Rieneke Stelma-Roorda

Dr. Rieneke Stelma-Roorda is an assistant professor at the private law department of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and project manager of the NWA-ORC STRIDE project Towards a new balance in empowerment and protection of the elderly. Her research focuses on legal frameworks for supporting and protecting adults with impaired decision-making capacity, including people living with dementia. Her work lies at the intersection of family law, the law of persons, health law and capacity law, combining legal, empirical and comparative research methods.

Rieneke is a member and secretary of Family Law in Europe: Academic Network (FL-EUR), a fellow of the European Law Institute (ELI), and a member of the International Advisory Board of the International Guardianship Network. In the academic year 2025–2026, she held one of the rotating chairs of the Tijdschrift voor Privaatrecht at the Universities of Hasselt and Antwerp (Belgium).

In addition to her academic work, Rieneke serves as a legal expert for dementie.nl, an online platform in the Netherlands providing information and support for people with dementia and their caregivers. She answers questions about legal measures for support and protection, including court-appointed measures and continuing powers of attorney.

Declaration of Interests
Rieneke Stelma-Roorda is project manager of the NWA-ORC STRIDE project, funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO).