Melchior H. M. J. F. C. Wathelet (born 6 March 1949) 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 languag ...

politician and member of the

Humanist Democratic Centre Humanist Democratic Centre (french: Centre Démocrate Humaniste, CDH) was a Christian democratic and centrist French-speaking political party in Belgium. The party originated in the split in 1972 of the unitary Christian Social Party (PSC-CVP) w ...

who served as 4th Minister-President of Wallonia. He has degrees in law and in economics (

University of Liège The University of Liège (french: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French. As of 2020, ULiège is ranked in the 301 ...

) and is 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 ...

(

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

). He is also a professor at the

Catholic University of Louvain The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and the Université de Liège. From 1995 to 2003 he was a Judge at the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...

. Following that, Wathelet served as . In 2012-2018, Wathelet served as Advocate-General at the Court of Justice.

Political career

*Member of the Chamber of Representatives (1977–1995) * Secretary of State for Regional Economy of the

Walloon Region Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

(1980–1981) *Minister of New Technologies and

SMEs Superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) systems store energy in the magnetic field created by the flow of direct current in a Superconductivity, superconducting coil which has been Cryogenics, cryogenically cooled to a temperature below ...

of the

(1981–1985) *

Minister-President A minister-president or minister president is the head of government in a number of European countries or subnational governments with a parliamentary or semi-presidential system of government where they preside over the council of ministers. It ...

of the

(1985–1988) *Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice and Middle Classes (1988–1992) *Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice and Economic Affairs (1992–1995) *Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence (1995) *Mayor of

Verviers Verviers (; wa, Vervî) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Ensival, Heusy, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Verviers. It is also ...

(1995)

Controversy

As Justice Minister he had, according to

David Canter David Victor Canter (born 5 January 1944) is a psychologist. He began his career as an architectural psychologist studying the interactions between people and buildings, publishing and providing consultancy on the designs of offices, schools, ...

, "encouraged the early release of many sex offenders" which included

Marc Dutroux Marc Paul Alain Dutroux (; born 6 November 1956) is a Belgian convicted serial killer, serial rapist, and child molester. Initially convicted for the abduction and rape of five young girls in 1989, Dutroux was released on parole after just thre ...

, a convicted child molester and subsequent serial killer. This particular release resulted in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

calling for his resignation as an ECJ judge in 1997. 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.

References

1949 births Living people Advocates General of the European Court of Justice Belgian Ministers of State Centre démocrate humaniste politicians European Court of Justice judges Government ministers of Belgium Harvard Law School alumni Mayors of places in Belgium Members of the Belgian Federal Parliament Ministers-President of Wallonia University of Liège alumni University of Liège faculty Belgian Ministers of Defence 21st-century Belgian politicians Belgian judges of international courts and tribunals Belgian officials of the European Union {{Belgium-mayor-stub

Political career

Controversy

See also

References