Derk Venema is a trained philosopher and jurist (Leiden), and has promoted with a thesis on the Dutch judiciary during the Second World War ('Rechters in oorlogstijd', Nijmegen, 2007). He teaches German and philosophy in secundary education. He is also a free researcher in the history and philosophy of law. In addition, he teaches professional ethics to future judges at Studiecentrum Rechtspleging.
He carries out comparative studies of the highest courts of the democracies that were occupied by the Nazis (Supreme Courts Under Nazi Occupation).

Key publications:

• Corjo Jansen m.m.v. Derk Venema, De Hoge Raad en de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Recht en rechtsbeoefening in de jaren 1930-1950, Amsterdam, Boom 2011.
• Derk Venema, Rechters in oorlogstijd. De confrontatie van de Nederlandse rechterlijke macht met nationaal-socialisme en bezetting (diss. RU Nijmegen), Den Haag, Boom Juridische uitgevers 2007.
• ‘Judiciaries and Foreign Rule. Legal anthropological reflections on three Belgian cases’, in Annie Hondeghem, Xavier Rousseaux & Frédéric Schoenaers, (Eds.), Modernisation of the Criminal Justice Chain and the Judicial System. New Insights on Trust, Cooperation and Human Capital, Dordrecht, Springer 2016 (Ius Gentium: Comparative Perspectives on Law and Justice, Vol. 50),pp. 266-275.
• ‘Mr. Nino Kotting en de arisering van joodse Nederlanders’, in H.U. Jesserun d’Oliveira (red.), Ontjoodst door de wetenschap. De wetenschappelijke en menselijke integriteit van Arie de Froe onder de bezetting, Amsterdam University Press, 2015.