A festive procession celebrated Leiden University’s foundation in 1575. The law programme would help the university make a name for itself: ‘omme alsoe die universiteyt te vermaerder te doen maecken’. Cornelis de Groot and Cornelis van der Nieustadt were the first professors and the most famous legal scholar from these early years was Hugues Doneau (Donellus). In 1584, the Catholic professor Thomas Zosius was appointed − against the wishes of the city authorities, but with the approval of William of Orange. The university was for all learning, not just the religious variety. 

Hugo de Groot, also known as Hugo Grotius, studied in Leiden between 1594 and 1598, attending law lectures given by his uncle, Professor Cornelis de Groot. In 1609, the university’s publisher Elzevier published Mare Liberum (The Freedom of the Seas). In this book, commissioned by the Dutch East India Company, Grotius defended the principle of the freedom of the seas. It is part of a larger work De jure praedae (On the Law of Prize and Booty), the manuscript of which is kept at the university library. 

Leiden's law faculty was world leading in the 17th century. Famous professors like Vinnius, Voetius and Noodt laid the foundation for what was to become known as Roman-Dutch law. Students came from far and wide, from the Scottish Sir John Clerk to the Polish Prince Radzivill. Members of the House of Orange were also educated in Leiden. Other foreign students included John Quincy Adams (1780-1781), the sixth president of the United States. 

Gerard Noodt was the leading exponent of the 'Elegant School', which coupled legal humanism with practical ingenuity. He twice held the position of Rector Magnificus at Leiden University. As Rector, he argued in 1699 that sovereignty lay with the people and not with a God-given sovereign. Inspired by natural law, he delivered a principled defence of religious tolerance in an address in 1706. Both manuscripts were translated into French and would have a major impact. 

After the fall of Napoleon, national codes had to be created to replace the French codes introduced from 1809 onwards. Joan Melchior Kemper produced drafts of the Civil Code in 1816 and 1820. Other Leiden professors were also given this honour: Modderman drafted the Copyright Act and the Criminal Code of 1886; Drucker stood at the cradle of labour law; and Meijers drafted the new Civil Code, which was completed after his death by Drion, Schadee, and others. 

Professors gave public lectures, but these were never well attended. The actual teaching was done at home, in lectures and privatissima. Exam tutors, known as repetitors, were also active in this market, helping students pass their exams. Older alumni may have memories of the repetitor Witkam. Besides these exam tutors, private teachers were appointed to teach certain courses. The most famous was the lawyer and poet Willem Bilderdijk, who taught Dutch history and constitutional law from 1817 to 1827. 

Extra chairs were needed when Thorbecke lectured on the history of constitutional law in the summerhouse in his garden. These lectures formed the basis for his Aanteekening op de Grondwet, literally ‘Annotation on the Constitution’ (1839), and for the liberal Constitution of the Netherlands he drafted in 1848. Thorbecke studied in Leiden and was a professor from 1831 to 1850. He was the leader of three cabinets and the architect of the parliamentary and administrative structure in the Netherlands – the ‘huis van Thorbecke’.

In 1901, Lizzy van Dorp became the first woman in the Netherlands to graduate with a degree in law. During her studies, she was the first president of the association of female students in Leiden (VVSL). Van Dorp was also the first female economist in the Netherlands and she became a member of parliament in 1922. Her friend Adolphine Kok was awarded a PhD with distinction in 1903 and became the first female lawyer in the Netherlands. It was not until 1970 that the first female professor was appointed at the faculty, when Maria Albina Kakebeeke-van der Put became Professor of Civil Law. 

From 1877, Leiden University offered a programme for Dutch East Indian officials. This included the law of the Dutch East Indies, Adat law, which was taught, among others, by Cornelis van Vollenhoven. Indonesian students in Leiden came together to form the Perhimpoenan Indonesia student association, which became a resistance movement against colonial politics. In 1927, Ali Sostroamidjojo had to defend his law thesis under police guard after he was arrested along with Mohammed Hatta for revolutionary activities. He went on to become prime minister of Indonesia twice. 

On 26 November 1940, the dean of the faculty, Rudolph Cleveringa, delivered a passionate protest speech against the dismissal of his Jewish colleagues. This was in close consultation with Ben Telders, leader of the university resistance movement. Cleveringa focused on the dismissal of the eminent civil lawyer and legal historian Eduard Meijers. The speech had a great impact. Cleveringa and Telders were interned, Meijers was deported in 1942 and the university remained closed throughout the war. Telders died in Bergen-Belsen in 1945, but Meijers and Cleveringa returned. Cleveringa’s name lives on in the annual memorial lectures and the faculty awards the Meijers medal for extraordinary merit. 

In 1973, Jean Pictet was awarded an honorary doctorate in law for his extraordinary contribution to the International Red Cross and international humanitarian law. Past recipients have included Rudolph von Jhering (1875) and Tobias Asser (1913). Current holders of an honorary doctorate in law are Bonnie Honig (2025), Graça Machel (2021), Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You (2015), Jan Vranken (2005) and Michiel Scheltema (1995). ​

The law faculty was housed around the Rapenburg. It was extended in 1955 with the Gravensteen building, and from 1969 with two buildings on the Hugo de Grootstraat. In 2004, the faculty moved to the former laboratory of physicist Kamerlingh Onnes, the 1913 Nobel laureate. The laboratory’s slogan was ‘Door meten tot weten’ (literally, through measurement to knowledge). With around 750 staff and 5,700 students (2021), Leiden Law School occupies a high position in international rankings: 23rd (QS World 2023) and 29th (Times Higher Education 2022) in the world.