JEAN VAN HOUTTE

(1935) studied law at the University of Ghent and political sciences at the K.U. Leuven (Belgium). He is an emeritus professor of sociology and sociology of law at the University of Antwerp (UFSIA), the founding director of its Centre for Sociology of Law, and a honorary rector at the same university. Jean Van Houtte is a past president of the Research Committee on Sociology of Law and one of the founding fathers of the International Institute for Sociology of Law in Oñati (Spain). His research interests and publications relate to the administration of (civil) justice, family law, and legal professions in Belgium and Europe.

Jean Van Houtte has served as a member of the board of the King Baudouin Foundation and as the chairman of the Citizen, Law and Society Commission (1997-2001).