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Per 1 November, UYA member Dr. Rianka Rijnhout is appointed as Professor of Institutions, Conflict Resolution & Private Law at Utrecht ľ�ϸ���Ӱ��. In her research, she will (continue to) accentuate responsibility, liability, and compensations, also using empirical-legal research methods, because we still know too little of how various forms of compensation work in reality.

Well-functioning institutions that contribute to resolving conflicts in society are of great importance for the functioning of the rule of law and people’s trust in these institutions. Especially in a time like this, in which the rule of law is pressured by various societal developments, such as the damage caused by the earthquakes and anthropogenic soil subsidence in Groningen,  chrome-6, and the Dutch social benefits scandal. In case of negative experiences with liability law, which is the common compensation system for individuals, conflicts can be aggravated and may lead to unwanted side effects for those individuals.

Rianka is program leader of the research cluster Empirical Legal Research into Institutions for Conflict Resolution (ERI). In this cluster, she contributes to the implementation of the Sector Plan Law (together with many related faculties and colleagues), which aims to investigate institutions for conflict resolution from a rule of law, law enforcement, compensation, and empirical-legal perspective.

The chair Institutions, Conflict Resolution & Private Law touches upon numerous salient, societal issues. Research into these topics is in the best hands with Rianka Rijnhout.

Rianka is also associated with the Utrecht Centre for Accountability and Liability Law (UCALL) and the Molengraaff Instituut voor Privaatrecht. In the UCALL-context, Rianka focuses on the functioning of the liability law and compensation, and how areas of law can contribute to meaningful compensations. For example, for the Dutch Personal Injury Counsel, she researched the characteristics of long-standing personal injury cases. For the Molengraaff Institute for Private Law, she provides education about this subject, so that future generations of lawyers also realise that (national) law does not always work as intended by the legislator.

Within Institutions for Open Societies, Rianka is on the forefront of the Stream  ‘Long-termism and Institutional change’.

“The chair Institutions, Conflict Resolution & Private Law touches upon numerous salient, societal issues. Research into these topics is in the best hands with Rianka Rijnhout”, says Prof. dr. mr. Eddy Bauw, chair of the Molengraaf Instituut, which the academic chair is part of.