Leiden Law School: A Synopsis

Leiden Law School engages in quality education and research, with an increasingly strong international focus.

The faculty is committed to a broad programme of education
Nearly 1,000 students choose to study Law at Leiden on an annual basis. Since 2005 a numerus fixus has reduced the number of students to 850 annually, though students who register early can be sure of a place. In the Netherlands students automatically qualify for university entry having completed a pre-university diploma (VWO). The total number of students at the Law Faculty is currently around 4,500, including about 300-400 international students. The number of academic and support staff totals 450.
The faculty is organised into five departments
Together the departments incorporate eighteen divisions. The five departments are:  
  • Civil Law
  • Public Law
  • Criminal Law and Criminology
  • Tax Law and Economics
  • Jurisprudence
The faculty offers four bachelor programmes
These degrees are mostly taught in Dutch, though each year about 20-30 individual courses are offered in English. These so-called Leiden Law Courses are open to international students participating in an exchange or study abroad programme.  

  • Law
  • Tax Law
  • Fiscal Law
  • Criminology

In the Law programme a major in law can be combined with a minor in business studies or economics. The major/minor combination with business studies is especially popular. All four bachelor programmes can be directly followed by a master’s programme.
The faculty offers four master's programmes
The faculty offers four master’s programmes (LL.M.’s). These programmes are mostly taught in Dutch, with the exception of the two English-language specialisations in European Law and Public International Law of the Master’s in Law.
  • Law
  • Tax Law
  • Fiscal Law
  • Criminology

With the exception of the LL.M. in Criminology, all master’s programmes offer access to the legal profession. Many graduates also find successful careers in the corporate world, in government or diplomacy.
The Master’s in Law (LL.M.) is divided into seven specialisations
  • Civil Law
  • Company Law
  • Criminal Law
  • State and Civil Law
  • Legal Theory and Philosophy
  • European Law
  • Public International Law

The last two programmes are taught entirely in English. The specialisation in Public International Law is taught at the Grotius Centre of the University Campus The Hague.
The faculty offers both full-time and part-time programmes
Programmes at Leiden Law School are offered as full-time as well as part-time degrees, both in Leiden and at the Campus The Hague (“Law for Professionals”). Following approval, the Master’s of Advanced Legal Studies can also be taken part-time.
Leiden Law School offers four international postgraduate Master’s of Advanced Legal Studies (LL.M. Advanced)
  • Public International Law (Grotius Centre The Hague/Leiden)
  • International Tax Law (International Tax Centre)
  • European Business Law (Europa Institute)
  • Air & Space Law (International Institute of Air & Space Law)

These programmes are specifically designed for qualified international lawyers, though Dutch lawyers are very welcome also, to follow either the full-time or part-time option.
For students who wish to enhance their studies...
...the faculty offers numerous options. There are a range of student associations; the possibility of a major/minor combination; an extensive study abroad programme; options for internships and honours classes. From 2006/07 onwards the faculty provides a special talent programme, offering a select number of undergraduate and master’s students advanced research opportunities. The special talent programme consists of 13 Honours Classes in different fields of study. The classes are open to Dutch and international students.
The faculty offers professional development education...
...mainly aimed at professional lawyers. The faculty has partnership agreements with the Law Courts of The Hague and Haarlem.
A faculty rich in education, embedded in a research driven university
This combination offers a plethora of opportunities. Faculty members involve Master’s students, wherever possible, in their research and thereby contribute to thorough academic training and development. More is expected of academic lawyers. Our society is increasingly a ‘nation under lawyers’: The law and its practitioners are everywhere in life, even where we least expect them. Law creates order in society, divides assets and expenses in an equitable manner, and mediates in cases of conflict. Law faculties carry with them a responsibility for delivering the highest quality of legal education, aimed at delivering expert lawyers and with due care and attention for professional ethics in preparation for the practice of various legal professions and social responsibilities, regardless of where our graduates find employment. Law at Leiden guarantees a thorough, yet broad legal education.
The faculty teaches criminology as well as law
Our Criminology degree has quickly established itself as an important degree programme. It is offered in close cooperation with our division of Criminal Law and Procedure and has a strong interdisciplinary focus. The programme was developed together with Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Erasmus University Rotterdam. It currently has a proven track record in each of these universities. The Leiden Criminology programme was recently assessed by the accrediting body of QANU as being very good.
The faculty is engaged in high quality research in all its areas of teaching.
This research results in published doctoral theses, books and other scientific publications. In addition the faculty plays an important advising and consulting role in legal practice, including as a contributor to professional legal publications. The faculty is highly aware of its important role in society in general, which among other things has materialised in the form of a range of popular publications. As the coordinator of the Strategic Alliance of Research Faculties of Law (SARFAL), the faculty is highly active in international research cooperation.
In addition to the above, Leiden Law School publishes four academic journals:  
  • The Common Market Law Review (Europa Institute)
  • The Leiden Journal of International Law
  • European Company Law (together with the Universities of Utrecht and Maastricht)
  • The Review of Central and Eastern Europe (Institute for East European Law and Russian Studies)
The faculty incorporates a number of renowned research institutes
  • The Europa Institute
  • Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Development
  • The International Institute of Air & Space Law
  • eLaw@leiden
  • The Institute for Immigration Law
  • The Grotius Centre
6/12/2007