Dr Mr Roland Moerland (C.A.R.)

Roland Moerland is Assistant Professor of Criminology and Law at Maastricht University. He is the director of the Forensics Criminology and Law Master Program and the co-director of the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights.

In his work Roland Moerland focuses on the criminal behaviour of states, governments, and corporations (organisational crime) and crimes perpetrated by illegal enterprises and groups (organized crime). This specific focus arose out of his interest in the role that organisational and network structures play in the perpetration of crime. Of particular interest is how certain mechanism and processes within these environments allow for the evasion and avoidance of problematic realities. Such ‘states of denial’ greatly facilitate the perpetration and continuation of criminal behavior. He is furthermore interested in how social, economic, and political structures provide opportunities for both organisational and organized crime and how because of these opportunity structures both types of crime can meet and intersect. Lastly, Moerland focuses on the aftermath and how individuals, communities and societies deal with organisational and organized crime. Roland Moerland publishes, lectures and supervises bachelor, master and PhD students in these fields.

Roland Moerland is the co-director of the Maastricht Centre for Human Rights and in this position, he is responsible for the organization of the Centre which facilitates and supports research in the field of human rights at Maastricht University’s Faculty of Law by organizing research projects, conferences, seminars and lectures, etc. He is also a member of the International Association of Genocide Scholars and he serves as an editor on the editorial board of Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal.