The Department of Child Law offers organisations consultancy expertise in the field of national and international child law and children's rights.

Research conducted by the Department of Child Law at Leiden University concerns the legal position of the child at both the national and international level.

The Department of Child Law delivers high quality, multidisciplinary research on both national and international children’s rights issues. The implications and meaning of international children’s rights on children and their families form fundamental elements of the research.

At the department, researchers from the Netherlands and abroad are engaged with fundamental (legal) questions and practical dilemmas in the field of child law and international children’s rights.

Specific fields of expertise include: the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, child protection, juvenile justice, child friendly justice, access to justice, violence against children, children’s participation, children in detention, family law, children in private international law, children and migration, and monitoring of children’s rights. 

The research is part of the following research programmes at Leiden Law School:

• Coherent Private Law;  
• Effective protection of Fundamental Rights in a pluralist world and;
• Criminal Justice: Legitimacy, Accountability, and Effectivity;
• The Department of Child Law works closely with other institutes within Leiden Law School, including the Institute of Immigration Law and eLaw, Centre for Law and Digital Technologies.

Commissioned research

The Department of Child Law offers consultancy expertise in the field of child law and international children’s rights. On a regular basis, research is conducted commissioned by national and international organisations, including UNICEF, the Council of Europe, governments and civil society organisations. If your organisation has a request for research that you would like us to be involved in, please do not hesitate to contact jeugdrecht@law.leidenuniv.nl for more information.