Jan Wouters

• Director of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies, KULeuven
• Director of the Institute for International Law, KULeuven
• Jean Monnet Chair ad personam EU and Global Governance, KULeuven
• Professor of International Law and the Law of International Organizations, KULeuven
  • Courses:
    • Internationaal en Europees Recht
    • Public International Law
    • Law of Iinternational Organizations
    • Law of the World Trade Organization
    • Humanitarian and Security Law from a European Perspective
    • Space Law and Policy
• Visiting Professor, College of Europe, Bruges

Contact Data

• Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies
  KU Leuven
  Huis De Dorlodot
  Charles Deberiotstraat 34 - bus 3005
  B-3000 Leuven
• Telephone +32 16 32 87 33
• Fax +32 16 37 35 47 
• E-mail: jan.wouters@ggs.kuleuven.be  

Short Bio

Jan Wouters (°1964) is Professor of International Law and International Organizations, Jean Monnet Chair Ad Personam EU and Global Governance and Director of the Leuven Centre for Global Governance Studies and Institute for International Law at the University of Leuven. He is Visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Bruges), in the Master of Laws in International Economic Law and Policy (LL.M. IELPO, University of Barcelona), in the European Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation (EMA, Venice) and in the Executive Master of European and International Business Law (M.B.L.-HSG, University of Sankt-Gallen).

He is President of the Flemish Foreign Affairs Council, which advises the Flemish Government, and practises law as Of Counsel at Linklaters, Brussels. He is Member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Sciences and Arts. He studied law and philosophy in Antwerp and Yale University (LLM 1990), was a Visiting Researcher at Harvard Law School and obtained his PhD at KULeuven (1996). He taught at the Universities of Antwerp and Maastricht, was Visiting Professor at Liège and Kyushu University and Référendaire at the European Court of Justice (1991-1994).

He is Editor of the International Encyclopedia of Intergovernmental Organizations, Vice-Director of the Revue belge de droit international and editorial board member in ten international journals. He has published widely (around 450 publications including 40 books and 80 international journal articles). Recently he (co-)authored inter alia a treatise on international law (Grondlijnen van Internationaal Recht, 2005), The World Trade Organization (2007) and Upgrading the EU’s Role as Global Actor (2011) and edited The European Union and Conflict Prevention (2004), Legal Instruments in the Fight Against International Terrorism (2004), The United Nations and the European Union (2006), Multilevel Regulation and the EU (2008), The Europeanisation of International Law (2008), European Constitutionalism Beyond Lisbon (2009), Belgium in the Security Council (2009) and Accountability for Human Rights Violations by International Organizations (2010).

Apart from his participation in many international research networks and networks, he advises various international organizations, often trains international officials and frequently comments international events in the media.

See www.globalgovernancestudies.eu - www.internationallaw.eu

Full curriculum vitae

Research

Professor Wouters’ current research agenda includes 1) the relationship between global multilateral organizations, such as the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, and the European Union; 2) accountability of international organizations; 3) multilevel regulatory interactions between global, European and national/subnational rules and standards, including private standards; 4) the contribution of the European Union to the international rule of law.