This introduction, now in its second completely revised and upgraded edition, is the ideal overview of Belgian law for foreign lawyers. It identifies the basic legal sources, institutions and concepts of Belgian law. It offers an up to date, state of the art systematic and critical rendition of the principal branches of the law as practised, and it provides the necessary historical background and theoretical framing. The book consists of sixteen chapters, covering all major fields of Belgian law including constitutional and administrative law, procedural law, criminal law, family law and trusts and estates, property, contracts and torts, commercial transactions and company law, labour and social security law, tax law and conflicts of laws, and offering in depth studies of the general features of the Belgian legal system and legal culture. Every contribution is written by a generally recognized expert in this particular field of law. The authors cover the legislation at the different levels, guiding the reader through the multi-layered governance in the complicated federal structure of Belgium within the European Union, and pay ample attention to the reality of legal practice in court cases. Each chapter concludes with a very useful bibliography of works in both official languages (French and Dutch). Where available, basic works in English are listed. The book is written for a diversified, primarily non-Belgian readership including practising lawyers, business people, government officials, academic researchers and students interested in a reliable overview of Belgian law and institutions as a starting point for their research or inquiries. Marc Kruithof is a law professor at Ghent University. He holds a PhD in Law, as well as Licentiates in Law and in Economics, from Ghent University, and a Master of Laws from Yale Law School. Walter De Bondt is an emeritus professor at Ghent University and at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). He holds a PhD in Law as well as a Licentiate in Law from Ghent University, and a Master of Laws from UC Berkeley.

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this book provides ready access to how the legal dimension of prevention against harm and loss allocation is treated in Belgium. This traditional branch of law not only tackles questions which concern every lawyer, whatever his legal expertise, but also concerns each person’s most fundamental rights on a worldwide scale. Following a general introduction that probes the distinction between tort and crime and the relationship between tort and contract, the monograph describes how the concepts of fault and unlawfulness, and of duty of care and negligence, are dealt with in both the legislature and the courts. The book then proceeds to cover specific cases of liability, such as professional liability, liability of public bodies, abuse of rights, injury to reputation and privacy, vicarious liability, liability of parents and teachers, liability for handicapped persons, product liability, environmental liability, and liability connected with road and traffic accidents. Principles of causation, grounds of justification, limitations on recovery, assessment of damages and compensation, and the role of private insurance and social security are all closely considered. Its succinct yet scholarly nature, as well as the practical quality of the information it provides, make this book a valuable resource for lawyers Belgium. Academics and researchers will also welcome this very useful guide, and will appreciate its value not only as a contribution to comparative law but also as a stimulus to harmonization of the rules on tort.

This book gives an overall picture of the principles of Belgian labour law, i.e. employment law as well as industrial relations law. The authors not only describe and analyse the legal aspects of labour relations, but also indicate developing trends in Belgium.

In this book, a global panel of experts considers the international implications of legalised euthanasia based on experiences from Belgium.

For many observers, the European Union is mired in a deep crisis. Between sluggish growth; political turmoil following a decade of austerity politics; Brexit; and the rise of Asian influence, the EU is seen as a declining power on the world stage. Columbia Law professor Anu Bradford argues the opposite in her important new book The Brussels Effect: the EU remains an influential superpower that shapes the world in its image. By promulgating regulations that shape the international business environment, elevating standards worldwide, and leading to a notable Europeanization of many important aspects of global commerce, the EU has managed to shape policy in areas such as data privacy, consumer health and safety, environmental protection, antitrust, and online hate speech. And in contrast to how superpowers wield their global influence, the Brussels Effect - a phrase first coined by Bradford in 2012- absolves the EU from playing a direct role in imposing standards, as market forces alone are often sufficient as multinational companies voluntarily extend the EU rule to govern their global operations. The Brussels Effect shows how the EU has acquired such power, why multinational companies use EU standards as global standards, and why the EU's role as the world's regulator is likely to outlive its gradual economic decline, extending the EU's influence long into the future.

This book presents the first ever comprehensive overview of national laws recognising sign languages, the impacts they have and the advocacy campaigns which led to their creation. It comprises 18 studies from communities across Europe, the US, South America, Asia and New Zealand. They set sign language legislation within the national context of language policies in each country and show patterns of intersection between language ideologies, public policy and deaf communities’ discourses. The chapters are grounded in a collaborative writing approach between deaf and hearing scholars and activists involved in legislative campaigns. Each one describes a deaf community’s expectations and hopes for legal recognition and the type of sign language legislation achieved. The chapters also discuss the strategies used in achieving the passage of the legislation, as well as an account of barriers confronted and surmounted (or not) in the legislative process. The book will be of interest to language activists in the fields of sign language and other minority languages, policymakers and researchers in deaf studies, sign linguistics, sociolinguistics, human rights law and applied linguistics.

Business has become more international and as a consequence Belgian business contracts are increasingly being concluded in English. This reference book brings together a number of contracts that are governed by Belgian law but drafted in English. Each model is preceded by a short introduction summarizing the most salient provisions of Belgian law relevant to that particular contract. Also, in most models, different options and alternative wording are included. The templates in this book will serve as a useful guidance for drafting a number of contracts and clauses under Belgian business law.

An indispensable survival guide for anyone in the media industry and the lawyers who serve them Especially now, in an age of instant global access through digital media, it is vitally important that journalists, authors and publishers, as well as the lawyers who serve them, be fully up on the laws governing media, worldwide. The ultimate resource for all the media content providers and purveyors, this fully updated and expanded Third Edition of the critically-acclaimed handbook offers you instant access to relevant libel and privacy laws and important legal rulings in the Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas. It clearly and concisely explains risks publishers should know about prior to publication, steps they can take in order to avoid legal conflicts, and legal defences available to them in the event of a claim. Offers nation-by-nation summaries of libel and privacy law written by local practitioners in an easy-to-use reference format Expanded to include coverage of important emerging territories--Mexico, Israel, and Argentina, et al--as well as the latest libel and privacy rulings Features new chapters on emerging media markets--including Israel, Mexico, Argentina, Jordan, and others--as well as valuable updates to the Middle East section Provides updates on all major media markets and nations, along with coverage of changes in libel laws in key jurisdictions, including Australia, the UK, Hungary and Germany

Presents a critical outline and comparison of selected EU Member State constitutional identities in the context of EU multilevel constitutionalism.

This two-volume book, published open access, brings together leading scholars of constitutional law from twenty-nine European countries to revisit the role of national constitutions at a time when decision-making has increasingly shifted to the European and transnational level. It offers important insights into three areas. First, it explores how constitutions reflect the transfer of powers from domestic to European and global institutions. Secondly, it revisits substantive constitutional values, such as the protection of constitutional rights, the rule of law, democratic participation and constitutional review, along with constitutional court judgments that tackle the protection of these rights and values in the transnational context, e.g. with regard to the Data Retention Directive, the European Arrest Warrant, the ESM Treaty, and EU and IMF austerity measures. The responsiveness of the ECJ regarding the above rights and values, along with the standard of protection, is also assessed. Thirdly, challenges in the context of global governance in relation to judicial review, democratic control and accountability are examined. On a broader level, the contributors were also invited to reflect on what has increasingly been described as the erosion or ‘twilight’ of constitutionalism, or a shift to a thin version of the rule of law, democracy and judicial review in the context of Europeanisation and globalisation processes. The national reports are complemented by a separately published comparative study, which identifies a number of broader trends and challenges that are shared across several Member States and warrant wider discussion. The research for this publication and the comparative study were carried out within the framework of the ERC-funded project ‘The Role and Future of National Constitutions in European and Global Governance’. The book is aimed at scholars, researchers, judges and legal advisors working on the interface between national constitutional law and EU and transnational law. The extradition cases are also of interest to scholars and practitioners in the field of criminal law. Anneli Albi is Professor of European Law at the University of Kent, United Kingdom. Samo Bardutzky is Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.