Professor Ursula Kilkelly

Professor Kilkelly, a professor of law at University College Cork, will serve as rotating honorary chair for enforcement of children’s rights at Leiden.

The role has been established with support of the Kroese-Duijsters Fund to offer renowned academics the opportunity to teach and conduct research on international children’s rights.

Leiden University is one of a handful of universities that offers international children’s rights as an academic field of study. Leiden Law School’s Department of Child Law is a dedicated centre of expertise focused on children’s rights and child law.

The ultimate aim of Leiden’s Department of Child Law, which also accommodates the UNICEF chair in children’s rights, is to acquire knowledge about international children’s rights and to then disseminate this throughout the world.

Professor Kilkelly will teach on two courses that form part of the advanced LLM in international children’s rights, and will also be involved in thesis supervision and PhD research and in various other children’s rights activities in Leiden and The Hague.

She has chosen “access to justice for children” as the core theme of her visit to Leiden.

Commenting on her appointment, Professor Kilkelly said: “I am delighted to take up this visiting position at Leiden University and look forward to enriching the Law School’s research and teaching of international children’s rights.

“I am grateful to the university and to the Kroese-Duijsters Fund for this opportunity which will also help strengthen the relationship between Leiden and Cork to mutual benefit.”