Jan Smits

Jan Smits currently serves as the Chair of the Raad der Decanen Rechtsgeleerdheid and has been the Dean of the Faculty of Law at Maastricht University since 2010, also holding the position of Professor of Private Law. Smits is an active member of SSH Raad and KNAW, and previously contributed as the National Correspondent for the Netherlands at UNCITRAL and as a Substitute Judge at the Gerechtshof Amsterdam. Other notable roles include serving as the Academic Director of the Maastricht European Private Law Institute and holding the TPR Visiting Chair at Universiteit Gent. Smits was a Research Professor of Comparative Legal Studies at the University of Helsinki and held the HiiL Chair on the Internationalisation of Law. Smits obtained a Doctor of Law and a Master of Laws from Leiden University, complemented by studies at Université de Poitiers.