Melchior Wathelet
Minister-President of Wallonia
In office
11 December 1985  3 February 1988
Preceded byJean-Maurice Dehousse
Succeeded byGuy Coëme
Personal details
Born (1949-03-06) 6 March 1949
Petit-Rechain
Political partyHumanist Democratic Centre
Alma materUniversity of Liège
Harvard University

Melchior H. M. J. F. C. Wathelet (born 6 March 1949) is a Belgian politician and member of the Humanist Democratic Centre who served as 4th Minister-President of Wallonia. He has degrees in law and in economics (University of Liège) and is a Master of Laws (Harvard University). He is also a professor at the Catholic University of Louvain and the Université de Liège. From 1995 to 2003 he was a Judge at the European Court of Justice.[1] Following that, Wathelet served as Secretary of State for Asylum and Migration.[2] In 2012-2018, Wathelet served as Advocate-General at the Court of Justice.[1]

Political career

Controversy

As Justice Minister he had, according to David Canter, "encouraged the early release of many sex offenders" which included Marc Dutroux, a convicted child molester and subsequent serial killer.[4] This particular release resulted in the European Parliament calling for his resignation as an ECJ judge in 1997.[5] The European Parliament does not have the right to appoint ECJ judges, and it was the first time that it attempted to influence their selection.[6]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "CURIA - Melchior WATHELET". curia.europa.eu. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  2. Wolff, S. (2012). The Mediterranean Dimension of the European Union's Internal Security. Springer. p. 251. ISBN 978-0-230-36942-9.
  3. "Presentation of the Members". Court of Justice. Retrieved 8 July 2013.
  4. David Canter (2003). Mapping Murder. The Secrets of Geographical Profiling. Virgin Books. ISBN 1-85227-078-0. Page 175.
  5. Eades, David (6 November 1997). "Belgian judge urged to quit over Dutroux paedophile case". BBC News. London. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  6. "MEP tries to remove Belgian judge from European Court". POLITICO. 10 September 1997. Retrieved 15 January 2021.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.