Utrecht University’s Montaigne Centre for Rule of Law and Administration of Justice combines multidimensional expertise in the field of rule of law and administration of justice.

Currently, there is much to do about the concept of the (democratic) state governed by the rule of law (‘Rechtsstaat’ or ‘constitutional State’), both in the Netherlands and beyond. Four major shifts and developments have caused the classic 19th-century concepts of the rule of law to be placed in a new reality:

(1) large-scale technological developments;

(2) level shifts when it comes to the question of where decision-making and exercise of authority and justice take place;

(3) a changing role of private actors and

(4) shifts in thinking and differences of opinion about the appreciation of central values of the rule of law.

These four shifts and their consequences for the rule of law and administration of justice form the leitmotiv for our research. The central question is which (traditional and new) core values, principles and bearers of the rule of law in the newly formed reality must be central in keeping the constitutional state resilient and flexible, and how they can best be guaranteed and promoted, in particular also in relation to the administration of justice.

To find out more about the Montaigne Centre visit our website.