Are you honored to be the editor-in-chief of this particular journal?  

'Yes, of course. The NJLP is the only Dutch academic legal-philosophical journal. It seeks to combine theoretical rigor and academic excellence with societal and practical impact in legal practice. This is expressed in the articles we publish and reflected by the composition of our editorial board. The board consists of prominent international and Dutch scholars who, in addition to their academic output, seek to contribute to important national legal debates.'

Do you consider your position special in view of the fact that women are still underrepresented in academia, particularly higher up the ladder?  

'Well, I am told that I am the second female editor-in-chief of this journal, which is founded in 1972. So, from that perspective it indeed seems to have symbolic value. At the same time, the discipline of legal philosophy is very lucky to have quite a few female role models in the Netherlands.'

Do you have any specific goals you want to achieve?  

'I want to continue the path that my predecessor prof. Wouter Veraart of the Free University has followed by contributing to international theoretical debates and being relevant for Dutch legal practice and academic discourse. I think these two goals can go hand in hand very well and can sometimes even reinforce one another.'

What will be your unique contribution?  

'Of course that is difficult to say, but I would like this journal to really be a “free space” in terms of academic and editorial independence, creativity and inspiration. Besides, I want to encourage young scholars to kick-start their career by publishing their work at the NJLP. The NJLP can offer them the opportunity to reach an international and national audience with a double-blind peer reviewed, online, open-access publication. Ideally, this dimension of being a free-space will also be reflected in that we are open to more non-conventional formats in which legal philosophy can be done – such as interviews, round-table conversations, blogs etc.' 

So, is this an informal call for young and talented international scholars to submit their papers, or other non-conventional legal-philosophical contributions, to the NJLP? 

'Haha, yes, definitely!'