Constitutional and Administrative Law welcomes Leo Damen for first 'Tafel van Thorbecke'
The first 'Tafel van Thorbecke' took place at Leiden University on Thursday 17 November 2022. For this new lecture series, initiated by Fatma Çapkurt and Gert Jan Geertjes, external scholars will be invited to speak about their research in the field of constitutional and administrative law.
The first Tafel was devoted to the administrative law work of emeritus professor Leo Damen (University of Groningen). Starting point of the discussion was his recently published article ‘Waait er na het kinderopvangtoeslagenschandaal een frisse wind door de bestuursrechtspraak?’ (Is a fresh wind blowing through administrative law after the child benefits scandal?) which he wrote for Ars Aequi.
About the 'Tafel van Thorbecke'
Johan Rudolf Thorbecke is best known as the founder of parliamentary democracy. Less well known is that Thorbecke also had a keen interest in administrative law and was even the first professor to lecture on the subject in Leiden. Thus, Thorbecke can be seen as a representative of the connection between constitutional law and administrative law.
Viewed against this background, the Tafels van Thorbecke will be devoted to research in the field of constitutional and administrative law. Each meeting will focus on the work of an external scholar. In this way, the aim is to stimulate internal debate and thought on constitutional and administrative law topics within the department. Four Tafels van Thorbecke will be organised each academic year.
Set-up
The Tafel van Thorbecke is an interactive event. A department staff member introduces the session, after which the speaker briefly explains his or her work. The remaining time is used for debate and discussion.