Joris Deene
A biosimilar is developed to be therapeutically equivalent to an existing reference drug. Does that equivalence mean, then, that the biosimilar infringes on a patent held by the manufacturer of the formulation...
Can the data protection authority dismiss a complaint because legal proceedings are already underway?
Anyone who believes that their personal data has been processed unlawfully has two options: filing a complaint with the supervisory authority and bringing a civil lawsuit. But what if the data subject pursues both options at the same time...
Is it permissible for a politician to share inside information with the press in order to foster public debate?
An opposition politician who reveals the impending privatization of a publicly traded state-owned company during a radio interview: does he thereby violate the prohibition on disclosing insider information? In the ruling of 18...
Is it acceptable for a far-right magazine to feature a children’s book character on its cover as a ‘parody’?
No. The presiding judge of the French-speaking Court of First Instance in Brussels ruled, as in the preliminary injunction proceedings on May 28, 2025, that a magazine that reproduced the cover of a well-known children’s book almost identically and added its own...
In which court can you file a lawsuit against a foreign TV series that damages your reputation?
Anyone who feels offended by a television series broadcast in several countries would prefer to bring the case before a court in their own country. On June 18, 2026, the Court of Justice (C-232/25)...
Is a mocking video about a police officer on TikTok a case for the assize court?
Anyone who posts a mocking video of a police officer on social media and writes insulting comments beneath it may be committing a crime. But which court will that person appear before? The Court of Appeals in...
Is the bank’s obligation to reimburse victims of phishing sufficient grounds to initiate summary proceedings?
Anyone who falls victim to an unauthorized payment transaction wants their money back quickly and points to the bank’s legal obligation to provide an immediate refund. But does that legal requirement for immediacy...
Is a termination fee in a contract between businesses an unfair term?
Anyone who hires a service provider and terminates the contract early may sometimes face a hefty early termination clause. Is this permissible between businesses, or is such a clause void as an unfair term? The French-speaking...
Is a parent allowed to search the other parent’s emails to gather evidence of a crime?
In principle, anyone who searches through another person’s private messages is acting unlawfully. However, that does not automatically mean that evidence obtained in this manner will be excluded from criminal proceedings. In a ruling dated May 26, 2026, the court held...
Can an employer respond to a request for access by saying, “Come view the documents here on-site”?
An employee requests a copy of his own performance records based on his right of access. The employer does not explicitly refuse, but invites him to come in and review the documents on-site, by appointment...
Can a judge rule that a lawsuit is a SLAPP suit even though the European rules have not yet been implemented?
A lawsuit that is not intended to enforce a right but to silence an opponent is called a SLAPP. On June 4, 2026, the Court of First Instance in Antwerp, Antwerp Division, ruled that...
Does the bank have to reimburse the customer first in the event of a phishing attack, even in cases of gross negligence?
Anyone who falls victim to phishing and suddenly finds money missing almost always gets the same response from the bank: you were grossly negligent, so we won’t reimburse you. The president of the commercial court...
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