On August 21, 2025, the Minister of Education decided to structurally embed the funds allocated to the Law Sectorplan and the Domain Plan for Digital SSH. This decision follows the positive final evaluation by the SSH Sectorplan Committee earlier this year.
What has been achieved?
The Law Sectorplan, as implemented in the period 2019-2024, aimed to strengthen fundamental legal research and related education in the Netherlands and to promote cooperation between the ten law faculties in the Netherlands.
The focus was on five socially important priorities: Conflict Resolution Institutions, Digital Legal Studies, Empirical Legal Studies, Reassessment of Public Values in Private Relationships, and the Transformative Effect of Globalization in Law.
In its evaluation earlier this year, the Sectorplan Committee praised what had been achieved. It spoke of a powerful boost to the legal discipline and a strengthening of the link between education and research. The Committee also concluded that sharp and relevant choices had been made, with many opportunities for further development. In his letter to parliament, the minister also indicated that he was impressed by the strengthening of the profile and the intensive coordination.
Sectorplans prove their worth
The Council of Deans in Law (RDR) is pleased with this decision. The structural embedding of funding will enable law faculties to further develop their priorities and strengthen mutual cooperation even further.
This evaluation is also important in the broader context of the SSH-council, as it clearly demonstrates the value of the sectorplan instrument and its great potential for the future.