Projects
Legal certainty in a fallible legal system. Dealing with miscarriages of justice in criminal procedure KU Leuven
Imprisoned for many years while being innocent. In several countries surrounding Belgium, cases are known in which people experienced this nightmare. In Belgium, on the contrary, little or no major cases concerning miscarriages of justice are known. However, this does not mean that they do not occur.
This research deals with the question how criminal procedure should detect, investigate and correct miscarriages of justice. ...
Regulatory Sandboxes for Artificial Intelligence: Reconciling Anticipatory Regulation and Legal Certainty KU Leuven
In late March 2023, ChatGPT made headlines when the Italian Data Protection Authority (the Garante) issued a temporary ban on the service due to concerns related to the processing of personal data. The regulator’s reactive approach demonstrated the recurring challenge to apply traditional regulatory approaches to fast-emerging disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI). The struggle for change in the regulatory approach ...
Intertemporal conflicts of private law statutes – A balancing act between innovation and legal certainty KU Leuven
Whenever an Act is changed, the question arises how to apply it intertemporally. Is the new Act applicable only to future situations? Or does it also apply to existing situations, or even to past situations? These questions (a.k.a. “intertemporal conflicts”) are governed by a branch of law called “transition law”. Sometimes the legislator solves these intertemporal conflicts via transition measures in the new Act (“explicit transition law”). ...
Legal analysis of the Belgian legal framework on assisted reproductive technologies. Embryonic stage, teething problems and implantation of an adult legal framework KU Leuven
For ages, mankind has been occupied with its own fertility. Since the birth of Louise Brown, the first test tube-baby, the research into assisted reproductive technologies is fully on-stream. De first livebirths after uterus transplantations and genetic interventions have already been reported. Legal research has not followed this trend, although assisted reproductive technologies also raise legal questions. This PhD contributes to legal ...
Is the new EU regulation (EU 2023/1115) prohibiting the placement and export of certain commodities and products associated with deforestation and forest degradation enough to deter illegal logging? Hasselt University
Recovery of illegal fiscal State aid in Belgium: legal consequences and legal protection Hasselt University
In search of a solid legal framework for qualitative healthcare services in hospitals KU Leuven
Many countries face challenges regarding the quality of healthcare services in hospitals. International organizations such as the WHO advocate various quality improvement strategies, including the establishment of an enabling legal framework. Despite the absence of a harmonised framework of minimal quality requirements by the EU, states have developed their own national legal frameworks. Some states have adopted lenient frameworks, ...
Regulating Virtual Currencies : a legal assessment of digital representations of value under financial and economic law KU Leuven
The development of e-commerce has not only given rise to new payment methods – for instance using mobile technologies – but has also resulted in the creation of various types of virtual currencies, such as cryptocurrencies. At the present moment, the legal status of these virtual currencies remains unclear, with different governmental entities holding rather divergent opinions on the matter. What is clear, is that there is currently no ...