Dr S.E. Rap has been a member of the Department of Child Law, Institute for Private Law since April 2015 where she works as Assistant Professor.

More information about Stephanie Rap

Dr Stephanie Rap is Assistant Professor at the Department of Child Law at Leiden University. She holds master’s degrees in Pedagogical sciences and Criminology. In 2013 she defended her PhD dissertation on juvenile criminal law, The participation of juvenile defendants in the youth court: A comparative study of juvenile justice procedures in Europe at Utrecht University. Her academic interest lies in the field of the effective participation of children in (legal) procedures and decision-making. She studies child participation in diverse (judicial and administrative) procedures and settings, such as in juvenile justice, child care and protection, asylum procedures and in schools. Currently, she conducts a post-doc research on the participation of refugee and migrant children funded by the Dutch Research Council. In 2020 she received the KNAW Early Career Award.

In her research she employs an interdisciplinary approach, combining international children’s rights and child law with knowledge and insights from criminology, pedagogical sciences and psychology. Moreover, access to justice for children and the implementation of rights in the daily lives of children plays an important role in her research. In her research she collaborates with (inter)national organisations and ngo’s. She lectures in the Master of Laws: Advanced Studies in International Children’s Rights and the Master Child Law. She is a member of the editorial board of the Flemish Journal on Youth and Children’s Rights and the Chronicle of International Association of Youth and Family Judges and Magistrates (AIMJF).

Position

Assistant professor

Studies

• Bachelor of science in pedagogical sciences, Utrecht University, 2005
• Master of science in Social education and youth policy, Utrecht University, 2006
• Master of arts in Criminology, Utrecht University, 2008

Title of dissertation / oration / key publications

The participation of juvenile defendants in the youth court: A comparative study of juvenile justice procedures in Europe, Pallas Publications, 2013. 

Key publications 

• Rap, S. (2020). Access to Justice and Child-friendly Justice for Refugee and Migrant Children:
  International and European Legal Perspectives. Europe of Rights & Liberties/Europe des Droits & Libertés, issue 2, 277-292.
• Rap, S. (2020). The Right to Information of (Un)Accompanied Refugee Children: Improving Refugee Children’s Legal Position, Fundamental Rights’ Implementation and Emotional Well-being in the Netherlands. International Journal of Children’s Rights 28, 322-351.
• Rap, S., Schmidt, E. & Liefaard, T., (2020). Safeguarding the Dynamic Legal Position of Children: A Matter of Age Limits? Reflections on the Fundamental Principles and Practical Application of Age Limits in Light of International Children’s Rights Law. Erasmus Law Review, 1.
• Rap, S.E., Bruning, M.R., & Verkroost, D.S. (2019). Children’s participation in Dutch youth care practice: An exploratory study into the opportunities for child participation in youth care from professionals’ perspective. Child Care in Practice, 25(1), 1-14.
• Daly, A. & Rap, S. (2018). Children’s Participation in the Justice System. In U. Kilkelly & T. Liefaard (Eds.), International Human Rights of Children. Singapore: Springer. 
• Rap, S. (2016). A children’s rights perspective on the participation of juvenile defendants in the youth court. The International Journal of Children’s Rights, 24(1), pp. 94-112.

Courses within institution associated with

Stephanie Rap teaches in the course Children in the justice system and supervises theses in the Master of Laws: Advanced Studies in International Children's Rights and the Master Child Law.

Languages

Dutch / English / German / French.

Publications