Our Partners

The Centre has formed a unique partnership with its equivalent at the KULeuven. The KULeuven and the UCL stem form the same university, which was divided in the sixties as a result of the desire of the Flemish and French speaking Belgian communities to have their own university on their own soil. Research has been developed for a long time around consumer issues at the KULeuven under the leadership of Prof. J. Stuyck. We have decided to unify our efforts and working jointly on a number of projects. We are co-editing a review (Droit de la consommation – Consumenten recht) and are hosting conferences in our joint names.

With the University of Geneva, Switzerland

Special links exist between this Centre and the Centre de droit de la consommation, at the University of Genève (Switzerland). We suggest our readers to consult the elaborated internet site established by the latter institution, in Geneva : http://www.unige.ch/droit/cedoc/index.php/cedoc. The Centre holds one of the most extended data bases on consumer protection around the globe.

With several associations at European and International level

The Centre participates in several organisations and associations which promote the development of Consumer Law in Belgium, Europe and the World. An important forum is the European Consumer Law Group (ECLG), which gathers the most eminent academics active in consumer law across the European Union together with social and economic actors. The ECLG provides expertise to the European Commission on all matters with an influence on the status of consumers. Another essential forum is the International Consumer Law Association, which gathers representatives of the world academic community in consumer law.

Within a European Research Network on Consumer Law

Parallel to these forums, the Centre is actively developing a European Research Network on Consumer Law. This Network is made of about 15 universities interested in teaching and researching around matters relating to Consumer Law. A project has been introduced in the sixth European Research Program top obtain funds to further develop that initiative.

Within a Worldwide Research Network on Consumer Law

Another initiative is the creation, under the initiative of the Centre, of a Worldwide Research Network on Consumer Law. In that initiative, the purpose is not to gather all or most academic forces active in consumer law but rather to unite through close links one research centre on consumer law per continent. We feel that that research on consumer issues may not be carried out any longer from one country or even one continent. Regulation is now adopted at world level and there is a need to think proposals from a global perspective. The participating institutions are :

Africa : Prof. A. Ngagi, Université national du Rwanda, Rwanda,
Europe : Centre de droit de la consommation, Université catholique de Louvain,
North America : Prof. Keith Pershall, University of the Pacific, USA,
South America : Prof. Luis Ferney Moreno Castillo, University of Bogota, Colombia,
Asia : Prof. Prof. Takao Suamil, University of Waseda, Japan.

With the North American Consumer Project on Electronic Commerce (NACPEC)

The main purpose of NACPEC (North American Consumer Project on Electronic Commerce) is to provide understanding of legal and policy issues in the areas of Internet and e-commerce consumer regulation, as well as to increasing consumer education and awareness among Internet users. NACPEC is addressed to consumers, consumer organizations, regional and multilateral organizations, policy makers, government & enforcement agencies, law practitioners and academics in order to facilitate their research, analysis and understanding of issues related to cross-border consumer electronic commerce - http://www.nacpec.org/en/