Criminal law & fraud

Criminal law, as well as fraud and the fight against it, have become increasingly important matters in our society. Both for private individuals and for companies. Proper customised assistance therefore is crucial.

Our Criminal Law specialists, criminal lawyers and procedural lawyers give advice and assistance on criminal investigations and judicial investigations of witnesses, suspects and victims of crime. They assist our clients in relation to criminal mediation, execution of criminal penalties, and, of course, before the criminal courts, the Courts of Appeal, the Assize Court, the Court of Cassation, and before the European Court of Human Rights. We also offer exhaustive and adequate assistance with regard to support of victims.

Because our firm is also active in other areas of law besides criminal law, we are able to guide our clients in all aspects of criminal law related to other aspects of law, such as traffic law, tax law or corporate law, just to name a few.

Moreover, we provide our clients with proactive advice on the preparation of a prevention policy to avoid the risk of criminal proceedings.

General criminal law

Our practice group Criminal Law can be proud of its many years of expertise in the provision of assistance to persons who became the victim of criminal offences or those who are prosecuted for such offence. The nature of the files we handle is wide ranging and involves nearly all crimes covered in the Criminal Code, such as:

infringements of drugs legislation;
infringements of the public confidence (counterfeiting or falsification, forgery of documents and computer science, perjury, …);
crimes and offences against property (theft, extortion, deceit, vandalism, …);
rimes and offences against persons (inflicting physical injury, deliberate killing, human trafficking, harassment, violation of honour and reputation, ...);
sexual offences (sexual assault, rape, ...);
...

Economic criminal law

Our firm also cooperatives across the different aspects of law. We have a solid reputation in handling files with regard to infringements of an economic nature. We provide advice and assistance to both legal entities and private individuals in the following matters:

financial crimes (abuse of corporate assets, organisation of inability, active and passive bribery, …);
fiscal fraud and tax fraud (fiscal forgery of documents, violations of the Income Tax Code and the VAT Code, ...);
infringements with regard to the status of bankruptcy;
criminal liability of legal entities;
laundering;
...

Fraud

Fraud and the fight against it require increasingly more attention. Especially because not only private individuals but also companies are getting involved in procedures that are covered by the application area of criminal law. Companies and/or their business managers can be held criminally liable and be prosecuted. The way in which a company is structured and the policy it pursues, apply as an essential criterion. We advice in the preparation of an adequate policy to prevent or regulate criminal and/or fraud risks.

Police questioning

Since the implementation of the “Salduz Act”, assistance by a lawyer is allowed during police questioning. It is strongly recommended to exercise this right. Since the implementation of the Act, our firm has focused on providing assistance during police questioning.

Social criminal law

Guiding procedures regarding social criminal law is one of the experience and knowledge capitals of our firm. We provide advice and assistance to both legal entities and private individuals in the following matters:

infringements of employment conditions;
infringements of social documents;
infringements of social security;
infringements of working time;
non-declared labour;
social fraud;
...

Disciplinary procedures

Our firm is familiar with the guidance of procedures due to alleged infringements of the professional deontology. Our advices and assistance are related to disciplinary procedures for:

the Order of Doctors;
the Institute of Accountants and Tax Consultants;
the Institute for Company Auditors;
sports Courts;
...

Traffic criminal law

Assistance and advice on the execution of criminal penalties;
Evaluation of human damage;
Criminal defence in the event of summons before the Police Court;
Intervention on behalf of civil parties and preparation of a damage claim (e.g. following a road traffic accident, ...);
...

Experts in Criminal law & fraud

Pascal Nelissen Grade Partner Contact

Camille Bloemen

Tinka De Roey

Charlotte De Vlaminck

Astrid Luckermans

Michiel Versweyveld

Silke Vervliet

Pascal Nelissen Grade

Liability, insurance and traffic law Travel law Sports law Criminal law & fraud Persons and family law

Pascal Nelissen Grade has 25 years of experience and learned all about law from childhood on. With the same earnest and attention for detail, Pascal switches his lawyer robe for a race overall and helmet and goes out racing on circuits both in Belgium and abroad.

Pascal is also:

Permanent member of the mixed commission for legal assistance and the commission for attorney’s fees.
Member of the council of the Bar Association of Leuven.
Chairman of the commission on fee litigations, estimations, arbitration and mediation (Bar Association of Leuven).
Member of the commission on lawyer ethics (Bar Association of Leuven).

In 2014, he was featured in the Who's who Legal Sports & Entertainment.

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Jan Stijns

Construction law Administrative law Estates Mediation

Jan Stijns graduated in 1987 as master of law at KU Leuven. In 2009 he also graduated as bachelor in philosophy at KU Leuven.

Jan entered the association in 1987. He is specialized in family property law and has specific attention for patrimonial law (real estate) and succession planning / taxability. He is also specialized in the fields of construction law and administrative law.

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Joris De Roo

Corporate law Commercial & economic law

Joris De Roo graduated in 1992 as master of law at KU Leuven.

Immediately after his studies, Joris entered the association and in 1998 he became partner. He specializes in commercial and economic law and corporate law. He is also specialized in estate planning.

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Kris Maes

Labour and social law Civil law

Kris Maes graduated as master of law at KU Leuven.

He is a member of the Bar Association of Leuven and Dendermonde.

Kris provides assistance and advice to individuals and companies on the subject of (individual and collective) labour law and social security. He is especially interested in providing thorough and permanent assistance on the subject of HR management. He is regularly invited as a guest speaker in seminars.

In the event of litigation, he prefers to come to a detailed and balanced solution after clear negotiations. But when legal proceedings are required, he is prepared to go to any length.

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Alexis Lefebvre

Commercial & economic law Tax law

Alexis Lefebvre started his studies at FUNDP in Namur and graduated as master of law at UCL in Louvain-la-Neuve. After his education, Alexis entered the association.

He is specialized in litigation and providing assistance and advice in the fields of tax law, on the one hand, and economic, commercial and contract law, on the other hand.

He is a member of the Bar Association of Brussels and Leuven.

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Frederiek Baudoncq

Civil law Arbitration Travel law Liability, insurance and traffic law Mediation

Frederiek Baudoncq is a member of the Bar Association of Leuven since 1998. From 1999 to 2005, he was part time assistant at the faculty of law of KU Leuven, department property and liability law.

He is (co) author of several books and contributions to books and articles and is a member of the editorial staff of three law journals. He completed the training to become a lawyer at the Supreme Court of Belgium, the Court of Cassation.

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Alexis Hallemans

Intellectual property, ICT and GDPR, media law Commercial & economic law Mediation

Alexis Hallemans studied law in Namur (FUNDP), Belgium, at the Univeristy of Leuven and in Saarbrücken (Germany). He is a lawyer since 2003. He also obtained a LL.M degree European law in Germany and an additional Masters in intellectual property and IT law at the University of Brussels. He specializes in these subjects in which he has pleaded before the Court of Justice of the EU and the Constitutional Court in Belgium. He is recommended for these subjects in Belgium (Legal 500, Tier 2).

For several years now he is a Board member of the German, Belgian and Luxemburg Chamber of Commerce AHK DEBELUX. Alexis fluently speaks Dutch, French, German and English. This allowed him to develop a strong experience and track record in legally assisting international companies in Belgium, particularly German companies.

Alexis worked in large international law firms in Belgium and Germany (CMS Hasche Sigle) before joining Nelissen Grade as a partner in the department IP, IT and commercial law.

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Joke Decabooter

Persons and family law Arbitration Mediation

Joke Decabooter obtained her master law degree at the Catholic University of Leuven in 2011. During her master years, Joke mainly focused on civil law, specialising in family law, family property law and liability law.

After her studies, Joke immediately joined the Bar Association of Leuven, as well as our firm. Based on her interest in private law, she mainly focuses on support, procedures and advice regarding all aspects of family law, as well as settlements and divisions. Nationality issues also fall within her expertise.

In 2015, Joke obtained her notarial profession master at the Free University of Brussels. Since 2019 she is recognized as mediator in family matters.

From the 2019-2020 academic year, Joke will be affiliated with the Catholic University of Leuven as a law assistant at the Institute for Family Law.

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Karen Niesten

Tax law Commercial & economic law Estate planning

Karen Niesten obtained her Master's degree in Law at the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL) in 2012 and then completed an additional Master's degree in Taxation at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB).

In 2013, she joined the Nelissen Grade office and the Leuven Bar.

Karen also completed a management programme at Solvay Business School of Economics and Management in Brussels and attended courses in Dutch taxation and inheritance law at the University of Maastricht.

Karen focuses on leading and developing the expert groups for tax law and estate planning.

On the one hand Karen focuses on financial and tax advice, including estate planning. On the other hand, she performs dispute resolution and litigation in various tax fields for the administrative authorities and tax courts in Belgium. In cooperation with Frederiek Baudoncq, she also conducts proceedings before the Court of Cassation.

From her tax background, she also supports the corporate law department.