Public Law

Welcome to the department of Public Law

The Department of Public Law focuses on the normative, conceptual, and empirical studies of (inter)national and European public law. The Department is well-known in The Netherlands and beyond, due to the top quality of its education and research outputs. Its research and education are focused on the areas of administrative law, social law, constitutional law, labor law, and environmental law. The Department hosts about 45 staff members.

The Department offers a wide and comprehensive variety of courses, both at undergraduate and graduate level, including moot court supervisions and professional/post-academic courses. Characteristic for the Maastricht approach – which is also visible within the Department of Public Law – is that courses are not only offered on Dutch law, but also on European and comparative public law. Please refer to the ‘Education page’ to discover more.

In light of the Faculty’s commitment to research that what is both societally relevant and interdisciplinary, the department explores the evolution and resilience of public legal institutions through the lens of real-world challenges and broader social transformations. Researchers of the Department participate actively in faculty and interfaculty Research Centres and Institutes. The research is embedded in the Montesquieu Institute, MCEL, CERiM, Gobalisation and Law Network, MOSaR and the Ius Commune Research School. The Department has developed extensive connections with partner institutions around the world. These relationships provide for the exchange of students and staff between Maastricht and other leading institutions, and offer opportunities to share knowledge, develop understanding and enrich the research and academic life of the faculty as a whole. Please refer to the ‘Reseach page’ to discover more


For further information please go to Education, Research, People of the Law Support Office.