Leon Verstappen
Professor of Civil Law, Academic Director | Groningen Centre for Law and GovernanceMember of Hague Rule of Law Network
Leon Verstappen is full professor of civil and notary law at the University of Groningen (see: www.notarieelinstituut.nl), legal advisor to Hekkelman Lawyers & Notaries in Arnhem and Nijmegen, deputy-judge Court of Appeal Leeuwarden, member of the board of governors Foundation Grotius Academy and of the Foundation for Professional Training of Notaries, member of the Supervision Board of the Foundation for the advancement of Notary Science in Amsterdam.
He is former Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Groningen (2006-2010) and former head of the Department of Private en Notary Law (2002-2005).
Leon is one of the founders and presently Academic Director of the Groningen Centre for Law and Governance as well as one of the founders and board member of the Netherlands Institute for Law and Governance.
Leon primarily focuses on Dutch and international real property and land law, matrimonial property law, inheritance law and related tax laws, in research, teaching and training.
In 2001, he participated in the MHO project “Upgrading Teaching and Research in Economics, Business and Law” with the Can Tho University, Vietnam.
From 2006-2009 he participated in the Asia Facility for China 2006-project: ProLAND on Chinese land tenure and land governance, resulting i.e. in the PhD thesis: ‘China’s rural development challenges: land tenure reform and local institutional experimentation’, which he supervised (defended by Dr. Yongjun Zhao in 2010) as well as giving training courses to Chinese scholars and land practitioners. He supervises several PhD studies on land issues in China, Vietnam and Indonesia, as well as a comparative European study on third party protection in real estate law.
He also supervises a number of PhD theses on the Dutch land law.
Leon participates in the cooperation between the Chinese Ministry of Land and Resources and Cadastre Netherlands to improve land registration in China (Memorandum of Understanding signed in November 2008). He currently is working on a research project on land governance in China in rural areas, funded by the Ford Foundation.
He is currently also involved in the project ‘Building blocks for the rule of law’ by lecturing staff members of different leading Indonesian universities on the subject of land law and family law.
Rule of Law expertise
- Land administration and property rights
- Law and governance
- Family law
Country / region expertise
- Asia
- Europe
- Africa
Top achievements
- Leon Verstappen is founder and chair of the International Alliance on Land Tenure and Administration (IALTA) (www.ialtanetwork.org).
- Leon Verstappen is on behalf of IALTA member of the Steering Committee of the Land Portal and as such responsible for the research network. The Land Portal was initiated by the International Land Coalition and Land Tenure Info, and it is sponsored by major international organizations (www.landportal.info). The Land Portal is a powerful, new online tool designed to make finding, sharing, and collaborating on land information easier and more effective.The Land Portal’s vision is to become the leading online destination for information, resources, innovations and networking on land issues. Ultimately, the portal aims to improve transparency, land monitoring, and the identification of information gaps for better land governance.
- Leon Verstappen is joint editor-in-chief of a number of periodicals and a series on civil (notarial) law: Real Property Law, Family Law, Estate Settlement and Company Law, to which more than 80 authors contribute.
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