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25 Years of Cyber Justice

On Thursday, 27 November 2025, we commemorated a landmark moment—25 years since Belgium’s pioneering cybercrime legislation. The event was organised by the Belgian Cyber Security Coalition and Belgian Judicial Training Institute IGO-IFJ, with the support of BNP Paribas Fortis. Preventing, identifying, assessing, and mitigating cyber risks is essential—but justice must follow. Cyber criminals must be condemned, prosecuted, and punished to ensure that cybercrime does not thrive in impunity. A strong judicial apparatus is indispensable in the fight for digital security. This was more than a celebration—it was a call to shape the next 25 years of cyber justice.

Morning Programme

  • Cybercrime’s evolution: an EU perspective on 25 Years – Despina Spanou, Deputy Director-General European Commission DG CONNECT (no slides)
  • The evolving battlefield: lessons from 25 years of Belgian resilience – Miguel De Bruycker, Managing Director General Centre for Cybersecurity Belgium
  • A quarter century of Cyber Law in action – Jan Kerkhofs, Federal Magistrate, Head of the Cyber Unit of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office
  • Cyber challenges in the Lowlands – Luuk Bekkers, Postdoctoral Researcher The Hague University of Applied Sciences
  • Panel: Prosecuting cybercrime in practice – Moderator: Frank Verbruggen, Professor at KU Leuven; Panellists: Fabrice Clément, Group CISO Proximus, Kris Derkoningen, Police Superintendent FCCU, Robrecht De Keersmaecker, Advocate General at the Prosecutor’s General Office Antwerp, Geert Baudewijns, CEO & Founder Secutec

Afternoon Programme

  • Turning the tide: Protecting consumers from cybercrime (no slides) – 
    Rob Beenders, Minister of Consumer Protection, Social Fraud, Prevention, Persons with Disabilities, and Equal Opportunities (no slides)
  • Panel – Balancing privacy and law enforcement in the digital age –
    Moderator: Charlotte Conings, Criminal Litigation Lawyer Stibbe; Panellists: Irene Kamara, Associate Professor Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society; Olivier Leroux, Counsellor Brussels Court of Appeal

  • Panel – AI: A new frontier in cybercrime (no slides), Moderator: Elise Delhaise, Lecturer at UNamur, Head of Cybercriminality and Cybersecurity Unit (CRIDS-NADI); Robin Khalfa, Senior Researcher Institute for International Research on Criminal Policy Ghent Univesity; Julie Petersen, Head Cybercrime & Crime Artes Law, Assistant Criminal (Procedure) Law KU Leuven
  • Panel – Hack the right path: turning risk into responsibility (no slides) – Moderator: Peter Peereboom, First Deputy Public Prosecutor, Public Prosecutor’s Office Antwerp; Panellists: Veerle Peeters, Cybersecurity Awareness Expert & Founder CybHERStrong; Niels Hofmans, Head of Cyber Cresco
  • Panel – Building trust across borders and sectors in cyber investigations – Moderator: Mona Giacometti, Professor at ULB; Panellists: Lorelien Hoet, EU Government Affairs Director Microsoft, Vanessa Franssen, Professor University Liège
  • Closing keynote by Bernard Quintin, Minister of Security and Home Affaies, responsible for Beliris (no slides)
25 Years of Cyber Justice 27-11-25
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