prof.mr.dr. Jurgen Goossens

Bio

Jurgen Goossens is Associate Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law at Tilburg University. He is leader of the interdisciplinary NWO-MVI CHAIN project: 'Blockchain in the network society: transparency, trust and legitimacy by design' (2020-2024).

Before, he was Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law at Erasmus University of Rotterdam and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Ghent University. Goossens holds an LL.M. degree from Yale Law School.

His research agenda focuses on constitutional resilience in our hyper-complex and hyper-connected society. He primarily researches the ability of constitutional values, principles, and procedures  to cope with the challenges, transformations and threats that come with the increased use of algorithms in administrative decision-making processes and digital network governance. Goossens also regularly embarks on legal educational innovation endeavors .

Expertise

Jurgen’s research agenda includes the identification, design and implementation of the conditions and mechanisms that contribute to constitutional resilience of the legal order to cope with transformations and threats in our hyper-complex and hyper-connected society.

Currently, he focuses on the ability of constitutional values, principles, and procedures to cope with the challenges, transformations and threats that come with the increased use of algorithms in administrative decision-making processes and digital network governance. Goossens pays particular attention to the relation between citizens and public bodies.

Together with Esther Keymolen, he leads the interdisciplinary NWO-MVI CHAIN project: 'Blockchain in the network society: transparency, trust and legitimacy by design' (2020-2024).

Teaching

Jurgen Goossens teaches constitutional and administrative law courses. He holds a Senior Qualification Education (SKO) and is regularly involved in educational innovation projects.

Goossens teaches the courses 'Introduction to constitutional law', 'Legal protection against the government', and ‘Government and governance’. He regularly embarks on educational innovation endeavors, such as the use of interactive videos and knowledge clips, the use of an online whiteboard and visual collaboration platform (Miro), and the development of the serious game ‘Constitutional Temptations’. In 2021, he was nominated by the Executive Board as Tilburg University’s Teacher of the Year.

Courses

• Introduction to Constitutional Law

Collaboration

Jurgen Goossens is regularly involved in interdisciplinary research projects, most recently related to the rule of law conditions for the use of algorithms (smart contracts)  and distributed technologies (blockchain).

He has been awarded 1 million euros for conducting research into transparent, trustworthy, legitimate applications of blockchain technology by the Dutch government in the complex network society. The project is financed by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) as well as a consortium of five public and seven private parties. See press release.

Goossens is available for professional trainings, presentations, lectures, keynotes and workshops. Moreover, he has an expertise in communicating scientific research to a broader audience.

Recent publications

1. De invoering van een algemene bepaling of preambule bij de Nederlands…

   Goossens, J., & Kuijvenhoven, M. (2022). De invoering van een algemene bepaling of preambule bij de Nederlandse Grondwet in rechtsvergelijkend perspectief. Ars Aequi, 412-419. [AA20220412]. https://arsaequi.nl/product/de-invoering-van-een-algemene-bepaling-of-preambule-bij-de-nederlandse-grondwet-in-rechtsvergelijkend-perspectief/

2. Rechtsvorming in een hypercomplexe samenleving - Bundel n.a.v. de Sta…

   Goossens, J., de Poorter, J., van der Schyff, G., Geldof, T., & van Oirsouw, C. (Eds.) (2022). Rechtsvorming in een hypercomplexe samenleving: Bundel n.a.v. de Staatsrechtconferentie 2022 (Tilburg University). Wolf Legal Publishers (WLP).

3. Rechtsvorming in een hypercomplexe samenleving in het licht van evolu…

   Goossens, J., & de Poorter, J. (2022). Rechtsvorming in een hypercomplexe samenleving in het licht van evoluties in de horizontale, verticale, stedelijke en publiek-private dimensies. In J. Goossens, J. de Poorter, G. van der Schyff, T. Geldof, & C. van Oirsouw (Eds.), Rechtsvorming in een hypercomplexe samenleving: Bundel n.a.v. de Staatsrechtconferentie 2022 (Tilburg University) (pp. 7-22). Wolf Legal Publishers (WLP).

4. Besturen met blockchain in de digitale netwerksamenleving - Het borge…

   van Oirsouw, C., & Goossens, J. (2022). Besturen met blockchain in de digitale netwerksamenleving: Het borgen en operationaliseren van transparantie en accountability. Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Bestuursrecht, 2022(2), 78-90. [NTB 2022/39].

5. Algoritmische beslisregels vanuit constitutioneel oogpunt - Tweedelin…

   Goossens, J., Hirsch Ballin, E., & van Vugt, E. (2021). Algoritmische beslisregels vanuit constitutioneel oogpunt: Tweedeling tussen algemene regels en concrete toepassing onder druk. Tijdschrift voor constitutioneel recht, 12(1), 4-19.