Photo: Prof.dr. Henk Kummeling

Prof.dr. Henk Kummeling has been a professor of Constitutional law and Comparative Constitutional Law at the Institute of Constitutional and Administrative law of the Utrecht University since 1995. In the two years before he held the same chair at the University of Tilbury. In 2015 Utrecht University awarded him a Distinguished University Professorship in Comparative Constitutional Law. He is Extraordinary professor at the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town as from 2013.

In 1988 he obtained a doctors degree at the University of Nijmegen with a thesis on Consultation in Public Law in France and the Netherlands.

In his inaugural lecture in 1997 he dealt with the problem of Secrecy Clauses in legislation. He published on several subjects, for instance Human Rights, legal protection in the European Community, Transparency in Government, Agencies, Electoral law, Local Government Law, Political Constitutional Law, International Law , the legal consequences of the Digital Era and Open Science. His handbooks on the Rule of Law and Electoral Law are being used for decades now by a wide range of universities. The Commentary on Dutch Local Government Law he co-edited is the guide for many scholars and practitioners.

He also delivered several courses on the above-mentioned subjects in the Netherlands, China, Indonesia, the UK, the USA, Surinam and South Africa. Ha has been a Member and Chair of the Editorial Board of several Legal Journals.

In the past he was a part time judge in the District Courts of Arnhem and Utrecht, Chairman of the Dutch Electoral Council, Chairman of the Complaints Committee of the ministry of Health, Social Welfare and Sports; Member of the Governmental Advisory Committee on Human Rights in the Digital Era; Member of the Governmental Advisory Committee for the Development of the Council of the Judiciary; Member of the Governmental Advisory Committee on Liability of the State; Member of the Board of Studies of the Human Rights School; Vice-Chair of the Governmental Advisory Committee on the improvement of Legal Aid; Chair of the Governmental Advisory Committee on the reorganization of the Judiciary. In 2023-2024 he chaired the State Committee on Rule of Law, established by the cabinet, parliament, and judicial branch in response to political scandals that harmed public trust.

He has also held various positions internationally. For example, he is currently a member of the Administrative Board of the International Association of Universities (IAU) and chair of the Steering Board of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA)

From 2008 till 2014 he was the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance of Utrecht University.

Henk Kummeling has served as Utrecht University's Rector Magnificus from 1 June 2018 to 27 March 2025. He was awarded the Universities medal for outstanding service, in particular for the promotion of Open Science and building bridges between universities around the world.

In April 2014 he received a royal honour by the King of the Netherlands (Order of Orange-Nassau) because of his exceptional contributions to society and academia.

In September 2024 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of the Western Cape, South Africa.