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dr. Maarten Bolhuis

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, Criminology

Assistant Professor, A-LAB

Assistant Professor, Research Programmes - Law, Empirical and Normative Studies

Personal information

Maarten Bolhuis is a criminologist specializing in the intersection of crime and migration. His research examines how criminal law, refugee law, citizenship law, and extradition law are applied in relation to international crimes and terrorism. He is Assistant Professor of Criminology at the Faculty of Law, where he has been based since 2012. He studied Criminology and Political Science at VU Amsterdam and the University of Amsterdam and obtained his PhD from VU Amsterdam in 2018. In 2025, he was a visiting researcher at Roskilde University.

Maarten is Programme Coordinator of the MSc in International Crimes, Conflict & Criminology. He is a Board member of the Amsterdam Young Academy, a member of the Center for International Criminal Justice (CICJ), and the Amsterdam Laboratory for Legal Psychology (ALLP), and co-chair of the International crimes and transitional justice division of the Dutch Society of Criminology (NVC).

Research

Maarten Bolhuis conducts research within the Empirical and Normative Studies programme. His research spans the intersection of crime, migration, international criminal law, and national security. He has been involved in, among others, the following research projects:

In or out of control — examines the implications of citizenship revocation for the reintegration of people convicted of terrorism offences. Publication
In Limbo — examines the legal and practical consequences for migrants who, despite being deemed undesirable, cannot be removed from the country. The project resulted in the book Undesirable but Unremovable Migrants: War Criminals, Terrorists and Foreign Offenders in Limbo, published by Routledge.
Escaping Justice — investigates the implications of the application of Article 1F of the Refugee Convention, the prosecution of international crimes under universal jurisdiction, and extradition. Project publications
JoinedUpJustice — led by Prof. Elies van Sliedregt (Tilburg University), this project develops parameters for a coordinated system of global justice at the domestic level, with a particular focus on international criminal law and international refugee law. Project website
Investigative Taskforce on crimes against journalists — together with researchers at the Asser Institute, Maarten conducted a research study into the feasibility of establishing an international investigative task force to investigate crimes against journalists. Research study

Maarten also co-supervises the PhD projects of Mohammad Hossein Mojtahedi, Rory Sugrue, Francesca Anzovino, and Vincent Cillessen.

Teaching

Maarten is Programme Coordinator of the MSc in International Crimes, Conflict and Criminology. He teaches several courses within the programme, including its introductory course, a course on the relationship between organised crime and armed conflict, and a course on investigating conflict-related crimes from a criminal justice perspective. The latter uses scenario-based learning and roleplay to engage students in the practical challenges of investigating and prosecuting crimes committed in conflict settings.

Ancillary activities