Matthijs van Wolferen is an Assistant Professor in EU Law at the Faculty of Law. and teaches in the International and European Law LLB programme. We've asked him a few questions below to learn more about his academic profile and perspectives on the LLB.

What is your specific academic background, and what are your research interests? Do you currently work on any specific research projects?

So my background is that I am University of Groningen "born, breed, and raised"; I did my undergraduate here, my master, and my PhD, which I defended recently. I am mostly interested in the constitutional role of the courts and specifically the Court of Justice in the new legal order that the European Union is (new for about 70 years). I am also specifically interested when it comes to the public interest, for example environmental law and how we defend environmental principles on the European level and what powers we have to do so.

In regards to research projects, I finished a couple of small articles and I am starting to work on a case against the Dutch government on the infringements happening in Uganda. What it is interesting about this case is that it is European funding that an organisation wants to stop, and about the international position of the European Court of Justice and European Union and Judicial protection in a multilevel domain.

 What courses do you teach within the LLB and/or the Faculty?

A little bit of everything; for the LLB I teach mostly The Law of the European Union and European Judicial Protection. I also manage Introduction to International and European Law and supervise students for their bachelor thesis. For the Faculty,  I teach the big subject Europees Recht and I am going to teach the Seminar European Constitutional Law.

What do you enjoy teaching about these specific courses?

The best thing about teaching is the interaction, it is really nice to be able to teach students subjects when they actually like it and to get them all enthusiastic about the interesting things. The moment that you see when they are actually engaged with the material, it is the best feeling ever. I have started to not feel too bad when people do not necessarily like the subjects and I am getting better at not feeling disappointed or hurt when people do not like European Law. It is also nice to have engagement with the students; every year you meet new students with different backgrounds and it is a great way to learn all about the world.

Do you find the LLB programme (or any programme in the Faculty) to be unique compared to traditional programmes elsewhere? If yes, how so?

There are so many different programmes out there, but what I do really like - and this has been the case since I did it myself - is that it is broader than a law degree. People who are pursuing the LLB are usually people who want to be more than just a lawyer and that makes them a little bit more interesting. People are interested in politics, in how the world functions, economics, etc...and so the programme is very interesting in this way. Something that I like as well is that the students are not only interested in what the law is, but they are also interested in why and how does law really work, and where does law come from and how could you change it, what are the facts, etc. That makes it different from other law degrees, especially in the Netherlands.

 
What career prospects do you think there could be for students who pursue careers in your specific legal field of expertise?

I think that the bachelor is quite broad (which is nice) and it is easier to find specific masters programmes afterward. In the LLB, you get a little bit of everything and so if you want to go into European Constitutional law, there are masters that address that quite well. The prospects are really good, some students pursue internships as well during their studies and then end up in a really good NGO, for example, after graduation. A lot of people who pursue the LLB do not want specifically to become a lawyer, they either want to become an activist or work for specific institutions. I keep quite good tabs on my students and know that most are having interesting careers, which I really like to see. Everyone ends up everywhere.

Has the Covid-19 situation or any other recent international events affected the way in which experts in your field practise/operate their professions?

It was interesting to see how the situation evolved. There are two sides of what I do: the research side and the teaching side. Research wise, it is interesting to see the shift to doing most of the activities online, especially for environmental law and for conferences. It is interesting to see how people found ways to come together and to work; also how quickly things go and how everyone got used to what it is the new 'normal’. I think that from now on, conferences and projects will be faster, more streamlined, more efficient, and more used to the tech. Teaching has changed a lot as well; the interaction between the teachers and the students has been very difficult to maintain. However, the quality and transfer of the information has been way better online. For example, I manage a certain amount of students in a group during my tutorials and I get to help more students, as well as answering, in a more efficient way, their questions.
 

Do you have any advice for students interested in pursuing the same field of legal expertise?

The biggest advice that I have is realise that you have time and that you have time to find your place. After you graduate, it takes time to find your place and even if you like academia, you probably won’t get the first position that you apply for and that is not a bad thing because you have more time to practice and to find what your research projects are going to be. The same way applies to the people who want to get into environmental law. If you want to become an activist, it takes a little bit of time to find some places where you could become an environmental law specialist. There will always be people who will get 'there' faster than you for some reasons, but in the end you are doing your own thing and by your own process, and as long as you keep doing it, then it will work out.

- Interview by: Cristiana Zamfir, International and European Law student
- Editor: Dr. Chris Brennan, Marketing Advisor, Faculty of Law