Marc van der Ham (1984) is an external PhD candidate at eLaw – the Centre for Law and Digital Technologies at Leiden University, where his research explores the role of IT infrastructure companies in investigating and prosecuting disruptive cybercrime. His work emphasizes the critical need for public-private collaboration in today’s interconnected digital society, highlighting how technology continues to blur the boundaries between private and public responsibilities.

More information about Marc van der Ham

Marc van der Ham (1984) is an external PhD candidate at eLaw – the Centre for Law and Digital Technologies at Leiden University, where his research explores the role of IT infrastructure companies in investigating and prosecuting disruptive cybercrime. His work emphasizes the critical need for public-private collaboration in today’s interconnected digital society, highlighting how technology continues to blur the boundaries between private and public responsibilities.

Since December 2024, Marc has been a Senior Manager at Deloitte Legal in Amsterdam, where he co-leads and expands the Intangibles, Data, and Technology team. In this role, he advises businesses, government agencies, and organizations on navigating the complexities of EU digital regulations, crafting practical legal strategies to ensure compliance, foster innovation, and balance public and commercial interests.

Before joining Deloitte, Marc served as Acting Head of the Policy & Strategy Team and Strategic Advisor at the National Office of the Dutch Public Prosecution Service. From 2017, he worked closely with national prosecutors specializing in high-tech cybercrime, lawful intercept, digital investigations, and legal hacking. His efforts focused on modernizing the legal framework to address cyber and digitized crime, fostering public-private partnerships, and collaborating with intelligence services and the National Cyber Security Center.

Earlier in his career, Marc gained valuable experience at the intersection of law, technology, and policy through roles at Google, the European Parliament in Brussels, and Stek Lawyers in Amsterdam. A passionate educator, he frequently delivers courses and lectures at academic institutions, offering insights into the rapidly evolving digital regulatory landscape.

Research

Marc’s research focuses on the question of to what extent cybercrime can still be successfully investigated and prosecuted. The borderless nature of the Internet’s architecture and society’s growing dependence on private companies and technologies also raises complex challenges for law enforcement authorities. While incidents of disruptive cybercrime increase, the investigation and prosecution of suspects remain limited. The title of Marc’s research is: “Impunity and disruptive cybercrime” and discusses the pros and cons of legal assistance obligations for ‘IT infrastructure companies’ in criminal investigations of ‘disruptive cybercrime’. Rule of law principles, legal standards for criminal investigations and the rules of the EU’s single (digital) market are the normative framework that Marc will use to answer his research questions.