Trying Cases in the Media: A Comparative Overview

The essay deals with the problem of media impact on ongoing trials. In particular, it proposes a taxonomy of three comparative models of governance (traditional common law approach; US approach; Continental European approach) and makes a case for the recognition of presumption of innocence as a fundamental rigth vis-à-vis the court of public opinion

Building a Common Policy on Labour Immigration: Towards a Comprehensive and Global Approach in the EU? CEPS Working Document, No. 256, 7 February 2007

This paper addresses the building of a common EU policy on labour immigration. It reviews the latest policy developments concerning the harmonisation of the rules for admission and residence of third-country workers in the EU. In November 2006, the European Commission published a Communication entitled “Global Approach to Migration one year on: Towards a Comprehensive European Migration Policy”, which reemphasises the need to develop a transnational policy on regular immigration facilitating the admission of certain categories of immigrant workers through “a needsbased approach” and especially taking into account the case of the “highly skilled”. By September 2007 the Commission intends to present two proposals for directives dealing respectively with the conditions for entry and residence of highly skilled workers and a common general framework of rights for all immigrants in legal employment. The main questions evoked by the EU’s ‘global and comprehensive’ approach and these two proposals are considered along with the essential weaknesses that current policy and legal trends in the national arena may pose to any eventual Europeanisation as a result of following their patterns too closely

Belgium's new specialized judiciary

This brief national report was written for the First Siberian Legal Forum on the ‘Specialization of Judges and Courts: Comparative and Russian Context.’ It gives an overview of the Belgian judicial structure. After a short analysis of the judicial organization before 2014, that presents an outline of the Belgian first instance and appellate courts, particular attention is paid to the comprehensive judicial reforms of 2014. The enlargement of the judicial districts and the introduction of (internal and external) judicial mobility will lead to more specialized courts and judges. The creation of a Family and Juvenile Court and the re-allocation of some civil and commercial competences, between the Justice of the Peace and the Commercial Court, will have the same effect. Nevertheless, this report concludes that the 2014 reform is a missed opportunity to create a large ‘unified’ district court in which all first instance courts are merged.</span

The United Nations Security Council Sanctions and International Human Rights

Peer reviewedPostprin

A Comparison of the American Model and French (-Inspired) Appellate Model

Both the American and the French legal system have a three-tiered structure. However, the respective roles and functions of the courts on each step of the ladder is vastly different in both. Whereas the general system in the U.S. is to have one trial court and two ‘higher’ courts (a court of appeals and a supreme court), the French / European continental system consists of two ‘factual’ courts (the basic level and the court of appeals), and one ‘legal’ (the supreme court) with limited or even inexistent possibilities to look at the facts. The purpose of this thesis is to look at these two models of division of labor between the three tiers through the lens of (i) the procedural leeway each of the courts has and (ii) their focus on fact or law, in function of what questions can be raised in appeal and have to be answered by the courts. We will add Germany to the comparison, as (i) the structure of its court system was inspired by the French, but (ii) has evolved over the years and has been recently (2002) overhauled specifically as to appeals, both to the second level of courts and to the supreme court. We will do so by examining the avenues open for the parties in filing an appeal as well as for the courts in adjudicating those. It will be clear that the distinct philosophies regarding the appellate systems have influence on the entire organization of the different court systems. We conclude that the present-day German system offers the best differentiation of roles between the three tiers while balancing access to the appellate and supreme court level

An Emerging International Rule of Law?—The WTO Dispute Settlement System’s Role in its Evolution

More than 2,000 years have passed since the idea of the “rule of law” appeared in Western culture. But only recently has it entered common usage—we have become the “rule of law generation.” With the growth in the number of international courts and tribunals, the question arises whether the same principles surrounding the rule of law that have been developed in many national legal systems also apply in international arenas. Despite the fact that the international system lacks a centralized legislative authority, and despite the scepticism of many observers, I argue that institutions like the dispute settlement system of the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) significantly contribute to moving toward a full-fledged international “rule of law.” In the first part of this Comment, I explore what the concept of “rule of law” means in a domestic setting, and address the problems arising from applying this concept in the international arena. In the second part, I analyse the role of the WTO’s dispute settlement system, and in particular of the Appellate Body, in the progressive development of an international rule of law. In the third part, I address the question of whether the WTO’s dispute settlement system can constitute a valid model for how the rule of law can be applied in other international arenas. In the fourth part, I examine the potential obstacles in the path of establishing a genuine rule of law at the WTO—namely the absence of a balance between a highly functioning adjudicatory system and a weak legislative arm