Headlines

What happens to international law when it is no longer enforced? In the third episode of the Recht op Nieuws podcast, emeritus professor Jan Brouwer and international law expert André de Hoogh explore the legal foundations of one of today’s most charged conflicts: the war between Israel and Hamas, and its impact on the civilian population in Gaza.

In May 2025, Dr. Nina Mileva was elected to the Coordination Committee of the Interest Group on International Legal Theory and Philosophy of the European Society of International Law (ESIL). This group seeks to facilitate research into theoretical and philosophical issues related to international law.

The AIWitness project has been nominated for the Computable Awards 2025 in the ‘Partner Project’ category. Laura Peters, Associate Professor at our faculty, is the initiator from the University of Groningen for this innovative collaboration between Capgemini, Scotty AI, and the UG.

Adriaan Wierenga (LL.M.), emergency law specialist and researcher at our faculty, has been appointed for a four-year term to the Advisory Committee for the Public Order Intelligence Team (TOOI) of the East Netherlands police unit by institutional decision dated 14 May 2025. In addition, he has been appointed as a disciplinary judge for the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB).

On Wednesday 5 June, the workshop ‘Making Connections: AI x LAW’ took place at the House of Connections, organized b yPepijn Tukker and Tim van Zuijlen (FRG) and Zoé Christoff (FSE). During the afternoon, researchers from the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Science and Engineering came together to exchange questions, interests, and research themes. The goal: to strengthen mutual connections and foster collaboration in interdisciplinary research and education.

Aline Klingenberg and Nicolle Zeegers have been awarded a Comenius Senior Fellow grant. They receive this educational grant for their innovative project that prepares students for legal issues surrounding digital technology and artificial intelligence through simulation labs.

Professor of Private Law Albert Verheij has been awarded a Comenius Teaching Fellow grant. With this educational subsidy, he will develop an innovative curriculum titled ‘Towards a human-centered rule of law’. The project places the perspective of those seeking justice at the heart of legal education.

Jasper Verstappen, Assistant Professor at our Faculty, is one of the four winners of the JTS Early Career Researcher Prize 2025. The prize is awarded by the Jantina Tammes School and this year’s theme was ’Collaborative Innovation’.

Suppose that an adult son is living away from home. He deals drugs and has hidden a large quantity of pills at his parents’ home without their knowledge. Following a police raid, the house is sealed off on the mayor’s orders. As a result, the parents end up on the street overnight. The son is still at large. Is this measure really proportionate?

Heinrich Winter, Bert Marseille, Barbara Brink and Hati Ruigrok, all affiliated with the Department of Constitutional Law, Administrative Law and Public Administration, are conducting a study commissioned by the Legal Aid Board on the functioning of quality assurance tools in legal aid for asylum seekers. The research focuses on the specific characteristics of asylum cases and the particular vulnerability of the individuals involved in these procedures.

Assistant professor of Technology Law María Lorena Flórez Rojas (course coordinator), led the final session of the interactive learning game ‘You Are Hired!’ together with PhD candidate Anna Helena Marquez. The grand finale took place at Microsoft Netherlands.

What drives thousands of Dutch citizens to turn their backs on the government and the law? In the latest episode of the Recht op Nieuws (Right to News) podcast, emeritus professor Jan Brouwer and researcher Luuk de Boer delve into the phenomenon of ‘sovereigns’: individuals who seek to withdraw as much as possible from government regulations, and who sometimes don’t shy away from using violence.

Dr Valérie van 't Lam has been appointed Professor of Environmental Law at the Faculty of Law, in cooperation with the Groninger University Foundation (GUF), with effect from 1 August 2025.

Katerina Tsampi, assistant professor of Public International Law, has recently been awarded a grant from the NWO SGW Open Competition XS program. Tsampi will receive the grant for her research into the oppression of women who engage in political dissent.

Dr Kartica van der Zon has been appointed special professor of Family Law, Law of Persons and Juvenile Law. She will hold this position alongside her current appointment at the Department of Child Law and Health Law at Leiden University. She succeeds Prof Fatih Ibili, who held the position between 2017 and 2024.

Nederland krijgt te maken met steeds gewelddadigere criminaliteit: liquidaties op klaarlichte dag, bedreigde journalisten, en explosies bij woningen. In Nederland zijn we dit niet gewend.

Nynke Vellinga, senior researcher in Technology and Law at the Faculty of Law, has received a KNAW Early Career Partnership. This will give her the opportunity to organize an interdisciplinary scientific meeting.

Thousands of demonstrations take place in the Netherlands every year. These demonstrations raise many questions about the right to demonstrate. This topic is the subject of the Public Academy for Jurisprudence on 22 May at 07.30 p.m. - 9 p.m. During this evening, we will look through a legal lens at the right to demonstrate.

'In Science' is the podcast of the University of Groningen. This episode we speak with John Morijn. Wim Brons and Hanna van Loo interview him about the dangers to the democratic rule of law and the worrying developments in the Netherlands and countries around us.

Assistant professor of Technology Law María Lorena Flórez Rojas, together with PhD candidate Anna Helena Marquez Daly, has launched the third part of the interactive game “You Are Hired” . The game provides students with a hand-on legal and tech learning experience. The third part is called “Experiential Learning Spotlight”.

Marc Wever, assistant professor of Administrative Law at our faculty, has been awarded a grant from the Gratama Foundation. With this grant, Wever will conduct research into the concept of ‘serviceability’ among government employees, legislators, judges, and citizens.

In the coming weeks the nominees for the Ben Feringa Impact Award 2025 will introduce themselves and their impactful research or project. This week: Noor Swart and Berend Roorda, on their online information initiative on the right of freedom to assembly, demontratierecht.nl

How can we all become less dependent on Big Tech? A topical and urgent question that is also arising within the University. Recently, a petition by a group of staff members made the rounds that called for the University to break away from Google and Amazon. Peter van de Waerdt obtained his PhD in November last year on this very subject. The significant title of his thesis: Data is power.

On 16 April 2025, the Faculty of Law at the University of Groningen will launch the first episode of its podcast The Right to News (in Dutch: Recht op Nieuws). The theme of the first episode is: “Can the government just ban organizations in the future?”

Mark Wissink, professor of private law at our faculty, recently received the Golden Pear Award in contract law. He was presented with the award by Mr., a renowned (online) magazine and legal platform.

The University of Groningen has achieved very good results in the last round of Marie Sklodowska Curie Doctoral Networks.

On 19 March 2025, Evgeni Moyakine, Associate Professor IT Law, organized the workshop ‘Command and Control under the Cyber Radar: Untangling the Complexities of Attribution of State-Driven Cyber Operations’. He did this together with his student-assistant Wendy Grooten and the Jantina Tammes School of Digital Society, Technology and AI.

Het afnemen van getuigenverklaringen in strafzaken met behulp van kunstmatige intelligentie (AI), dat is in een notendop het idee achter AIWitness. Het project is een voorgenomen samenwerking tussen de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen (RUG), Capgemini en Scotty AI. Afgelopen woensdag kwamen bestuurders van de drie partners bijeen in Groningen.

Assistant Professor of Technology Law María Lorena Flórez Rojas has recently launched the second phase of the interactive game "You Are Hired". She did so together with PhD students Sophia Salziger and Anna Helena Marquez Daly. The game provides students with a hand-on legal and tech learning experience.

André de Hoogh, associate professor of International Law at our faculty, was reappointed by the Council of Ministers in December as a member of the Advisory Committee on International Law Issues (CAVV). His reappointment is effective as of 1 January 2025.

Would you like to expand your network within the university, get to know the UG better as an organization and help us organize events? This is your chance to become an active member!

The UG celebrates International Women’s Day with a special photo series: Women in Science.

University Lecturer in Technology Law María Lorenza Flórez Rojas and Senior Researcher in Technology and Law Nynke Vellinga recently launched the first phase of the interactive game “You Are Hired.” The game offers an experiential learning experience where students face real legal and technological challenges.

Adriaan Wierenga , LL.M., emergency law specialist and researcher at our Faculty, has been appointed member of the supervisory committee for the WODC study “Final evaluation of Squatting Ban Enforcement Act”.

Evgeni Moyakine, Fadi Mohsen and Antonis Vakis leading the 'WindCyber' project organized a stimulating workshop on cybersecurity and digital twins of offshore wind farms. They look back on the successful afternoon.

Michel Vols, professor of public order law at our faculty, has been appointed scientific member of the Royal Holland Society of Sciences (KHMW). There he will contribute to science promotion with the other society and scientific members for an indefinite period.

Evgeni Moyakine, Associate Professor of IT Law at our faculty, attended a roundtable discussion of the House of Representatives in December 2024. He contributed to the debate on tackling hybrid threats in the Netherlands and the EU.

In the supermarket, there is a carton of ‘blackcurrant juice’. At least, that is what it is called and what the picture on the packaging suggests. The list of ingredients, however, states that the contents are mainly made of apples and grapes. Is this allowed without question? Are customers not being misled in this way? Lawyer Carien de Jager is engaged with these kinds of questions.

Over the next few months, a series of workshops on Labour law will take place in the Röling Building. What does that series entail and what is the overarching theme? We talked about it with Michele Molè, PhD researcher in Labour law at our Faculty.

Rianne Herregodts, associate professor in the Department of Constitutional Law, Administrative Law and Public Administration (SBB) of our faculty, will conduct research together with research firm Pro Facto on behalf of the Dutch Bar Association (NOvA). The research focuses on the field of supervision, disciplinary and complaint law.

María Lorena Flórez Rojas, assistant professor of Technology Law at our faculty, has been invited to participate in the UNESCO Network of Experts on the Rule of Law and Artificial Intelligence. She has also been appointed as an editor for the open-access journal Data & Policy.

Prof. Björn Hoops and Dr Esther Metting are joining The Young Academy (De Jonge Akademie, DJA) of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (Koningklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, KNAW). Every year, the DJA selects 10 talented academics who have demonstrated academic excellence and obtained their PhDs less than ten years ago.

Ester Post, assistant professor of Criminal Law at our faculty, participated in a research project commissioned by the Scientific Research and Data Center (WODC). Together with Pro Facto and Hooghiemstra & Partners, Post conducted research into the monitoring of digital data carriers of persons convicted of online child sexual abuse.

The Groningen Centre for Health Law (GCHL) has received two YAG grants for interdisciplinary research and teaching. Those grants will be used to establish collaborations between the UG, the UMCG, the FSE and Campus Fryslân.

Dr Berend Roorda and Noor Swart (LL.M.) (University of Groningen) will conduct research into demonstration law on behalf of the Scientific Research and Data Center (WODC) of the Ministry of Justice and Security. They are part of a larger research team consisting of Prof. Heinrich Winter, Joachim Bekkering (LL.M.), Marieke Diekema (LL.M.) and Erwin Krol (LL.M.) (Pro Facto), Dr Joeri Bemelmans and Dr Alice Dejean de la Bâtie, (Tilburg University) and Dr Klaas Rozemond (University of Amsterdam).

The Faculty of Law of the University of Groningen has recently added several new web pages to the research section of its website. Interested parties can visit those pages for information on scholarships and subsidies that were awarded to staff members of the faculty.

Mathieu Paapst, assistant professor of IT Law at our Faculty, has been appointed member of the supervisory committee for the WODC study “Data collection and sharing related to online gaming research”.

Dr. Marlies Hesselman and David Patterson, LL.M., have published for the second time in The Lancet, one of the world's most prestigious academic journals. Their article is titled “Ensuring Health at the Heart of Climate Change Advisory Opinion”.

Willemijn Krugers Dagneaux (lecturer of health law at the UMCG) and Brigit Toebes (professor of health law in a global context at our faculty) have been awarded two interdisciplinary YAG grants. With the help of these grants, they will continue to expand research and teaching in the field of health law.

Evgeni Moyakine (associate professor of IT law) and Nynke Vellinga (senior researcher of technology law), both part of the Transboundary Legal Studies Department of our faculty, have been appointed JTS Scholars by the Jantina Tammes School. They will be actively involved in achieving the School's mission from 1 January 2025.

Kirsten Henckel, assistant professor of International Private Law at the Faculty of Law, has recently received a grant from the NWO SGW Open Competition XS program. She received the grant for her research on determining the applicable law regarding ownership of digital assets (and other property law aspects).

Carien de Jager, assistant professor at the Department of Private Law and Notarial Law at the Faculty of Law, recently received a grant from the NWO SGW Open Competition XS program. De Jager received the grant for her research on misleading food packaging. Her research project is titled “Thinking inside the box: Towards consumers making informed and healthy food choices”.