Organisation

Programme’s network: institutional, academic and professional environment

Students of the programme are fully embedded in the Leiden Law School. They will meet Dutch bachelor’s and master’s students on a daily basis, as well as other international students from our other international programmes. The Europa Institute has longstanding and excellent links with EU institutions in Brussels and Luxembourg. Very importantly, the Institute publishes the leading academic journal in the field of EU Law, the Common Market Law Review. The Common Market Law Review has been published by the Europa Institute since 1963, in co-operation with the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, and was the first journal of its kind. It has a very high reputation and has become the market leader in the area of European Union Law. As one of the few journals in this field, it is included in the Social Sciences Citation Index which represents a collection of the world’s leading scholarly social science journals.

The Europa Institute

The Europa Institute was established in 1957 by the Dutch Minister of Education and the Law School of Leiden University. It is the oldest institution of its kind devoted to the study of European Law.
The Europa Institute is governed by an international Advisory Board under the chairmanship of Judge Arjen Meij of the Court of First Instance of the European Communities. Professor Piet Jan Slot and Professor Christophe Hillion are the directors of the Institute. The Institute conducts research and provides education with the objective of promoting European integration. The Institute has conducted a wide variety of important research projects for governments and other interested parties. The Europa Institute is the home of the renowned Common Market Law Review, generally considered the best Law Review in its field.

The Europa Institute forms an integral part of the Leiden Law School. It co-operates with many academic institutions, both within and outside Leiden University. It maintains close contacts with national and international organisations, both private and public, within and outside Europe.

Student facilities

The Law School is housed in the monumental Kamerlingh Onnes Building, a fully equipped and beautifully restored landmark building in the heart of historic Leiden. From the accreditation report:
The programme is taught in Leiden (Kamerlingh Onnes Building). The building environment as well as the materials supplied for students are more than sufficient to carry out adequate study for the duration of the programme.

Libraries available for students
The Institute has an extensive library, containing both traditional and electronic sources of european and international business law, including studies on specific themes, handbooks dealing with law and policy, as well as the world’s most reputable journals. In addition, the Peace Palace in The Hague, which hosts the International Court of Justice, has one of the world’s largest collections in the field of international public and private law, national law and an impressive collection on the international political and diplomatic history and the history of peace movements. This library also houses the Grotius Collection, the collection on the eminent 17th century Dutchman Hugo de Groot, founder of international law.

Student counseling
Student counseling is an important feature of our programme. The 2007 accreditation panel:
[…] feels positive about the very personal way in which deficiencies are handled. The fact that most teachers have a great deal of international experience is expected to have a positive contribution to the way in which the students (from many different backgrounds) are counseled. All relevant information about the programme is communicated via Email and Blackboard. The panel thinks this is an adequate way to communicate with the students.

Graduation
Students who have successfully completed the examinations and whose thesis has been approved will be awarded the Master of Advanced Studies in European and International Business Law diploma during a graduation ceremony held at the very end of August.