Heleen Lauwereys

Heleen Lauwereys is a PhD Researcher at the Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy (IRCP) and the Human Rights Centre (both at Ghent University).

Heleen holds a Master of Laws (University of Antwerp, 2014) and a LLM in International Human Rights Law (Irish Centre for Human Rights, National University of Ireland Galway, 2015). During her law studies at the University of Antwerp, Heleen participated in an exchange program with the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, during one Semester. She also completed a legal internship with the Permanent Representation of Belgium to the United Nations and Other International Organisations in Geneva, Switzerland, during which she reported on the 25th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Following her studies, Heleen worked as a legal intern for the Office of the Co-Prosecutors at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia and as a legal intern at the Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court. During and after her studies, Heleen contributed to the work of the ICLHR Initiative and the Case Matrix Network as a case analyst.

Her doctoral research focuses on the role of the child’s best interests when sentencing parents and primary caregivers.