Call for Abstracts for Emerging Scholars: Digitalisation of Justice, University of Groningen, 29 May 2026

Dr. Benedikt Schmitz (University of Groningen), the organiser of the upcoming symposium ‘Digitalisation of Justice: Perspectives from Germany and the Netherlands’, has kindly shared this Call for Abstracts for emerging scholars with us.

Call for Abstracts

We invite emerging scholars (PhD candidates or 1-year post-PhD) to submit abstracts for the symposium ‘Digitalisation of Justice’: Perspectives from Germany and the Netherlands, taking place on 29 May 2026 in Groningen, the Netherlands. Click here for more information.

Six abstracts will be selected and their authors invited to create posters for the symposium, which will be displayed all day. As part of the main programme, the authors will get a chance to present their work in elevator pitches and answer questions about the content.

Authors who submit a full paper before the conference may be considered for the edited book, which Springer Nature will publish. A separate Call for Chapters has been published here.

Subject Matter and Eligibility

Law is rapidly changing with technology. This symposium examines how digitalisation impacts courts and dispute resolution, striking a balance between efficiency and fairness (e.g., remote trials and body language cues). We welcome topics within Private International Law, Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, and Administrative Procedure.

Dutch and German perspectives are central; European angles are also welcome if they discuss how national law is impacted.

Submission Instructions

Abstracts should reflect original research that will not yet have been published nor entered peer-review. To submit, scholars should send by email:

• in the subject line: ‘Call for Abstracts’,
• a 250-word abstract,
• the author’s name, title of the paper, institutional affiliation, and contact information,
• the author’s CV, and
• optional a travel scholarship request (max. 150 words)

to Dr. Benedikt Schmitz at digitalisation@weakerparties.eu no later than 9 November 2025.

Notification

Authors will be notified of their acceptance no later than 21 November 2025.

Participation is free. All participants should print their own posters and bring them along to the conference in A1 size, preferably in portrait format. Participants are responsible for securing their own funding for travel and accommodation, but two partial travel scholarships will be awarded on need and merit.