Empirical Legal Studies

About ELS

Leiden Law School has established the Empirical Legal Studies Lab to support legal research and education using empirical methods.

Are you interested in learning how to do empirical legal research? Do you want to get to know other empirical researchers at Leiden Law School and beyond? Or researchers from other disciplines? Are you looking to incorporate empirical insights in your law courses? Or make your teaching more interdisciplinary?

At the Empirical Legal Studies Lab @Leiden, we believe in the value of empirical skills for legal scholarship, legal education, and legal practice.

Our lab members come from a variety of legal fields, such as civil law, labor law, constitutional and administrative law, and company law. We do cutting-edge research on the behavior of key stakeholders in society - such as consumers, investors, shareholders, governments, interest groups, employees, employers, suppliers, and legal professionals - in relation to laws and regulaions, with important implications for legislators and policy makers. 

We also regularly organize lab meetings and workshops. Come join our community and take part in our activities! They are open to all researchers and teachers of Leiden Law School and beyond.

Funding

The Empirical Legal Studies project receives funding from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) through the multi-year Law Sector Plan. 

Leiden University is one of five faculties nationally that have Empirical Legal Studies as a focus within the context of the Law Sector Plan. At the various faculties, new research groups have been created in which legal scholars and social scientists come together and collaborate interdisciplinarily. With the appointment of young scholars, we witness the rise of a new generation of empirical legal scholars who are the driving force for empirical legal research and education at their respective schools and serve as ambassadors of ELS. 

Leiden University is nationally the coordinator of Empirical Legal Studies as part of the Law Sector Plan.