Professor of Law & Safety
‘I want to know what goes on in the grey area between rules and reality’
Julien van Ostaaijen, professor of Law & Safety
In our country, only the government can seize your money or use violence against you. It can even put you in prison. Julien van Ostaaijen is intrigued by this power monopoly: “Without strong government, there’s no rule of law, but obviously that kind of power comes with enormous responsibility. In recent years, there have been many instances where the government failed to live up to that responsibility. Of course, we can tighten laws and regulations, but there will always be a grey area where professionals have to make their own moral judgements. My research group wants to give them the practical tools they need to make those calls.”
These are busy times for Van Ostaaijen, who has quite a few concerns about how the government is functioning and the widespread sense of discontent in our country. “There are people whose distrust of government is so great that they’ve turned away from it altogether: the sovereign citizens. This isn’t an entirely new phenomenon – there have always been small groups of people who reject authority. Yet there’s also a larger, growing group of citizens who are less extreme, but who clearly feel disgusted with politics and no longer vote, for example. That worries me. So it’s all the more important that the government shows itself to be transparent and trustworthy. That’s what I hope to contribute to with my research group.”
Focus on local government
Van Ostaaijen deliberately focuses not on national politics, but on local government. “Within a municipality, local politicians and civil servants will literally run into citizens in the street, so those jobs require a certain amount of resilience. On top of that, municipalities have been put under additional pressure as a result of national decisions in recent years. Just look at the introduction of the Participation Act and the Youth Act, both of which were accompanied by substantial cuts. And then you’ve got municipal councillors who’ve never been trained for the work they do, because that kind of training just doesn’t exist. Which isn’t a bad thing – I actually think lay governance provides added value, but the challenges municipalities have to deal with are becoming increasingly complex in terms of substance. So I want to empower local leaders and the professionals who support them.”
Research and practice
Van Ostaaijen studied legal public administration at Tilburg University, where he has held various positions since 2003. He has also served as a scientific adviser at the ProDemos House for Democracy and the Rule of Law, and has worked in various capacities for municipalities and local courts of auditors. “Now that I’m combining my work for the university with my research group at Avans, all my interests are coming together – research and practice.”
Van Ostaaijen’s studies relate to current social issues: should we look for creative ways to interpret laws and regulations? What’s the best way to deal with social unrest? And how do we create checks and balances within public governance? “I do want our work to add something to the existing knowledge on these topics. Organisations like the Councillor’s Association use our expertise to train new councillors, so I hope that makes our work relevant.”
Tomorrow’s professionals
Avans students also benefit from the research group’s knowledge, which is essential for Van Ostaaijen: “It’s important that new professionals are well prepared for practice, and for the forces they’ll have to contend with. The best decisions are made when professionals are given space to express their honest opinions. With my research group, I want to provide them with professional knowledge while also increasing their mental resilience, so that they can really make a difference.”
Julien van Ostaaijen delivered his inaugural lecture, entitled ‘Robin Hood and the Rule of Law’, on 27 May 2021. Watch the recording here or read the transcript here.