Research

Refugees in identity crisis (2021)

The research will empirically investigate these pressing legal issues and aims at unravelling the interactions between migration law and private international law. To this end, the research first aims at mapping the legal problems related to refugees' personal and family status. In a second phase, it will investigate whether and how the mapping and the awareness of these interactions can lead to a better coordination of these two legal frameworks with the aim of enhancing the protection of refugees.

Researcher: Geertrui Daem

Promoter: Prof. Jinske Verhellen

The Private Side of Transforming our World - UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and the Role of Private International Law (2021)

This project is coordinated by Prof. Ralf Michaels (Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law), Dr. Verónica Ruiz Abou-Nigm (University of Edinburgh) and Hans van Loon (former Secretary General of the Hague Conference on Private International Law). It aims to raise awareness of the interactions between the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and private international law and to explore the possible contribution of private international law in this area.

In this regard, Prof. Sabine Corneloup (Université Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas) and Prof. Jinske Verhellen (Ghent University) have examined Target 16.9 of the SDGs, which aims to provide legal identity for all, including birth registration. Their paper, “Providing legal identity for all - A means to empower migrants to exercise their rights” is available online. The outcome of the project and the findings of all contributors will be presented at the international conference held from 9 to 11 September 2021 at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg or virtually.

Diversity-sensitive education at Ghent University (2021)

Within the Workgroup Divscan the Faculties of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Arts, Philosophy, Psychology and Educational Sciences and Law Criminology join forces to offer diversity-sensitive and qualitative education. The goal is to develop a tool, a screening instrument, for lecturers and UGent employees and to set up a coaching process to use this tool.
To this end, several conversation groups with students will take place. On the following page you may find more information about these conversation groups.

Handbook for guardians of unaccompanied minors (2020-2021)

On behalf of the Ministry of Justice, Antigone Advocaten, Prof. Ellen Desmet (Ghent University) and Prof. Jinske Verhellen (Ghent University) are preparing the legal part of a new Handbook for guardians of unaccompanied minors in Belgium. This assignment builds on the book “Rechten van niet-begeleide minderjarige vreemdelingen in België” (Rights of unaccompanied foreign minors in Belgium).

CUREDI - Cultural and Religious Diversity under State Law across Europe (2018-ongoing)

This interdisciplinary project is coordinated by the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany and works with a network of scientific research teams. It holds a digital repository of cases that deal with cultural and religious diversity. The project looks at the question if and how diversity is granted legal recognition within the domestic legal systems of member states of the EU, UK, and Switzerland. More information is available here.
Yasmina El Kaddouri (2018-2020) and Frederik Welvaert (2019-2020) have contributed to this project through short research assignments.

BOF project I cross the border and carry with me… (2015-2021)

Cross-border civil status: a private international law issue from a human rights perspective.

The increasing mobility of people leads to the worldwide circulation of documents that record the civil status of people (e.g. birth, marriage, death). The recognition of these documents traditionally belongs to the field of private international law which aspires cross-border harmony and continuity in the life of people. A noble objective, yet hard to put in practice. As a result, some people carry a different civil status (e.g. unmarried) in their host country in comparison with the status in their country of origin (e.g. married). Such discrepancies – also called limping legal relations – generate legal uncertainty and unpredictability. This research aims to study a new approach to cross-border civil status. Departing from the right to respect for private and family life, the research will examine whether and to what extent the human rights approach is able to reduce the negative effects of limping legal relations (increasing the cross-border portability of a certain civil status).

Researcher: Sarah Den Haese

Promoter: Prof. Jinske Verhellen

Leerstoel Marcel Storme (2019)

In 2019, the Institute for Private International Law hosted dr. Susanne Gössl for the Chair Marcel Storme. You may access the slides of the lecture on 21 February 2019 titled “Questions of a “third sex“ in the international and European arena”, here.

The interactions between PIL and Migration Law on the agenda of the European Parliament (2017)

Research

Defended doctoral theses