Prof. Dr. Jachin Van Doninck

On 1 October 2020, I was appointed as assistant professor (ZAP, tenure track, 80%) at the faculty of law and criminology of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, where I teach the courses on civil procedure, private international law and ADR. My fields of expertise and areas of interest lie in (comparative) civil procedure (including ADR), private international law and legal theory.

I studied law at Ghent University (lic.iur, magna cum laude, 2001) and German and European law at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (MUST-programme 2001, with DAAD-scholarship). Between 2012 and 2020, I was a part-time teaching assistant in the field of civil procedure at the Institute of Procedural Law of Ghent University, headed by professor dr. Piet Taelman. Between 2018 and 2020, I was also a research scholar at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, focusing on civil procedure and private international law and co-teaching a master course on issues of international and national civil procedure (in the capacity of guest professor in 2020). In 2020, I obtained my Joint PhD in law (Ghent University and Vrije Universiteit Brussel) on the fate of unlawful evidence (“Het lot van onrechtmatig (verkregen) bewijs. Een grondslagenonderzoek”). Professor dr. Piet Taelman acted as the supervisor and prof. dr. Bruno Maes (VUB) as the co-supervisor.

To stay abreast of the legal developments in my fields of expertise, I still combine my academic work with private practice at the Brussels bar, advising and co-counselling in matters of civil procedure and private international law. In 2019, following a 4-year training and a final exam, I was the recipient of the legal certificate dispensed by the Court of Cassation’s bar (www.advocass.be).

I have authored, co-authored and (co-)edited several articles and books in the field of civil procedure, private international law and ADR (https://researchportal.vub.be/en/persons/jachin-van-doninck), am a member of the civil procedure section of the editing committee of the Belgian peer reviewed legal periodical Rechtskundig Weekblad and of the scientific committee of the Belgian peer reviewed legal periodical Notarieel en Fiscaal Maandblad. I sit on the advisory committee on judicial law of the Flemish Bar Association (Orde van Vlaamse Balies) and am a member of the European Association of Private International Law (https://eapil.org).

The idea that a right without a remedy is but a paper sword sparked my scientific interest in matters of adjudication in the broadest sense early on. At the same time, I have always been inspired by the foundational issue of law as a social system providing and maintaining coherence and stability. Becoming a ZAP-member at the law faculty of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has allowed me to make these ideas concrete and translate them into legal science. As members of the scientific community, we should combine our expertise and efforts for the betterment of all.  I am a strong believer in scientific collaboration, e.g by setting up scientific networks such as Dikè. I believe that both research and teaching in the field of civil procedure and private international law can benefit greatly from a focus on principles, with the purpose of achieving consistency, hence my publications on topics such as core values in civil adjudication, the task of the judge and judicial discretion.