Pieter Gillaerts has won the Triennial Prize for Civil Procedure (2018-2019-2020) for his monograph on the Belgian declaratory action and non-compensatory liability law (“De Belgische declaratoire vordering en het niet-vergoedende aansprakelijkheidsrecht”). The prize is awarded by the “Algemene Modellenverzameling voor de Rechtspraktijk vzw” (AMR) to the author of a scientific book, written in Dutch, that mainly concerns the study of civil procedure or a part thereof. While selecting the laureate, the jury takes into account the scientific value, the usefulness for legal practice (magistrate, notary public, lawyer or bailiff), the accessibility and the correct use of the Dutch language. The prize (worth € 7,500.00) has been awarded on Friday 1 October 2021 in Bruges in the presence of the members of the jury and representatives of AMR.
The monograph constitutes the commercial edition, published by Intersentia, of the PhD thesis that Pieter Gillaerts successfully defended on 19 June 2020.
It offers a valuable contribution to the field of civil procedure by its thorough analysis of the declaratory action. On the basis of numerous examples from case law and using valuable comparative law insights, the author has construed a framework that is based on the Belgian legal system and is directly applicable in practice. The declaratory action has an added value in multiple regards: from anticipating evidence-related problems or offering preventive legal protection, to facilitating out-of-court dispute resolution or providing satisfaction. The practical approach and offered step-by-step plan clear the way for legal practice to fully benefit from this promising instrument’s potential.
