Rick Lawson
Professor European Law
- Name
- Prof.dr. R.A. Lawson
- Telephone
- 071 5272727
- r.a.lawson@law.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0002-9910-017X
Rick Lawson has a chair in European Protection of Human Rights since 2001; he is part of the Europa Instituut of Leiden Law School. He was appointed, as of 1 September 2025, as the Chairperson of the College voor de Rechten van de Mens, the National Human Rights Institute of the Netherlands. As of this date his full-time position in Leiden was changed into a so-called 0-appointment and he no longer has a teaching assignment.
More information about Rick Lawson
News items
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Leiden University hosts successful Matra Rule of Law Training Programme -
Rick Lawson moderates guest lecture by UN Special Representative on the Occupied Palestinian Territories -
Florian Theissen successfully defends his PhD thesis -
Rick Lawson speaks at human rights conference in Moscow -
Rick Lawson delivers Cleveringa lecture in Rome -
Rick Lawson to chair meetings of FRA Management and Executive Boards -
Leiden University part of the Matra Rule of Law Training Programme II -
Rick Lawson advises State Commission on Rule of Law -
Rick Lawson speaks in honour of Judge Cançado Trindade -
Rick Lawson speaks at London-Leiden Conference -
The EU’s Response to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine: International and European Perspectives -
Successful field trip Adv. LLM programme in European and International Human Rights Law -
Rick Lawson participates in Europaeum panel on Rule of Law and Democracy -
Five years of ‘Meet the Professor’: What’s it like to give a lesson at a primary school? -
Roeland Böcker: 'Problems of multilateralism are a never-ending debate' -
‘Human Rights and the World Cup Qatar’ debate: ‘World Cup football is never just about sport’ -
Lecture and roundtable discussion with Cleveringa Professor Jan Grabowski -
Leiden student team in the final of Helga Pederson Moot Court Competition -
The war in Ukraine: ‘When the rule of power replaces the rule of law’ -
A call about: the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) -
Opening Ceremony of the LL.M. European Law -
Alice Walker receives prestigious Lincoln’s Inn Lord Denning Scholarship -
Advanced EIHRL LLM Candidates draft report For the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression -
Geremek lecture published -
Rick Lawson elected member of the Management Board of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency -
Amnesty International gives masterclass to Leiden students -
Alumni Event Advanced LLM in European and International Human Rights Law -
EP Member Samira Rafaela speaks at opening lecture Master European Law -
Leiden European City of Science in 2022 -
The Europa Institute organizes online case law dinner on the German PSPP-judgment -
Less finger-wagging, more pragmatism -
Conference on Governance of International Courts and Tribunals -
Sackler Distinguished Lecture Series on Human Rights -
When human rights clash with politics and desire for power: reflections on the current status of liberal democracy -
Opening lecture “Traveling through Europe’s darkness and daylight – A geopolitical Odyssey” -
Lecture Albanian Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Bushati -
Roundtable on the Rule of Law in Poland -
Human Rights in Asia: Overcoming the current crisis in Myanmar -
Human Rights in Asia: Overcoming the current crisis in Myanmar -
Lecture Thomas Hammarberg -
Delegation of Leiden Law School visits Tirana -
Successful Expert Meeting with 16 Russian Human Right Defenders -
Special guest lecture by Human Rights Defender Mr. Rasul Jafarov (Azerbaijan) -
Expert Meeting on “Sale of Children and Illegal Adoption” -
Erik-Jan Zürcher, professor of Turkish Studies, opens the European Law master -
Learning to argue a case in a ‘real’ court -
Visitors from Qatar University College of Law
Sackler Distinguished Lecture Series on Human Rights
Rick Lawson was a fulltime professor, specialising in European human rights law, from 2001 to 2025). He published widely on the European Convention of Human Rights, the Council of Europe, and on the protection of fundamental rights in the EU legal order. He was Programme Director of the Advanced LLM programme in European and International Human Rights Law (2018-2025). Following his appointment, as of 1 September 2025, as the Chairperson of the College voor de Rechten van de Mens, the National Human Rights Institute of the Netherlands, his full-time position in Leiden was changed into a so-called 0-appointment; he no longer has a teaching assignment.
Rick Lawson served as Dean of Leiden Law School (2011-2016). He was appointed member, in respect of The Netherlands, of the Management Board of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) in Vienna (2020-2025), and elected as its Vice-Chair (2021-2025). He served on various occasions as expert before Dutch Parliament and before the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). He was a founding member of the EU Network of Independent Experts on Fundamental Rights (2002-2006); and a s Senior expert of the FRALEX Network of Human Rights Experts, set up by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (2008-2009).
He appeared regularly as a speaker at international conferences and gave guest lectures at various universities and institutions in Europe and beyond. He served in various training programmes organized, inter alia, by the Council of Europe, including in Armenia (Yerevan), Kosovo (Prishtina, Prizren), Moldova (Chisinau), Russian Federation (Moscow, Petersburg), Slovenia (Bled) and Turkey (Istanbul, Izmir, Mardin, Antalya). He was a visiting professor at KU Leuven, Belgium (2017).
Rick Lawson was Member of the board of editors of the Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Mensenrechten, the leading Dutch human rights law review (1992-2025); member of the board of the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation (2011-2018); member of the Human Rights Committee of the Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV), an advisory body to the Minister of Foreign Affairs (2011-2018); member of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (since 2013). Member of the Board of Overseers of the Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden (since 2021).
Professor European Law
- Faculty of Law
- Institute of Public Law
- Europees Recht
- Lid redactie NJCM-Bulletin (sinds 1991)
- Lid curatorium
- Bestuurslid
- Lid
- Erevoorzitter
- Lid en vice-voorzitter van de Raad van Bestuur
- Raad van Toezicht
- Bestuurslid