who engage in high-quality scientific research that is also relevant for society.

To what extent are there differences between countries in and outside the European Union and the Schengen area in the level of crimmigration, the merger between migration control and crime control, and to what extent can these differences be explained by the way in which state and non-state actors in…

Research goal: To support the design of technologies (counter-measures and communication measures) for the prevention, interdiction and mitigation of lone actor extremist events (LOEEs), which are hard to anticipate, yet can be highly damaging to local and national communities and therefore must be…

What is the role of local authorities and communities in shaping how inter-Schengen borders are understood and dealt with?

SOLID: Solidarity under strain - A legal, criminological and economic analysis of welfare states and free movement in the EU. Analysing the ways in which immigration structurally challenges and changes the organization and conceptual boundaries of national welfare states.

In his lecture, Professor Platt discussed some of the main arguments from his latest book entitled “Beyond these Walls: Rethinking Crime and Punishment in the United States”

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.

Criminal Justice as a concept refers to the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts. While the definition seems rather clear-cut,…

Leiden Law School at the heart of society

Leiden is the place for Law

In 2022, many of our staff and students won fantastic prizes and were awarded important research grants.

Are all murderers calculating psychopaths with an obscene predilection for bloody chainsaws? Yes, if Hollywood is to be believed, but in the real world they are generally everyday people with problematic backgrounds. Professor of Violence and Interventions Marieke Liem therefore calls for the demythologisation…

On 20 & 21 April 2017 international researchers in the field of law and society and criminology presented their work in Brussels and shared ideas on discretion and decision-making.

On 1 February 2018 Professor Maartje van der Woude (professor of Law and Society at the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society) became Associate Director of the Oxford-based Border Criminologies Network.

Online presentations of our regular master’s programmes were held from 11 to 19 May. Would you like to see them again? Check out our full range of programmes below!

As a student of the Master's in Comparative Criminal Justice you develop academic, theoretical and research insight in all aspects of crime control. Student actively work on current, concrete problems and are challenged to independently find solutions. Students not only learn about the organization…

Dr Yannick van den Brink, Assistant Professor at the Department of Child Law, has been awarded a grant from the Rubicon programme of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) to conduct research for a period of eighteen months at the University of Cambridge, Institute of Criminology,…

What role(s) do border officials play in the enforcement and management of border control and border mobilities and how do these roles relate to the personal, organisational and larger societal context within which these officials operate?

Some examples of AI-research done at Leiden.

Leiden University finds it very important that you choose the study programme that is right for you. That’s why we offer so-called matching activities, to help you in your decision.

In 2015 the division ‘Migration and Crime’ of the Dutch Society for Criminology has been established to bring together academic researchers that are active in this diverse field with each other and relevant persons and organisations. On March 10 it will organise its first seminar on labour exploitation,…

Cybercrime and cyberterrorism are serious challenges. The threat posed by state actors who misuse cyberspace for espionage and disruption activities is also real and increasing every year. This minor gives you the skills and knowledge to identify, analyse and address these challenges from a variety…

A review of Elke Devroe's participation in the European Society of Criminology of 2016 : The first conference of the European Society of Criminology was held in 2000 in Lausanne. Now, 16 years later and lots of new ESC-members later, the 16th Annual conference of the European Society of Criminology…

Researchers at the Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology - Paul Nieuwbeerta, Anouk Bosma, Esther van Ginneken, Hanneke Palmen and Maria Berghuis - have received 800,000 euro from the Dutch Custodial Institutions Agency (DJI) of the Ministry of Security and Justice to investigate living conditions…

Thousands of school leavers came to Leiden between 29 March and 1 April to experience what it's like to study at university. Students at the Criminology and Psychology departments share their experiences. 'I know the subject I want to study, but I'm not sure about the university. That's why I'm here…

The European Homicide Monitor (EHM) offers a standardized framework for countries and regions to compare homicide characteristics, patterns and trends.

On 19 November 2019, the Faculty of Law and Criminology of the University of Ghent (Belgium) and the Ghent European Law Institute organized an academic workshop.

Prof. dr. Joanne van der Leun is tot september 2025 door het College van Bestuur van de Universiteit Leiden herbenoemd als decaan van de faculteit Rechtsgeleerdheid.

Professor of Sociology of Law Maartje van der Woude (Van Vollenhoven Instituut, Metajuridica) has been appointed as visiting professor at the Department of Criminology & Sociology of Law Department of Criminology at the University of Oslo in Norway. The appointment will have a duration of three year…

On Thursday 26 January 2017 Anouk Bosma will defend her doctoral thesis ‘Targeting recidivism: An evaluation study into the functioning and effectiveness of a prison-based treatment program’. The defence will start at 15.00 hrs, at the Academy Building of Leiden University, Rapenburg 73. Supervisor…

Leiden's city centre, bathed in autumn sunshine and teeming with visitors. On 14 October, several thousands of students and their parents came to visit the University's Open Day. We spoke to a number of students at the information fair in the Pieterskerk; each of them had their own questions, doubts…

How can and should tasks and competences for the purpose of the criminal justice system (i.e. legislation, enforcement, the administration of justice and sentencing) be defined and formulated, while at the same time taking into account the chain concept, adjoining national and international legal domains…

The winners of the JSVO teaching prizes for academic year 2020-2021 were announced at the opening of the faculty year on 7 September 2021.

The Dutch chemical industry is regularly in breach of safety legislation. These are the findings of longitudinal research by the Department of Criminology at Leiden University, in collaboration with the Department of Criminology at VU Amsterdam. Over the past ten years, the roughly 400 companies to…

On January 1, the research group Physical Violence and Public Order was launched. Previously part of the group Terrorism and Political Violence, the new group focuses on violence ranging from mass shootings such as Columbine and Virginia Tech, to domestic violence, alcohol-related violence, violent…

Hilde Wermink, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Criminal Law & Criminology was interviewed on this topic for an article published in US News on 13 May.