About The Van Vollenhoven Institute

Through research and teaching, the Van Vollenhoven Institute seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the formation and functioning of legal systems in developing countries and their effectiveness in contributing to good governance and development.

Law, Governance and Development
Legal systems are meant to contribute to social order, justice and legal certainty. But in the face of serious challenges, law’s functioning in developing countries is frequently problematic: legal systems often inherit from the colonial past, are complex and fragmented, and must function amidst socio-political tensions and economic hardship. Although development assistance increasingly focuses on establishing the rule of law, systematic knowledge in this area remains scarce. The inter-relationships between law, governance and development forms the Van Vollenhoven Institute’s field of study.
The Van Vollenhoven Institute
Leiden University is well-established in the study of international law, colonial law, comparative law, customary law, the social and political sciences, and non-western languages and cultures. The Faculty of Law was home to Grotius, the ‘father’ of international law, and later to the renowned scholar of Indonesian adat and public law, Cornelis van Vollenhoven.   The Van Vollenhoven Institute dates back to the era when Dutch lawyers and administrators were trained for service in colonial Indonesia, Surinam and the Antilles. Today, the Institute collects, produces, stores, and disseminates knowledge on the processes of and relationships between law, governance and development, particularly in Asia and Africa.
Events

Seminar 26-28 August 2008  

Law, Land Tenure, and Reform in  Indonesia  

Van Vollenhoven Institute will organize a week of activities to highlight and discuss the study of legal systems in changing political contexts, and issues of law and governance in 21st century Indonesia in particular. 

The first seminar, on 26 August, will address the characteristics of the Indonesian legal system and the question whether studying Dutch law is still helpful to Indonesian legal scholars who engage in further developing Indonesian rule of law.

The second seminar, on 27 August, focuses on land rights, land conflict, and dispute resolution. When the Soeharto regime fell in 1998 hopes were high that democratization and reform would bring justice in matters concerning land tenure. Researchers from the KNAW funded INDIRA program will present a selection of main findings of the research they conducted in both urban and rural areas. A key note speaker from Indonesia will comment on these findings and reflect on land law and justice in the second democratic decennium.

Honoring the work of the Leiden scholar Van Vollenhoven, the workshop on 28 August focuses on adat law. It revolves around the question whether and if yes, how the deployment of customary law in Indonesia and other developing countries can benefit indigenous peoples. The evening program is film screening of a very recent Indonesian film comedy (with English sub titles) showing issues of land disputes and customary law in a modern urban setting.

The seminars and workshops will include the launching books on law and politics in Indonesia.

At the end of this page you will find a PDF file of the invitation with information about registration.



Archive 

Van Vollenhoven Lecture  16 mei 2008
The Van Vollenhoven lectures are organized in honor of Cornelis van Vollenhoven, the Leiden law professor, who acquired fame between 1901 and 1933 for his elaborate and detailed description and analysis of  the laws of  the Netherlands-Indies as well as for his impressive contributions to public international law.
Last year Minister B. Koenders gave a Van Vollenhoven Lecture on Good Governance.  

The topic of this year’s lecture is  

Traditional law in a globalizing world.Myths, stereotypes and transforming traditions.    

Lecture by:  Franz and Keebet von Benda Beckmann 
Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany

At the bottom of this page you will find a PDF-file with the text of this lecture



17 september 2007 Van Vollenhoven Lecture on 
“Rule of Law, Good Governance and Development, Readjusting development cooperation in turbulent times”   by Mr. A.G. Koenders, Minister for Development Cooperation   
  
Click here to read the text of the lecture.  

To read the comments of Prof. Jan Michiel Otto click at the pdf-document below.
Research
Our research employs a socio-legal approach to develop insights into the workings of national legal systems in their historical, social and political contexts. It includes both state law and legal institutions, as well as customary and religious normative systems, with a special focus on access to justice. In our research projects the processes of law-making, administrative implementation, enforcement and dispute resolution have a prominent place. Local case studies help us to find out how law functions in society.  
Our research asks:  

•           How have legal systems in developing countries been formed and
            what are their main characteristics?
•           How do they function in the interaction between state and society?
•           To what extent do they follow the demands of the rule of law and
            achieve realistic legal certainty, and to what extent do they
            contribute to other governance and development goals?
•           How can the formation, functioning and effectiveness of legal
            systems in developing countries be improved?  

Trough comparative analysis and formulation of theory, the Institute makes recommendations for international legal assistance.  
Teaching
The Van Vollenhoven Institute offers thematic and regional courses that attract both Dutch and overseas students.   ‘Law, Governance and Development’ is the main introductory course while ‘Legal Systems Worldwide’ acquaints students with the key features of legal systems from around the world.  An overview of the main fields of Islamic law – its history as well as contemporary debates – are covered in ‘Islamic Law’, while ‘Law and Culture’ explores the relationships between these two concepts from legal, sociological and anthropological angles. In addition, regional courses on law and governance in China, Indonesia and Africa present specific legal systems in their social and development contexts, with special attention to how law actually functions on the ground.  

Law and Governance in Developing Countries (5 ECTS)
Legal Systems Worldwide (5 ECTS)
Introduction to Islamic Law I & II (2x4 ECTS)
Law and Governance in Africa (5 ECTS)
Law and Development in China (5 ECTS)
Law and Governance in Indonesia (5 ECTS)  

The Institute also offers tailor-made courses on law and development for academics and professionals, in Leiden and on location abroad.
Library
Our library contains over 22,000 books, journals and historical documents under the care of a specialized librarian. The thematic collections include: (1) a collection of comparative works on law, governance and development in the developing world; (2) a collection on modern (1945–present) Indonesian law, a rarity outside Indonesia; (3) a reference collection on law and governance in other developing countries and regions, namely Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, the Dutch Antilles, Surinam, and increasingly, China and other Asian countries; and (4) a unique, comprehensive collection on the laws of Indonesia, Surinam and the Netherlands Antilles under colonial administration.  
Centre of Expertise on the Rule of Law and Development (KREO) at the VVI
In 2005, the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Development was awarded the assignment from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to establish an Expertise Centre on Rule of Law and Development for the Ministry’s development co-operation programme. The centre, which is named after its Dutch acronym KREO, will function for a period of three years, until March 2008. It will provide the Ministry and its overseas embassies and office with further training, advice, information and exchange in the field of strengthening the rule of law (rechtsstaat).   The roots of KREO lie in a workshop on the rule of law and development for embassy staff, which the VVI organized in 2002. During this workshop it became clear that there was a great need for knowledge and expertise on this field. This need continues to exist. Many embassy staff members who have dealt with legal development cooperation projects express the need for more knowledge, understanding, and exchange of experiences. It is felt that reflection on the opportunities for and effects of interventions in legal systems will improve the quality of legal development cooperation. Useful tools to this aim are a coherent and interdisciplinary framework for analysis, more systematic knowledge of legal systems in developing countries, and a better understanding of the internal structure, the target groups and the social context of legal systems.   The tasks of the centre of expertise are comprehensive. KREO will organise, for instance, a yearly four-day introductory course for (new) embassy staff members whose work comprises activities to strengthen the rule of law, as well as a workshop on a specific theme related to the rule of law and development. Furthermore, KREO publishes a quarterly newsletter, provides (policy) advice on issues related to law and development, e.g. interventions and legal systems, and acts as intermediary between legal experts and the Ministry and its embassies. In addition, KREO shall issue a number of edited volumes and policy briefs on topics related to the rule of law and development.   For more information, please check the KREO website at www.kreo.nl, or contact Ms. Ineke van de Meene
Who was Cornelis Van Vollenhoven?
To read more about Cornelis van Vollenhoven, click on the document below.
ALADIN
Association for Law and Administration in Developing and Transitional Countries

Aladin is a forum for debate between policymakers, academics and all others involved in the field of law and administration in developing and transitional countries. It is based in the Netherlands where it organizes debates and seminars and publishes a newsletter.

Aladin was formed in 1999, joining the former WBIO (Werkgroep Bestuur in Ontwikkelingslanden), AGDA (Association for Graduates in Development Administration) and the Van Vollenhoven Institute.
20/8/2008