Rate My Professor Frank Verbruggen

Frank Verbruggen is a Professor in the Faculty of Law and Criminology at KU Leuven, serving as Head of the Institute of Criminal Law. He obtained his Licentiaat in de Rechten in 1992 and Doctor in de Rechten in 2001 from KU Leuven, with his PhD dissertation entitled 'Schaduwboksen in het donker,' which analyzed the challenges of reconciling classical criminal law principles with legal tools combating organized crime. His career at the Institute of Criminal Law began in 1993 as an assistant, continuing until 2000, after which he joined the faculty as a docent in 2001, progressing to professor. Verbruggen also practices as a lawyer and holds editorial roles, including membership on the board of Wetboek Strafrecht geannoteerd, and participates in initiatives such as the steering group for 'Lunchen met justitie' Leuven and the International Association of Penal Law.

Verbruggen's academic interests center on criminal law and criminal procedure, encompassing European and international criminal law, digital evidence in criminal matters, terrorism prevention, the integration of the European Convention on Human Rights into Belgian criminal practice, and upcoming reforms to the Belgian Criminal Code in 2026. He teaches Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure for bachelor students, as well as advanced courses in European Criminal Law, International Criminal Law, and criminal sanctions law at KU Leuven and the University of Hasselt. Notable publications include the textbook 'Strafrecht en strafprocesrecht voor bachelors' (2025, co-authored with Raf Verstraeten), 'Inleiding tot het Belgische strafrecht en strafprocesrecht' (second edition, 2024, with Raf Verstraeten), the chapter 'Digital Evidence in Criminal Matters: Belgian Pride and Prejudice' in The Cambridge Handbook of Digital Evidence in Criminal Investigations (2025), 'Belgium' in Justice in Criminal Law: Global Perspectives (2026), and 'Samenloop in België: technische regels voor het behoud van een gematigd strafklimaat in verhitte tijden' (2024). He has supervised and co-supervised over a dozen PhD projects on topics such as penalty accumulation limits, distinctions between criminal measures and punishments, liability of defense lawyers, AI and algorithmic analytics in law enforcement, hacking techniques in investigations, and financial capacity in criminal and tort law, demonstrating significant influence in the field.