Professor in Criminal Procedural Law

**Discipline**:Criminal Procedural Law**: - **100% Assistant professor tenure track**: - **Reference number**:202412/RE23/ZAP/001** **ABOUT GHENT UNIVERSITY** Ghent University is one of the most important education and research institutions in the Low Countries. On a daily basis, 15,000 staff members and 50,000 students implement its motto "Dare to Think". Ghent University's mission statement is characterised by qualitative education, internationally renowned research and a pluralistic social responsibility. **ASSIGNMENT** The proposed ZAP position relates to the retirement (with effect from October 1, 2025) of Prof. Dr. Philip Traest and must guarantee the necessary continuity in education, research and services in the field of criminal procedural law at the Faculty of Law and Criminology. Given the many national and European developments in this field and the importance to adequately respond to them in terms of research, a full-time mandate is the logical choice. From the outset the proposed ZAP mandate will include an important teaching load, which further reinforces the need for a full-time mandate. The faculty choices and expectations in the field of education, research, service and, additionally, leadership, are outlined below **Academic education** You take on a fair share of the teaching load within the department (budgeted at approx. 180 to 200 hours/year), with a commitment to provide Dutch and English-taught compulsory and elective courses throughout the Bachelor's and Master's programs in Law and Criminological Sciences This primarily concerns courses in the field of criminal procedural law (indicative list below), but current and future curriculum reforms may lead to an adjusted package. - 1ste semester - Criminal procedure - 45 - 2de semester - Procedural criminal law - 60 - Advanced criminal procedure - 45 - Judicial expertise in criminal proceedings - 15 - Road traffic law - 30 - TOTAAL - 195 **Academic research** You conduct research in the discipline of Belgian and European Procedural Law- its European dimension: It was only with the Treaty of Lisbon that EU supranationality was introduced with regard to criminal procedure. This means that European criminal procedure law is still in full development, with in the meantime a series of guidelines concerning the strengthening of the procedural rights of persons involved in criminal proceedings, preferential rights for minors and vulnerable groups in criminal proceedings, and the position of victims in criminal proceedings. Further developments in the field of mutual recognition of evidence and cross-border collection of electronic evidence, the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor's Office, the further strengthening of Eurojust, and data protection also require the necessary research attention and follow-up, as does the enormous amount of case law in this area of the CJEU (in addition to that of the ECHR)- - the digitalisation of justice and comprehensible legal language: One of the spearheads of the Justice Team 2020-2024 is the digitalisation of justice and the associated improvement of communication to citizens. These innovations have a major impact on the administration of justice, but also require more attention in terms of the right to privacy and data protection. These research topics tie in with the various research groups within the faculty, including the research group 'Law & Technology' and the 'Human Rights Centre' and especially the 'Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy' (IRCP), within which the ZAP mandate is embedded. Within the IRCP, several colleagues work on topics related to European criminal policy, terrorism, organised crime, intelligence and security services and forensic expertise. This research field also ties in with other university, multidisciplinary platforms with a faculty focus, such as PIXLES (Knowledge Platform on Privacy, Information Exchange, Law Enforcement and Surveillance), the IOF valorisation consortium i4S (Smart Solutions for Secure Societies) and RadiLab (UGent impact lab for the prevention and combating of violent extremism). The further development of criminal procedural research by building intra - and interfaculty bridges with the aforementioned research groups and platforms is of strategic importance, as is focusing on Flemish and European external research funding. **Academic services** You participate in the internal and external services of the Department of Criminology, Criminal Law and Social Law, and of the Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy (IRCP). In terms of institutional and social commitment, the ZAP member to be selected is expected to be a member of various faculty committees and working groups (internal services), as well as of external professional associations. In addition, it is important to promote UGent's criminal procedural expertise by organising conferences, to focus on broader science communication and to h