Koen Geens

Koen Geens (born January 22, 1958 in Brasschaat ) is a Belgian legal scholar, professor of corporate law at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KULeuven) and politician of the Christians-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V). He has been acting Minister of Justice since 2014, currently in the federal government of Wilmès . From March 2013 to October 2014 he was Belgian Finance Minister in the Di Rupo government .

Life

Geens studied law - initially for two years at the Universitaire Faculteiten Sint-Ignatius Antwerp (today University of Antwerp ), then at the KULeuven - and graduated with honors in 1980. He then went to Harvard University , where he earned his Master of Laws in 1981 . 1986 doctorate Geens at the KULeuven for Doctor juris and was for his dissertation awarded in 1987 with the State Prize of the Flemish Community of Law and Economics and in 1989 the prize Baron Emile van Dievoet . Geens taught as a lecturer at KULeuven since 1986 and was appointed professor in 1992. He has been a member of the Law Faculty Council since 1983 and has been Director of the Jan Ronse Institute for Corporate Law since 1986 .

Geens was admitted to the bar in 1989. Since 1994 he has worked for the law firm Eubelius in Brussels . Geens was also chairman of the Hoge Raad voor de Economische Beroepen from 1992 to 2000 and president of the Federatie voor Vrije en Intellectuele Beroepen from 1999 to 2005 . Geens was from 1992 together with Anne Benoit-Moury from the University of Liège, scientific coordinator for the codification of Belgian company law, which resulted in the adoption of the company code in 1999. From 2007 to February 2009, Geens was also Head of Cabinet for Economic Affairs of the Flemish Prime Minister Kris Peeters .

Geens is editor-in-chief of Tijdschrift voor Rechtspersoon en Vennootschap and of the loose-leaf commentary on company law published by Kluwer Verlag ( Overzicht Vennootschappen en Veren. Artikelgewijze commentaren ).

In 2009 Geens ran for the post of Rector of KULeuven , which became vacant on August 1, 2009 . He achieved second place in the first voting round with 358 votes, but was only able to collect 573 votes in the second round and was thus defeated by Mark Waer , who had received 682 votes.

Koen Geens got his start in politics in 2013 when he joined the federal government under Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo ( PS ) for the outgoing Finance Minister Steven Vanackere (CD&V) . On the occasion of the federal elections on May 25, 2014 Geens was elected to the Chamber of Deputies and has been Minister of Justice in the government under Charles Michel ( MR ) since October 2014 .

On January 31, 2020, King Philippe commissioned him to negotiate with the aim of forming a new government after the general election of May 2019. Geens returned the assignment to the king on February 14, 2020 after the refusal of the Francophone socialists to cooperate with the Flemish N-VA made the continuation of his mission pointless.

He has been a full member of the Academia Europaea since 2012 .

Geens is married and has two children.

Overview of political offices

2013–2014: Federal Minister of Finance in the Di Rupo government

2014– 0000: Member of the Chamber of Deputies (partially prevented)

2014–2018: Federal Minister of Justice in the Michel I government

2018-2019: Federal Minister of Justice in the Michel II government

2019–2020: Federal Minister of Justice in the Wilmès I government

2020– 0000: Federal Minister of Justice in the Wilmès II government

Publications (selection)

Het vrij beroep. Grandchildren theoretical Beschouwingen aan de hand van een vergelijkende studie naar Belgian law van de reglementering ter zake van de beroepen van arts, advocaat, architect en bedrijfsrevisor . Diss., Löwen 1986.
Corporations and partnerships in Belgium . With Bart Servaes. Kluwer law international, The Hague 1997, ISBN 90-411-0479-8 .
Commercial en vennootschapsrecht: studieboek voor economiestudenten . With Gabriël Luc Ballon and Jules Stuyck. Kluwer, Mechelen 2005, ISBN 90-4650-663-0 .
Inleiding dead het economically right . With Luc Ballon, Jules Stuyck and Evelyne Terryn. Kluwer, 2008.

Web links

Commons : Koen Geens - collection of images, videos and audio files

Official homepage of Koen Geens
Page about Koen Geens on the website of the law firm Eubelius ( Memento from March 31, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) (Dutch)

Individual evidence

^ Belgium: Finance Minister Vanackere resigns . AFP article on Handelsblatt.com , March 5, 2013, accessed on March 20, 2016.
↑ Mark Waer nieuwe rector KULeuven. KU Leuven, May 9, 2009, accessed on February 11, 2020 (Dutch).
Jump up : Geens is the new royal commissioner. Belgian Broadcasting, January 31, 2020, accessed February 11, 2020 .
↑ King releases Geens from his exploratory assignment. Belgian Broadcasting, February 14, 2020, accessed on February 21, 2020 . Geens blames PS for the failure of his mission. Belgian Broadcasting, February 15, 2020, accessed on February 21, 2020 .
^ Membership directory: Koenraad Frans Julia Geens. Academia Europaea, accessed on August 18, 2017 .

personal data
SURNAME	Geens, Koen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Belgian lawyer, university professor and politician
DATE OF BIRTH	January 22, 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH	Brasschaat

[1] Belgium: Finance Minister Vanackere resigns . AFP article on Handelsblatt.com , March 5, 2013, accessed on March 20, 2016.

[2] Mark Waer nieuwe rector KULeuven. KU Leuven, May 9, 2009, accessed on February 11, 2020 (Dutch).

[3] Jump up : Geens is the new royal commissioner. Belgian Broadcasting, January 31, 2020, accessed February 11, 2020 .

[4] King releases Geens from his exploratory assignment. Belgian Broadcasting, February 14, 2020, accessed on February 21, 2020 . Geens blames PS for the failure of his mission. Belgian Broadcasting, February 15, 2020, accessed on February 21, 2020 .

[5] Membership directory: Koenraad Frans Julia Geens. Academia Europaea, accessed on August 18, 2017 .