Koen Geens (born 22 January 1958) is a Belgian

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

of the Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V) who served as the Minister of Justice and as Deputy Prime Minister in the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

s of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

s Charles Michel and Sophie Wilmès.

Early life and education

Geens studied at the University of Antwerp ( UFSIA) and the Catholic University of Leuven (

KU Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its mai ...

), where he received his law degree in 1980, and at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

where he received an LL.M.

Career

Early career

Since 1986 Geens has become a professor at the KU Leuven. In that capacity, he was appointed by the Belgian government as the scientific coordinator for the codification of the Belgian laws on companies and financial accounts, which culminated in a new Belgian company code in 2001. In 2009 Geens was a candidate for rector of the KU Leuven but lost out to Mark Waer. Geens is a co-founder of an independent lawfirm in Belgium with offices in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

and

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

Political career

From 2007 to 2009 Geens served as chief of staff to the Flemish minister-president Kris Peeters. When Steven Vanackere resigned in March 2013 as Minister of Finance, Geens was appointed as his successor. In October 2014 Geens became Minister of Justice in the Michel Government. In addition, he chaired the

European People's Party The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian democracy, Christian democratic, liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative, and conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other p ...

’s Justice Ministers Meeting. During his time in office, Geens steered through the legislative process a 2015 law which invalidated passports and identity cards of people authorities believe plan to go and fight for militant Islamist organizations in the Middle East. In the wake of the 2016 Brussels bombings, both Geens and fellow cabinet member Jan Jambon offered their resignation to Prime Minister Michel over lapses; both were refused. As part of the

government formation Government formation is the process in a parliamentary system of selecting a prime minister and cabinet members. If no party controls a majority of seats, it can also involve deciding which parties will be part of a coalition government. It us ...

, Geens was appointed by

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

Philippe of Belgium to explore possibilities to form a

coalition government A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a government by political parties that enter into a power-sharing arrangement of the executive. Coalition governments usually occur when no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an ...

in early 2020.

Other activities

International organizations

* African Development Bank (AfDB), Ex-Officio Alternate Member of the Board of Governors (2013-2014) *

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world. The bank was establishe ...

(ADB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2013-2014) * European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2013-2014) *

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt sol ...

(EIB), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2013-2014) * Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC), Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2013-2014) *

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

(IMF), Ex-Officio Alternate Member of the Board of Governors (2013-2014) * Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA),

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Group ...

, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2013-2014) *

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

, Ex-Officio Member of the Board of Governors (2013-2014)

Corporate boards

* BNP Paribas Fortis, Non-Executive Member of the Board of Directors (2011-2013)

Non-profit organizations

Academia Europaea The Academia Europaea is a pan-European Academy of humanities, letters, law, and sciences. The Academia was founded in 1988 as a functioning Europe-wide Academy that encompasses all fields of scholarly inquiry. It acts as co-ordinator of Europe ...

, Member (since 2012) * Academy of European Law (ERA), Member of the Governing Board *

, Member of the Board of Trustees Board of Trustees

. * Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts, Member

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Geens, Koen 1958 births Living people Christian Democratic and Flemish politicians Harvard Law School alumni KU Leuven alumni Academic staff of KU Leuven People from Brasschaat Deputy prime ministers of Belgium Ministers of justice of Belgium 21st-century Belgian politicians Members of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts Ministers of finance of Belgium People from Merksem