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- Debaenst, Bruno
(author)
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An Introduction to Belgian Legal Culture
- 2023
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In: Handbook on Legal Cultures. - : Springer Nature. - 9783031277443 - 9783031277474 - 9783031277450 ; , s. 107-144
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Book chapter (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Belgium is a small but complex country with an interesting and uniquelegal culture. It lies on the historical vault between Germanic and Romanic Europe, as a result of which the country has three different languages (respectively Dutch andGerman versus French) and two main populations, Flemish and French-speaking Belgians. Originally a unitary state, Belgium has transformed into a federal state through successive state reforms, with the new Constitutional Court as an arbiter between the different entities, which are all equal and without hierarchy. This in its turn has resulted in two emerging subcultures that are slowly but steadily drifting apart. Internationalization and Europeanization are adding some layer to the already complex mosaic of cultural diversity in this small jurisdiction at the very centre of Europe. Historically and as an offspring of the French legal culture, the Belgian legalculture is a civil law system with a set of (originally Napoleonic) codifications and a rational judicial system. The organization of the judiciary and the application of lawsin many ways reflect the ideal of law and justice in Belgium: accessible, tailor-made, specialized, and sufficiently flexible to include considerations of individual justice, with the necessary checks and balances. Just like the French legal culture, the Belgian legal culture is strictly legally positivistic and has a high degree of professionalization.
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