Latest blog articles

On the 9^th of February, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled that forcing suspects to provide access to their smartphone with a fingerprint is not a breach of the privilege against self-incrimination. The case originated from an ex officio appeal ‘in the interest of the law’ in a case of the Court of North...

On March 4 2020, the European Commission presented its proposal for a European Climate Law in which a framework for achieving the objective of climate neutrality by 2050 would be legally established. At a political level, this goal has already been endorsed by the European Parliament in its...

The very recent ruling of the CJEU in DK (C-653/19 PPU, 28 November 2019) came to verify two quite depressing suspicions about the current status of European criminal law. First, Directive 2016/343 on the presumption of innocence remains an instrument with staggeringly limited applicability...

National laws or ‘legal traditions’ are not the main obstacle to realising the ideal of ‘effective legal assistance’ embedded in the EU procedural rights’ Directives. The resistance to realising this ideal originates mainly from the professional cultures of relevant actors, including criminal...

Those of you who were old enough to follow news headlines in the 90’s will probably remember this quote. For those of you who don’t: it is a famous phrase used by the defence team of O.J. Simpson in an – as would later turn out: successful – attempt to convince the jury of O.J.’s innocence.

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?

Roland Moerland spoke at Docfest about the bystander effect, empathy and agency, self-sacrifice and other remarkable features of the documentary City of Ghosts.

Last week, the Dutch and Belgian ombudsmen called on their governments to take action in the context of pensions problems for unemployed cross-border workers, aged 65, and living in Belgium. In response to this call, a possible solution by Expertise Centre ITEM is elaborated in this blog.

This blog...

The world faces the growing problem of global warming. This phenomenon leads to unprecedented social effects in human history. Consequently, it is imperative to mitigate this problem. International Organizations and countries are working together in order to better deal with this issue.

Football for sale: what is the problem, and what are the solutions? Read our previous reports (Spain, England, Germany and the Netherlands) to find out.