Researcher

Tine Van Hof

Research Expertise:Expertise in the topics at the intersection of family law, children's rights and private international law (including the hearing of children, international child abduction, international surrogacy, adoption in general) and in the meta-legal topic of how to deal with fields of law that interact with each other.

Keywords:CHILDREN'S RIGHTS, HUMAN RIGHTS LAW, FAMILY MATTERS, Law (incl. notarial studies)

Disciplines:Law, European law, Family law, Human rights law, International law, International private law

Research techniques:The following methods were used in the research: - Classical legal research (analysis of legislation, case law, legal doctrine) - Comparative legal research (mainly between Belgium, the Netherlands, England & Wales, Ireland and Switzerland) - Use of NVivo to collect, code and analyse case law

Users of research expertise:The direct stakeholders are first, all the legal actors that are or can be involved in cross-border civil proceedings that involve children. These include the judges, registrars, family lawyers, family mediators and central authorities. Second, the direct stakeholders also include all the actors that can decide or can influence how cross-border civil proceedings are conducted. These include national and EU-lawmakers, authorities in the field of children’s rights (e.g., Children’s Commissioners or Ombudsmen, NGO’s), and academics. The indirect but final stakeholders are the families and children involved in cross-border proceedings.