Panellists

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Ivan M. Verougstraete is the former president of the Belgian Cour de Cassation (supreme court).  As president of the European association of judges for mediation, Gemme, for four years from 2005 to 2009, Ivan Verougstraete has contributed to the development of conciliation and mediation not only in Belgium but also in the other European countries. He organized numerous meetings of judges, lawyers, and mediators to share experiences on mediation. He was called in 2011 as an expert by the European parliament to provide the European judges’s point of view regarding the mediation directive.

Ivan Verougstraete is a visiting professor at Georgetown University (seminar on the European and African mediation systems).

On a more operational level, Ivan Verougstraete has developed, as a judge in the commercial court of Brussels, the practice of mediation from 1974 to 1979. The initiative was quite successful at the time, particularly in conflicts related to construction issues. The lawyers were always allowed to assist their clients during the mediation proceedings.

He is particularly well known for his expertise in insolvency matters, transnational business litigation, patent law, and international procedural law.

His approach to mediation has always been that mediation should include when useful some kind of suggestion to the parties concerning a workable agreement, that the mediator should supervise the drafting of the final agreement and eventually should be held liable if the agreement cannot be enforced.

While on the bench, he had the reputation of being a hardworking and fast-minded judge with a taste for innovative solutions. This was outlined in a “Liber Amicorum” (Festschrift) given to him by his colleagues in 2011 when he retired.

ADR Experience

• On the bench
• In many years on the bench, Ivan Verougstraete has developed, particularly before he became a supreme court judge, a practice of settlements in court (more at the district level than at the appellate level)
• At the supreme court level where mediation or conciliation by the judge or court connected mediation are excluded by law, he did not conduct ADR cases
• Both after his tenure as president of the Supreme Court and before he retired, Ivan Verougstraete followed practical classes on mediation to be informed on new techniques or approaches to mediation (among others with the International Arbitration Association in Brussels and with the French Institut Catholique in Paris)
• Other
• He presided from 2004 to 2007 on the project to create a full electronic system in the Belgian judiciary (Phenix). He helped with the drafting of the statutes and with the organization of the project and the design of the framework.
• Accredited mediator, CEDR

Honours, Memberships, and Professional Activities

• President of Gemme, the European Association of Judges for Mediation
• President of Belgian Competition Authority, 1984-1992
• Speaker before a public of judges and lawyers on mediation topics in Brussels, Liège, Namur, Paris, Rome, Athens, Barcelona, The Hague, Lisboa, and Bucarest

Recent Publications include the following:

2011

• Manuel de la continuité des entreprises et de la faillite, Kluwer. p. 1085
• "Niet-ontvankelijk!" in Liber amicorum Jo Stevens (teverschijnen)
• Larcier Wetboeken, Aanvulling 2011 (hoofdredacteur) (in samenwerking met E. FORRIER)
• "Magistraat: een risicoloos beroep" in Liber Amicorum Herman Cousy, "Herstelmaatregelen en rechtsbescherming in - en buiten de wet van 2 juni 2010" in IFR-bundel, U.Gent
• Les enseignements tirés de l'exécution de la directive sur la médiation: le point de vue des juges, ed. Eur.Parl., p. 32
• "Belgian law on mediation" in ADR-bulletin
• "Rechtsleerlessen" in Quid leges sine cogitatione (hulde JM Nelissen Grade), Biblo, 63-73

2010

• Studentencodex Larcier 2010-2011 (in samenwerking met E. FORRIER), Larcier, 3v
• "Les sanctions disciplinaires: du traitement cruel au respect de la concurrence" in Liège-Strasbourg-Bruxelles: parcours des droits de l'homme, Anthemis, 717-736
• Traité pratique de droit commercial, t.II, (hoofdredacteur), Kluwer, p. 1160.
• De LarcierWetboeken (in samenwerking)
• "Rechten en garanties van de lopende overeenkomsten" in De wet betreffende de continuïteit van de ondernemingen, Intersentia, 143-170
• "De rol van het recht als instrument van vrede" in Recht en vrede – Over juridische conflictregeling, Larcier, 15-27
• "Situering van de redenen voor de toepassing van de nieuwe wet" in Continuïteit van de ondernemingen, VIA-NOAB, 1-17
• "De fiscale bepalingen van de wet continuïteit van ondernemingen", TBH2010, 211-219
• "Damages actions for breach of the EC antitrust rules", TBM 2009, nr. 4
• "Conceptuele zwaarte punten van de wet continuïteit van de ondernemingen" (insamenwerking met M. TISON) in Gerechtelijke reorganisatie getest, gewikt en gewogen, Intersentia, 1-23
• "Van cassatienaarrevisie" in Liber Amicorum Ludovic De Gryse, Larcier, 445-462

Background and Education

• Mediation and arbitration training, 2007-2011
• President of the Benelux-Court (specialized in trademarks)
• President of the Belgian Court de Cassation (civil cases and taxation), 1989-2010
• Judge, Court of Appeal Brussels, 1979-1988
• Judge, Brussels District Court (First instance and commercial court), 1972-1978
• Law Clerk to Judge Mertens de Wilmars, European Court of Justice, 1969-1972
• Litigation attorney, 1967-1969
• J.D., University of Leuven
• MCL, Columbia University

Events