Latest blog articles

  • Mixed pension: civil servants pension up for revision

    The statutory pension of civil cervants in Belgium is on de verge of a reform. The legislative proposal ‘mixed pension’ will soon be introduced by law, after being the centre of intense debate for nearly a year. What exactly does ‘mixed pension’ mean?

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  • Who is a spouse for the purpose of EU free movement law?

    Union citizens have the right to be accompanied by their ‘spouse’ when exercising their mobility rights. But what if your spouse is denied right of residence because the destination Member State does not recognise your marriage?

    Flickr - © Robert Couse-Baker - Let freedom ring
  • International crime trials: what we are doing, or not

    After more than seventy years of the trials in Neurenberg and Tokio, and more than twenty years since the set up of the ad hoc-tribunals for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, we wonder wether something is wrong with the International Criminal Court? (Dutch only)

    Internationaal Strafhof Den Haag
  • We must take indecisive experts very seriously

    ‘Follow your heart.’ Anyone who faces an important choice, will undoubtedly hear this advice at times. Trust your gut feeling and everything will be all right. However, very often our intuition is wrong.  (Dutch only) 

    crossroads intuitie
  • Popular sovereignty is not dead

    Do the people still have power? Some might feel forgotten and turn to populism promising to give the country back to them. But popular sovereignty is not dead.

    Sovereignty
  • Court of Appeals trumps Trump

    When Trump tweeted "See you in Court, the security of our nation is at stake" he was absolutely right, but not as he intended it to mean. Because yes, courts are essential for the security of (the citizens of) the state.

    Trump-rejection_immigration
  • Black Piets, Burqa Bans, and Radical Populism in a Kakistocracy

    Published on LBM. Here is a fun word that you may have come across recently: Kakistocracy. Based on the Greek word kakistos (meaning “the worst”), kakistocracy is a system of governance run by the least qualified, most “deplorable” citizens that the State has to offer. 

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  • Wilders: a political trial?

    Is the Wilders trial a political process - like his attorney Geert-Jan Knoops argues? Is it an impossible task for the judge because, like he said, it is in fact about the party programme of the PVV - and therefore encroaches on the political decision-making process?... This blog is only available...

    Blog Wilders