Dear students,

I hope the calm period over the holidays and New Year brought everyone some rest and togetherness. 

I would like to take a moment to reflect on the times we live in, both as a faculty community and as citizens. The year 2025 was, of course, an anxious one, with uncertainties and government cuts to research and education. We will only be able to better judge what the new government will bring in the course of the spring.

But in terms of the resilience of democracies, it is even more worrying. Developments here in the Netherlands, in Europe, and in the wider world do not exactly inspire hope.

Over the New Year, I read articles by various writers about the decline of the rule of law and democracy, and the steps you see in those processes. It was depressing. The gradual nature of it, how easy it is for all of us to close our eyes. But I also read about encouraging examples from the past. At our faculty, for example, there were professors – including Derkje Hazewinkel-Schuringa, the first female professor of law in the Netherlands – who were already campaigning in the 1930s against the curtailment of democratic rights and for "the intellectual freedom without which the university cannot meaningfully exist". The "Committee of Vigilance", an alliance of scientists, writers, and artists founded in 1936, was another inspiring example that stood up against fascism and other authoritarian tendencies. Students also joined in. That vigilance also led to a national University Week for Freedom and Science. Let us work together to prevent such a thing from ever being necessary again.

The rapid advance of AI also poses major challenges for society. This also applies to our faculty across many areas, especially in education. How quickly is the work of law professionals changing, and what does that mean for our programmes? How can we continue to feed education with excellent research? How can we do all this responsibly, given the risks associated with large-scale AI? What opportunities does AI offer us? We are already considering all these questions.

Amidst all this turmoil, I am convinced that society will continue to need new generations of lawyers, especially now. Legal research – about, for, and with society – is also gaining in importance. Academic citizenship and the public mission of the university is the theme of this week's 394th Dies. Lawyers, both graduates and prospective ones, quickly feel a natural connection to this. Legal scholars often see themselves as guardians of the rule of law and democratic values. But our students also put this into practice, for example by volunteering at legal advice centres.

For now, we are at the start of a vibrant year. We are drawing up a new multi-year strategic plan for the faculty in which education plays an important role, continuing to work on keeping the faculty financially healthy, but above all, we want to ensure that REC-A remains a pleasant place to study and work together. Wishing you a hopeful and inspiring 2026!

Mireille van Eechoud

Dean