Royal decoration for Rob Widdershoven
On Friday, June 19, 2026, Rob Widdershoven was appointed Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau for his great services to administrative law and legal scholarship. He received the distinction from Deputy Mayor Susanne Schilderman during his farewell as Professor of European Administrative Law at Utrecht University.
Legal position of the citizen
Rob Widdershoven made a significant contribution to the development of European administrative law. His research focused primarily on the influence of European law on national administrative legal systems, with particular attention to legal protection and the position of the citizen. In doing so, he contributed to the development of European administrative law as an independent field of study. Additionally, for many years, he taught Dutch and European administrative law and supervised numerous students and PhD candidates.
He published in national and international academic journals and was the (co-)author of, among others, the textbooks ‘Inleiding tot het Europees bestuursrecht’ and ‘Europeanisation of Public Law’. He also held various administrative and organizational positions within Utrecht University. For instance, he served multiple times as a member of the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Law, as a board member of the Ius Commune Research School, and as a member of various university committees.
As State Councillor Advocate General, he issues opinions upon request in cases before the highest administrative courts.
In 2013 he was appointed as the first Advocate General of Administrative Law in the Netherlands. In this capacity he is partime member of the Council of State, the Central Appellate Court and the High Administrative Court of Trade and Industry.
Additional roles
Widdershoven is also active in various additional roles within the field. For example, he has been a member of the editorial boards of various scientific journals since 2002 and has held positions as a member of the VSNU/DRG-commissie (2005–2007), board member of the Association for Administrative Law (VAR in Dutch abbreviation) (2008–2025) and board member of the Foundation for Professional Training of Municipal Lawyers (2009–2021). and board member of the Foundation for Professional Training of Municipal Lawyers. Since 2019, he has been a board member of the Foundation Platform for Public and Private Law in Dialogue.
Awards
During his career, Widdershoven received various awards, including the VAR Prize for his scientific oeuvre. (1993), twice the award for the best publication in Administrative Law Decisions (2007 en 2013), twice the Gouden Peer Bestuursrecht (2008 en 2025), the VAR Michiel Scheltemaprijs (2023) and his appointment as a foreign member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts (2025).
Order of Orange-Nassau
The Order of Orange-Nassau is awarded to people for outstanding achievements in their (volunteer) work, surpassing those of others in their field and exceeding what would normally be expected of someone in their particular job. There are six classes in the Order of Orange-Nassau: Member, Knight, Officer, Commander, Grand Officer and Knight Grand Cross.
