Professor Ton Liefaard is Full Professor of Children’s Rights. He holds the UNICEF Chair in Children’s Rights at Leiden University. Ton Liefaard has served as vice-dean of Leiden Law School for five years (between 2018 and 2023).

More information about Ton Liefaard

Professor Ton Liefaard is Full Professor of Children’s Rights. He holds the UNICEF Chair in Children’s Rights at Leiden University. Ton Liefaard has served as vice-dean of Leiden Law School for five years (between 2018 and 2023).

Ton Liefaard teaches children’s rights from an international and comparative perspective and has published widely on the meaning of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and related international and regional instruments for the position of children at the national level. He is Programme Director of the master's programme Advanced Studies in International Children's Rights. He also coordinates the Frontiers of Children’s Rights Summer School and has initiated the Leiden Children’s Rights Observatory. In 2015, he received the award for best lecturer of Leiden Law School.

Ton Liefaard is a deputy judge at the Court of Appeal The Hague (though not currently active in this role). He served as a deputy juvenile judge at the District Court of Amsterdam from 2010 until 2017. He was also a member of the Government Committee on the Reassessment of Parenthood (Staatscommissie Herijking Ouderschap) advising the Dutch Government on changing parental relationships and the position of children. He served as a member of the Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles from October 2016 until October 2020. He regularly works as a consultant for international organisations, including agencies of the United Nations, the Council of Europe and the European Union, on issues related to children’s rights, juvenile justice, child friendly justice, access to justice, and violence against children, among others. He has served as a member of the international advisory board of the United Nations Global Study on Children Deprived of Their Liberty. He is a member of the editorial boards of the International Journal of Children’s Rights, Youth Justice and the Flemish Journal of Youth and Children’s Rights (Tijdschrift voor Jeugd en Kinderrechten).

Studies

• PhD in law (VU University Amsterdam)
• Master of Laws (VU University Amsterdam)

Title of dissertation

T. Liefaard, Deprivation of Liberty of Children in Light of International Human Rights Law and Standards, Antwerp/Oxford/Portland: Intersentia publishing 2008.

UNICEF Chair in Children's Rights

The UNICEF Chair in Children’s Rights was established in March 2012 and is the result of a special collaboration between Leiden University, UNICEF The Netherlands and the Leids Universiteits Fonds (LUF). It aims to promote academic research and education for students and professionals in the field of international children’s rights. Leiden University, more specifically Leiden Law School, together with UNICEF The Netherlands have a joint commitment to support the chair financially and to additional fund raising for the various academic and societal activities and initiatives of the chair. The LUF has set up a special fund called the UNICEF Fund Chair Children’s Rights to accommodate this collaboration.

Publications