Eva Brems (born 1969) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct language ...

university professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

human rights defender A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. She is a senior lecturer in

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

and non-Western law at

Ghent University Ghent University ( nl, Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium. Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the ...

. Besides her academic engagements, Brems has also been politically active. From 2006 until 2010, she was the president of the Flemish division of

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

.Prof. Dr. Eva Brems - Personal page
,

, Department of Public Law, Human Rights Centre HRC. Retrieved 2010-06-17. In the spring of 2010 she announced her candidacy in the

2010 Belgian general election Federal elections were held in Belgium on 13 June 2010, during the midst of the 2007-11 Belgian political crisis. After the fall of the previous Leterme II Government over the withdrawal of Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Open VLD) from the ...

for the Chamber of Representatives. She now represents the

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

for the

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

party

Groen Groen or de Groen is a surname of Dutch origin, meaning ''green''.

.Groen! - Eva Brems

Groen! Groen (English: Green; nl, Groen, ), founded as Agalev (see Name below), is a green Flemish political party in Belgium. Its French-speaking equivalent is Ecolo; the two parties maintain close relations with each other. Party history Before 1 ...

. Retrieved 2010-06-17.

Groen (political party)

Education

Brems attended the Facultés universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix in the city of

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namu ...

as a law undergraduate (1987–1989) and the

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven KU Leuven (or Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. It conducts teaching, research, and services in computer science, engineering, natural sciences, theology, humanities, medicine, l ...

as a law graduate (1989–1992). The first semester of her final year she participated in de Erasmus Programme to study at de

Università degli Studi di Bologna The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Subsequently, she attended the

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

as a ''Van Waeyenbergh'' fellow of the

Belgian American Educational Foundation The Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF) is an educational charity. It supports the exchange of university students, scientists and scholars between the United States and Belgium. The foundation fosters the higher education of deserving ...

and obtained a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

(1994–1995). Thereafter, Brems completed her doctoral programme at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven with a dissertation titled "Human Rights: Universality and Diversity" (1999). Furthermore, she followed several Italian, Arab and German courses.

Career

From 1992 until 1994 Brems was a fellow at the law school of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, where she participated in a project concerning "Civil and Legal Protection". Between 1999 and 2001 she became an academic assistant in

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a State (polity), state, namely, the executive (government), executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as th ...

at the same university and taught constitutional and administrative law at the

University of Maastricht Maastricht University (abbreviated as UM; nl, Universiteit Maastricht) is a public research university in Maastricht, Netherlands. Founded in 1976, it is the second youngest of the thirteen Dutch universities. In 2021, 22,383 students studied at ...

as well (1999–2000). As of 2000 Eva Brems teaches at Ghent University regarding human rights, gender and rights, and rights and Islam. Besides her academic efforts, Brems is a member of the board of ''Vormen'', a Flemish organisation for human rights education, and head editor of the ''Tijdschrift voor Mensenrechten'' (Journal for Human Rights) since 2003. She was president of the Flemish division of

from 2006 until April 2010.Curriculum vitae Eva Brems, 1 March 2010
,

, Department of Public Law, Human Rights Centre HRC. Retrieved 2010-06-16. Brems became known on a larger scene in 2007 while participating in the popular Flemish TV-quiz ''De Slimste Mens ter Wereld'' (The Smartest Person in the World), in which she became third. During the winter of 2010-2011 she joined the quiz once again to compete with the other highest scoring players from previous seasons. She became third as well as best scoring female and winner of the most consecutive episodes. In the spring of 2010 she announced her candidacy in the

as frontrunner of the

for the

party

. She was elected for a seat in the

Belgian Chamber of Representatives The Chamber of Representatives (Dutch: , french: link=no, Chambre des représentants, german: link=no, Abgeordnetenkammer) is one of the two chambers in the bicameral Federal Parliament of Belgium, the other being the Senate. It is considered ...

. In 2013, she decided not to run for reelection in the upcoming

2014 Belgian federal election Federal elections were held in Belgium on 25 May 2014. All 150 members of the Chamber of Representatives (Belgium), Chamber of Representatives were elected, whereas the Senate (Belgium), Senate was no longer directly elected following the sixth ...

Timeline

*13 June 2010 – : Flag of Belgium (civil)

Representative (constituency of Leuven)

Publications

*Eva Brems, ''Conflicts between fundamental rights'', Intersentia, 2008, , 9789050957793 *Eva Brems (red), ''Federalism and the Protection of Human Rights in Ethiopia'', Volume 8 van Recht und Politik in Afrika, LIT Verlag Münster, 2008, , *Eva Brems, ''Article 14: the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion'', Volume 14 van Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2006, , *Eva Brems, ''Human rights: universality and diversity'', Volume 66 van International studies in human rights, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2001, ,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brems, Eva Living people Groen (political party) politicians Members of the Belgian Federal Parliament 1969 births KU Leuven alumni Politicians from Leuven Academic staff of Ghent University Amnesty International people Belgian human rights activists Harvard Law School alumni 21st-century Belgian politicians 21st-century Belgian women politicians Alumni of the Erasmus Programme