Wil je in het academiejaar 2021-2022 een masterproef opstarten over mensenrechten, migratierecht of grondwettelijk recht? Bekijk de lijst van onderwerpen, en contacteer de relevante promotor om te weten of het onderwerp nog vrij is.
Sinds de transgenderwet van 2017 geldt het principe van zelfbeschikking inzake genderidentiteit in het Belgische recht. Daarnaast evolueert de transspecifieke gezondheidszorg richting zorg op maat. De samenleving is echter nog steeds zeer binair en cisnormatief ingedeeld en is dus op vele punten nog niet aangepast aan die recente evoluties. Hierdoor lijkt er een groot aantal […]
With its judgment of 2019 in the case of Urgenda, the Netherlands’ Supreme Court set an important precedent for climate litigation: it ordered the State to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25% before the end of 2020. The Supreme Court achieved this by relying on, inter alia, rights protected under the European […]
De Vreemdelingenwet van 1980 voorziet in de oprichting van een adviescommissie, de Commissie voor Advies aan Vreemdelingen (art. 32), die voornamelijk een “slapend bestaan” leidt. Naar aanleiding van het nieuwe Migratiewetboek dat opgesteld wordt, behelst deze masterproef een vergelijkende analyse van organen inzake toezicht en advies in het migratierecht in een selectie van andere Europese […]
Een gelijkaardig masterproefthema wordt aangeboden door prof. Marijke D’Haese binnen de Vakgroep Landbouweconomie, om dit thema vanuit beide disciplines (rechten en landbouweconomie) te bestuderen. De masterproef onderzoekt de rechten van werknemers met een migratieachtergrond in de landbouwsector. Internationaal onderzoek toont aan dat werknemers met een migratieachtergrond vaak hun rechten niet kennen. Ze hebben moeilijker toegang […]
Artikel 48/9 van de Vreemdelingenwet voorziet dat een verzoeker om internationale bescherming de elementen kan aanbrengen waaruit zijn bijzondere procedurele noden blijken, om aanspraak te kunnen maken op de rechten en te kunnen voldoen aan de verplichtingen voorzien in de Vreemdelingenwet. Maar wat zijn deze “bijzondere procedurele noden” precies, en welke maatregelen (kunnen) worden genomen […]
Studies often deal with children’s rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child or the European Convention on the Rights of the Child, while children’s rights under the American Declaration on the Rights and Duties of Man and the American Convention on Human Rights remain in the periphery. The research aims to […]
Studies often deal with children’s rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child or the European Convention on the Rights of the Child. While the European Social Charter remains quite understudied, a number of provisions under the Charter deal with rights of children. The research aims to provide an in-depth study of […]
Since Nicole Rafter’s book “Cinema and Crime”, several studies have begun to see cinema as a good way of understanding contemporary criminology. This thesis will explore how to understand Law, crime and justice from the perspective of movies.
Topic suggested by a lawyer from Cyprus; cosupervision by dr. Joyce De Coninck. Article 52(3) CFR provides that the minimum level of protection for corresponding rights in the CFR and the ECHR must be the level provided by the latter as interpreted by the ECtHR. Within the realm of expulsions, there is noticeable fluctuation in […]
Across Europe and around the world, issues of memory and old monuments are being revisited. The shift of historical narratives resulted in the loss of social consensus about the past and interpretation of history. Since monuments are among the most visible expressions of history they have appeared in the middle of contestation and heated debates. […]
This research deals with the impact of prosecution of “minor offences” on people living in poverty in Europe. Through case studies (criminalization of beggars, SyRI case in the Netherlands etc. ), it explores whether minor offences – which are usually punished by outstanding fines with minimum procedural rights – are compatible with the ECHR (more […]
De procedure inzake humanitaire regularisatie (art 9bis Vreemdelingenwet) wordt bekritiseerd wegens gebrek aan transparantie, recent nog naar aanleiding van de hongerstaking. Deze masterproef omvat een kritische analyse van het wetgevend kader en de prakijk rond (collectieve) regularisatie in een selectie van Europese landen, om mogelijks inspiratie te bieden voor de Belgische praktijk.
Regelmatig wordt in de media opgeroepen tot verplichte anticonceptie bij ouders met uiteenlopende problematieken zoals verslavingen, agressie en bepaalde verstandelijke beperkingen. Bij mensen met een verstandelijke beperking wordt dit, hoewel het ietwat onder de radar blijft, regelmatig toegepast. Bij mensen die te kampen hebben met verslavingen of een agressieproblematiek ligt het thema veel gevoeliger. De […]
In de meeste professionele sporten worden competities en wedstrijden op binaire wijze (M/V) georganiseerd. In sommige sporten worden daarbij hormonale criteria aangewend om uit te maken wie aan welke categorie kan (of moet) deelnemen. Deze gewoonte botst op de hedendaagse benadering van geslacht en gender, waarbij fluïditeit en autonomie centraal staan. Deze masterproef onderzoekt de […]
Specifieke focus op symboliek en herstel, mogelijk met analyse van mensenrechtenproblematiek huidige grondwet)
The sovereign debt crisis could have a direct impact on human rights, especially when they are framed within a programme of austerity, and tension between the ‘market justice’ and ‘social justice’ occurs. The aim of the thesis is to study the different human rights legal discourses surrounding the latest cases of sovereign debt restructurings.
Topic suggested by the Legal Centre Lesvos; cosupervision by dr. Joyce De Coninck. The European Border and Coast Guard Regulation of 2019, endows Frontex with executive powers and the ability to conclude arrangements with third countries for the purpose of readmission. However, such informal readmission arrangements may prove problematic from the vantage point of a […]
Lately, the ‘Facebook Oversight Board’ and other private mechanisms of human rights accountability have been established. The Oversight Board of Facebook was created to review the lawfulness of certain ‘emblematic’ content moderation decisions taken by the social media platform. The Board comprises 20 representatives of civil society, including academics, human rights experts, and journalists. It […]
Onderwerp voorgesteld door NANSEN, the Belgian Refugee Council. Wanneer mag de Raad voor Vreemdelingenbetwistingen nieuwe elementen in overweging nemen in zijn beoordeling? In het kader van een Dublinoverdracht gaf het Hof van Justitie in het recente arrest H.A. tegen België van 15 april 2021 hierover enkele aanwijzingen. Op basis van een analyse van wetgeving en […]
Regional human rights courts can organize so-called fact-finding missions when confronted with human rights violations. Both the Inter-American and African Court of Human Rights may, if necessary, organize such missions when confronted with cases involving gross and/or large-scale violations of human rights, while the European Court of Human Rights seems to have become rather reticent […]
Focus op innovatie in mensenrechtenonderzoek door groepen als Forensic Architecture. Taalvereiste: NL en ENG.
The European Court of Human Rights has been reluctant to find that states violate the European Convention on Human Rights in so called ‘push-back’ operations. This has incited lawyers at European borders to turn to UN treaty bodies such as the Human Rights Committee and the UN Committee against Torture. There too they face various […]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is increasingly confronted with cases which involve the submission of evidence arising from new technologies. This evidence can be of different types. It includes for example electronic data, email communication, GPS technology, internet, mobile telephone applications, telecommunications, video cameras and video surveillance. What are the key considerations which […]
Human rights defenders around the world are being killed, especially in Latin-American countries. How is the Inter-American human rights system responding to this cruel reality?
During the past years worldwide human rights defenders are being targeted for doing their job. Such attacks may be of a physical, but also of a psychological nature, and they may target the human rights defenders themselves and/or their families. This study aims to evaluatie what kinds of legal mechanisms exist under international law, i.e. […]
Particular focus on Myanmar/Sri Lanka or Cambodia. Language requirement ENG.
Onderwerp voorgesteld door NANSEN, the Belgian Refugee Council. Statistieken tonen een toenemend aantal gevallen van intrekkingen van internationale bescherming (vluchtelingenstatus / subsidiaire beschermingsstatus) om redenen van openbare orde. Deze masterproef bestaat uit een analyse van de rechtspraak van de Raad voor Vreemdelingenbetwistingen waar uitsluiting/weigering/opheffing/intrekking wordt bevestigd op basis van openbare orde redenen en hoe deze […]
International human rights protect academic freedom. The freedom of community members, individually or collectively, in the pursuit of knowledge is a crucial element for any democracy. However, there are still questions regarding the specific legal standards that are being applied. This thesis will study the legal standards in documents and the case law of the […]
Alle onderwerpen in het domein van mensenrechten of transitional justice waarbij de student een socio-legale invalshoek beoogt, i.e. waarbij een substantieel empirisch luik (kwalitatief en/of kwantitatief) wordt aangewend om het recht “in de praktijk” te bestuderen. Taalvereiste: NL en/of ENG
Onderwerp voorgesteld door NANSEN, the Belgian Refugee Council. Deze masterproef onderzoekt mogelijke stereotypen bij rechters in asielzaken, op basis van een interdisciplinaire analyse. Een voorbeeld betreft het verband tussen “autonomie” en “vrees voor vervolging” bij vrouwen die genitale verminking vrezen, in de zin dat vrouwen die als autonoom gepercipieerd worden, een minder grote vrees voor […]
Focus on the Mediterranean or boat pushbacks in Southeast Asia. Language requirement ENG.
Onderwerp voorgesteld door NANSEN, the Belgian Refugee Council. Doordat asielzoekers zich in een kwetsbare situatie bevinden zijn zij niet altijd in staat zijn om te voldoen aan de eisen van de asielprocedure. Zo stelt het VN-Comité tegen Foltering “The State party has pointed to contradictions and inconsistencies in the author’s story, but the Committee considers […]
Het Belgische (en ook supranationale) discriminatierecht voorziet de mogelijkheid – onder voorwaarden – van positieve actie op basis van geslacht/gender. De vraag rijst wat de impact is van het recht op zelfbeschikking inzake genderidentiteit op hoe tot nu naar die maatregelen werd gekeken (bv. bewijs van gender, formulering van genderquota, aanvaardbaarheid van genderpariteit …).
Many rapes committed during the Rwandan genocide resulted in pregnancies or what will later be called ‘pregnancies of war’. Many women who were raped did not have the capabilities and the means to take care of the children. Many women who did not want to take care of their children gave them up to the […]
The protection of human rights of persons deprived of liberty is a challenge in Europe. This thesis will analyse from a human rights perspective the situation of prisons during covid-19, and the answers given by state authorities.
The protection of human rights of persons deprived of liberty is a challenge in several countries of the Latin-American region. Prisons in Latin America are overcrowded places, forgotten by public policy and with serious health problems. This thesis will analyze the situation of prisons during the covid-19 period and the answers given by one the […]
Climate change activists are increasingly and urgently looking at challenging corporations or states in courts. They face serious challenges in doins so. One of these is proving causality, i.e., that the defendant is responsible for the harm suffered by the applicant(s). This is very difficult because the effects of pollution occur not only over a […]
Study of the marginalisation of certain regions in the TJ process, looking into the importance of socio-economic rights in ICL. Language requirement ENG.
Victimologische literatuurstudie en kritische analyse van de mandaten van de verschillende mechanismen. Taalvereiste: NL en/of ENG, Spaans meerwaarde.
States have an obligation to investigate war crimes committed by their nationals or armed forces during armed conflict. Despite the general obligation to investigate, the legislation offers little guidance as to the precise nature or scope of the investigation to be carried out. In a nutshell, to be compliant with international human rights law, the […]
In 2010 Marie-Benedicte Dembour published an article entitled ‘What are Human Rights? Four Schools of Thought’ in Human Rights Quarterly. Her model posits that we do not all conceive of human rights in the same way, but that there are four main conceptions of human rights. She proposes that those who hold a ‘natural’ view […]
The summer of 2015 saw Europe hit by a refugee crisis – or some commentators say – more accurately a crisis in refugee protection. Marie-Benedicte Dembour asserts in an article forthcoming in Questions of International Law that, due to the relative weakness of its past jurisprudence concerning migrants’ rights, the European Court of Human Rights […]
Judges have to act in an impartial manner while deciding cases. The research will examine the breadth of the right to freedom of expression of judges from a cross-cutting international and regional human rights perspective, with possibly a case study.
Suggested by and with cosupervision from PICUM, the Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants. How does the package, comprised of the Council’s Facilitation Directive and the Framework Decision, impact undocumented children and families’ ability to secure adequate housing? This research would (i) look at the EU and national legal framework criminalising landlords renting to […]
For many centuries, citizenship has been regarded as the highest degree of affiliation between an individual and a ‘self-governing’ political community’. However, in the last years, the development of programs around the globe are seeking to attract flows of foreign capital by different incentives, including granting legal membership with society in exchange for diverse types […]
During the past decades social rights have become more prominently part of legal studies. However, most studies deal with substantial violations of social rights. This study takes a procedural turn by looking at the instrument of interim measures awarded by international monitoring bodies, thereby focussing on the different UN Treaty Bodies and regional human rights […]
In present-day society indigenous peoples are one of the most vulnerable groups. This study assesses to what extent such groups can rely on interim measures before international human rights monitoring bodies, both at the UN and regional level and to what extent such measures effectively protect their rights.
Worldwide, but especially in the America’s, women human rights defenders are being targeted. Such attacks may be of a physical, but also of a psychological nature, and they may target the human rights defenders themselves and/or their families. This study aims to evaluatie what legal mechanisms are available in the ambit of the Inter-American Human […]
The Inter-American system of human rights protection was born more than 60 years ago. Its impact on the development of legal standards in the Americas has been tremendously significant in a number of fields. Cases in point include forced disapperances, gender-based violence and the rights of indigenous communities. The Inter-American Court is generally recognised to […]
Could be further narrowed down to a particular focus on the UN, European or Inter-American standards of protection. Language requirement ENG & Spanish.
‘Universal jurisdiction’ is a principle of international law based on the recognition that certain crimes are so horrific that they affect the international community as a whole. Universal jurisdiction is therefore a key component in the fight against impunity. This thesis will analyze specific recent cases (for example, concerning Syria) where the principle of universal […]
Since its creation in 1959, the European Court of Human Rights has delivered more than 23,000 judgments. One would assume it has accumulated considerable experience in resolving not only legal, but also factual disputes between the parties to proceedings before it. At times, however, the Court’s Judges and Registry lawyers are confronted with a factual […]
Study of development of strategic litigation, the possibilities and limitations of using this approach. Language requirement English & Spanish.
UN monitoring bodies play an important yet reasonably understudied role in the protection of human rights. This is even more the case with regard to so-called Urgent Appeals and Urgent Actions before monitoring bodies. The research will inter alia examine in which circumstances the supervisory bodies resort to such measures, and how states react to […]
Case study of the Tunisian court establised to adjudicate cases related to gross violations of human rights. Language requirement ENG.
This thesis will explore the interaction of the United States with the Inter-American System. In particular, it will analyse the Inter-American approach regarding migrants who are minors.
Oral testimony tends to be considered very useful when a person who was directly involved in an event explains exactly what happened. At the same time, any inconsistency in the testimomy may lead to the account being dismissed as unreliable. However, it may also be reasoned that, even though some errors may well infiltrate themselves […]
The research should focus on a legal analysis of Strasburg case law on history, when the Court was asked to rule on the so-called ‘historical situations’ (to bring justice to those accused of war crimes, to protect the rights of mass atrocities victims and their relatives, to deal with Holocaust and genocide deniers, to punish […]
Casestudy van het al-Khatibproces, genoemd naar Syrisch detentiecentrum, tegen twee voormalige beambten van het Assad-regime. Taalvereiste: NL en ENG.
Sinds de COVID-19 epidemie is het debat rond verplichte vaccinatie opnieuw sterk opgelaaid, waarbij de argumenten regelmatig een mensenrechtelijk aspect vertonen. Zo benadrukken voorstanders bijvoorbeeld het belang van de openbare orde en volksgezondheid, terwijl tegenstanders verwijzen naar het recht op fysieke integriteit. Een uitgebreide, eventueel historische, mensenrechtenanalyse omtrent dit thema dringt zich daarom op.
Onderwerp voorgesteld door NANSEN, the Belgian Refugee Council. Hoe verhoudt de definitie van foltering zich ten aanzien van definitie van vluchteling? Waar zijn er overlappingen, tegenstrijdigheden en mogelijkheden tot synergieën? Om zowel vervolging als foltering te definiëren, moeten immers verschillende constitutieve elementen worden onderzocht, met name: welke daden, welke ernst, welke intentie, welke dader, maar […]
In September 2020, Cyprus started to forcibly return Syrian and Lebanese nationals who arrived by boat to its coast line. As of May 2021, Lebanese General Security has proceeded to systematically detain all individuals who are returned by the Cypriot police – at times proceeding also to deport some of these pushback victims to Syria. […]
Needless to say, having evidence being declared inadmissible can be devastating to a case. Two cases which ended up before the European Court of Human Rights due to the inadmissibility being contested are Cwik v Poland and R.B. v Estoni. In Cwik, the ECtHR agreed that the tape of the interrogation by a gang of […]
