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Events

  • 2008-05-21: "Understanding a Culture of Violence and Crime: the Role of the Kanun Laws in the Evolution of the Ethnic Albanian Organized Crime Groups"
    Doctoral seminar by Drs. Jana Arsovska
    For more information: click here - Faculty of Law, NV 01.10, 11-13 h.

  • 2008-04-16: "Facts to face the future, Electronic monitoring in Belgium: what do we know, what should we do?"
    Expert seminar
    For more information: click here

  • 2007-05-24: "The Past Is Never Over" Do Western NGO's Focus Too Much on Criminal Justice in the Search For (International) Justice?"
    Debate with author Prof. dr. em. Luc Huyse and respondent Geraldine Mattioli (Human Rights Watch)
    For more information: click here

  • 2007-03-06: "Albanian Organised Crime Groups in Western Europe and the Balkans: Does culture matter more than social context?"
    Doctoral Seminar by Drs. Jana Arsovska
    For more information: click here

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Did you know...

  • EU Fundamental Rights Agency presents report on child trafficking in the EU: EU must do more to fight child trafficking
    On 7 July, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) released a new report on 'The role of the European Union in the fight against child trafficking'. Many children fall victim to trafficking every year. There are extremely low numbers of convictions in child trafficking cases. Overall, the report finds that the EU must do more to address the issue. The FRA calls for better legislation to combat child trafficking. The protection and care for victims, in particular, must be improved.
    FRA Director Morten Kjaerum: "Human trafficking is part of the modern slave trade. Every year, a significant number of children in the EU fall victim to trafficking for sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, adoption and organ extraction. These are alarming signals. We must make every possible effort to protect and support these children".
    More. http://fra.europa.eu
    The Belgian Country report was drafted by Ken Van hoogenbemt, Tim Van hoogenbemt, Frank Verbruggen and Paul Lemmens
    Click here for the full-text version of the report (pdf-file)

  • "The new European Prison Rules"
    (Adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on 11 January 2006)
    "The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe had not only asked the Council for Penological Cooperation (PC-CP) of the Committee for Crime Problems to update the European Prison Rules. It also requested a report concerning a description of the significant problems and new possibilities in the management of correctional institutions, the results of recent research on prison management and the treatment of detainees, and examples of best practices in penitentiary matters.
    Andrew COYLE wrote this contextual report, the background picture crucial to a full understanding of the new Prison rules.
    You can find this report (21 p.): here (pdf-file)"

  • "European Commission holds consultation on conflicts of jurisdiction and Ne bis in idem (double jeopardy) in criminal law proceedings within the EU as a Criminal Law Area"
    On December 23, 2005, the European Commission issued a Green Paper with ideas, issues and questions on what should be one of the main policy priorities in the emerging European criminal law area: how to deal with conflicts of criminal jurisdiction between different member states. All reactions are welcome and can be taken into account when the Commission eventually will issue draft legislation.
    F. Verbruggen
    Look here for more information (pdf-file)

  • "Birth European Community Criminal Law?"
    In a decision of 13 September 2005 the European Court of Justice has established Community competence over Community issues like the protection of the environment (monopoly on legislative initiative for Commission, co-decision European Parliament, supervision European Court) also in the area of criminal law, if that is necessary for the effectiveness of community law. It annulled a Framework decision from the so-called intergovernmental Third Pillar of the Treaty on European Union which aimed at harmonising Member State criminal law to protect the environment.
    In theory, this could announce the birth of full fledged European Community criminal law and render some of the most remarkable changes included in the Constitutional Treaty superfluous. Still, it cannot be excluded that the decision turns out to be a Pyrrhic victory for the Commission and the Parliament, because it is likely to receive an ice-cold reception in several European capitals. It remains to be seen whether an EC-directive on Environmental Crime ever obtains the necessary majority or that, on the contrary, this case fuels Eurosceptic distrust of the Court because of its alleged Euro-federalist creep and provokes a kind of political counteroffensive.
    For the text of the decision: look here

  • "Prof. L. Dupont ontvangt "Le grand prix Condorcet""
    Op 26 augustus werd aan Prof. L. Dupont in het Parlement van de Franse Gemeenschap "Le grand prix Condorcet" overhandigd. De tekst die bij die gelegenheid namens de Minister van Justitie door haar Kabinetsdirectrice Laurence Bovy werd voorgelezen, luidde als volgt:
    "Né à Roeselare à le fin de la guerre, le Professeur Lieven Dupont est docteur en droit, licencié en notariat, en criminologie et bachelier en philosophie.
    Titulaire de la chaire de droit pénal à la KULeuven, le Professeur Dupont est aussi l'auteur de très nombreux articles et ouvrages juridiques.
    Son engagement en faveur des détenus ou des ex détenus débute alors qu'il est encore étudiant à la fin des années 60. Il fut ainsi un des fondateurs de l'ASBL "Oikonde". Dans sa thèse relative aux principes d'une bonne administration de la justice pénale, il met en exergue le fait que l'application des principes de l'Etat de droit ne peut pas s'arrêter aux murs de la prison.
    Il convient donc de souligner le travail fondamentalement novateur que constitue son "essai d'avant projet de loi de principes concernant l'administration pénitentiaire et l'exécution des peines privatives de liberté".
    C'est ce texte qui a abouti à la loi du 12 janvier 2005 et qui a conféré, pour la première fois dans notre pays, un statut juridique, et non pas seulement administratif, aux détenus de nos prisons. Cette loi est aujourd'hui et restera mieux connue de tous sous le nom de "la loi Dupont".
    Je suis de ceux qui ont la conviction qu'une démocratie s'évalue aussi à l'aune du traitement qu'elle réserve en prison aux personnes inculpées ou condamnées.
    Le Professeur Dupont a reçu en 2000 le prix de la ligue des droits de l'Homme pour son combat en faveur du respect des droits fondamentaux en prison.
    Le prix Condorcet qu'il va maintenant recevoir consacre cet engagement de longue date."

  • "Europese Commissie lanceert actieplan Justitie, Vrijheid en Veiligheid"
    English version of the text: look here (pdf-file)

  • "Constitutional court finds certain provisions new Belgian law on serious violations international humanitarian law unconstitutional"
    Part of the 2003 Act that seriously pulled Belgium's universal jurisdiction law back, has been found unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court. The requirement of certain links to Belgium (territorial, active personality, limited passive personality principles) has survived constitutional scrutiny however, so there will be no return to the universal jurisdiction in its most absolute form that made the Belgian law famous worldwide. The main weakness was the absence of judicial review of decisions not to initiate proceedings by the federal prosecutor and the insufficiently justified limitation of victim's rights to initiate proceedings compared to "ordinary" Belgian crimnal procedures. A new law will have to be adopted before March 31th, 2006.
    For the full decision (in French): look here (pdf-file)

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