Rate My Professor Tim Opgenhaffen

Tim Opgenhaffen is an assistant professor on the tenure track at the Faculty of Law and Criminology, KU Leuven, affiliated with the Institute for Social Law. He earned his Doctor of Laws from KU Leuven, where his PhD examined restrictions of freedom in residential care through a human rights lens. He also holds an assistant professor position at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in the Department of Private and Economic Law, focusing on Health Law and Law of Persons. Opgenhaffen is a member of the Leuven Centre for Health Humanities and Leuven.IRD - KU Leuven Institute for Rare Diseases.

His research specializes in social welfare law and social assistance, covering rights of persons with disabilities, professional secrecy, mental healthcare, and residential care. As promotor or co-promotor, he leads projects such as Prioritization in Welfare Services: A Fundamental Rights Perspective (2025-2029), Legal position of persons with addiction (2025-2029), Integrated guideline for seclusion and restraint prevention (2025), Maximizing family involvement in mental health care (2024-2029), Legal framework for Serious Case Reviews (2024-2025), and International legal positive obligation for child protection (2023-2027). Notable publications include Fagard, Opgenhaffen, and Azhar, 'Mental Health for Migrants: A Human Rights Issue?' (European Journal of Health Law, 2025); Eglem et al., 'Juridisch kader voor de uitvoering van de Serious Case Review' (2025); Opgenhaffen and Foubert, 'Ouder dan 30? Gelieve niet te solliciteren!' (Sociaal-economische wetgeving, 2025); Claes and Opgenhaffen, 'Wet inzake de bescherming opgelegd aan een persoon met een psychiatrische aandoening' (Tijdschrift voor Familierecht, 2025); and chapters in Praktijkboek sociale zekerheid 2025 on euthanasia and dementia, disability benefits, and elderly assistance in Brussels. He has received the Walter Leën Prijs voor Sociaal Recht (2020), Derine Prijs rond Sociale Rechtvaardigheid (2021), Fernand Collin Prijs voor Recht (2021), and Studentenprijs Orde van Vlaamse Balies (2015). Opgenhaffen teaches Welfare Law, Introduction to Law, and Special Social Law seminar.