How do laws and legal institutions affect society and vice versa? How does society influence the formation and functioning of law? In this programme you will study the complexity and ambiguity of rule of law.

• This master focuses on a broad range of legal fields - from criminal law to climate change regulation.

• We teach the practical tools and critical insights to understand the social, economic, and political factors that shape and constrain how law works in action.

• We combine perspectives from both the Global North and Global South.

• Students and professors and teaching staff come from diverse, international backgrounds.

• In this master, you’ll learn skills applicable to a wide range of different careers. These skills include experience with empirical research, policy analysis, proposal writing, regulatory analysis, and report writing.

Students that have left the program have pursued careers in:

• Intergovernmental organisations;

• Governmental positions such as Rijkstrainee; 

• Non-governmental organisations in the Netherlands and abroad;

• National and European Union civil services;

• Academia;

• Lobby and consultancy firms;

• Small, medium and large-size firms.

The Master Law & Society was initiated in response to a labour market demand: for students trained in an interdisciplinary, socio-legal approach to law, with an in-depth understanding of the formation and functioning of law.