Quick Facts
Biography
Walter Van Gerven (11 May 1935 – 8 July 2015) was a Belgian lawyer and law professor. He served as Advocate General on the European Court of Justice between 1988 and 1994. He was professor of European law at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
Career
Van Gerven studied at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and later at Stanford University in the United States. He returned to Belgium and spent several years as an assistant and later as lecturer at the Catholic University of Leuven. After graduating he found the law firm De Bandt-Van Gerven together with Jean-Pierre De Bandt. In 1967 he was made professor, teaching private law, European law and trade law. He was vice-rector of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven between 1970 and 1976.
In 1982 Van Gerven became chairman of the Bankcommissie, a predecessor to the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority. He later became honorary chairman and kept working at the institute until 1988. Between 1988 and 1994 he was Advocate General on the European Court of Justice.
In 1985 he became foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was also member of the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts.
In 1993 Van Gerven was made a Baron. He took the motto: "Met recht en rede", translated as "With justice and reason". In 2000 he took emeritus status at his university. In 2012 he received an honorary doctorate from Leiden University.
On 8 July 2015 he died, aged 80.