About us Officers of the ISFL

I am a senior full professor of law, and hold the chair of family & kinship studies, at the University of Antwerp (Belgium).
My research mainly concerns new kinship studies and private ordering in family law. In those fields, I am the promoter of a Research Foundation Flanders ‘scientific research com-munity’ RETHINKIN_ Rethinking family and family law in the Low Countries. I am also a member of the coordinating group of FL-EUR Family Law in Europe – Academic Network. I focus on law-in-context or socio-legal methodology, convinced as I am that legal research should be theoretically informed and empirically grounded. My focus is rather international and comparative than national.
I teach the law of persons and family law (LLB), and the advanced course, international fami-ly law, and family proceedings (LLM).
I was a visiting professor or scholar at various Universities and Institutes in Europe and in South Africa.
I provide services to science and society in various associations and editorial boards and in several civil society organizations. The protection of vulnerable minors (victims of abuse, mi-nors with disabilities) and vulnerable adults (mentally incapacitated or disabled) are my focus there.
I also am of-counsel at the private client team of Deloitte Legal Lawyers.

www.frederikswennen.be

Building bridges

I am an ISFL member since 2005 and have attended all general meetings since then, with active presentations since 2008. I’ve contributed to the Survey twice. I serve on the Council since 2017. I also tried to propagate international and comparative family law research through other channels, such as the above-mentioned and the International Association of Comparative Law.
I strive towards building bridges between different nationalities and (legal) cultures, by co-presenting and co-writing with foreign colleagues and through the Flemish and Low Countries Networks I chair.
I look forward to being a bridge builder in the Council too, representing the Low Countries and reaching out to legal cultures worldwide.