MAIN RESEARCH QUESTION –

This is the main research question that was set out to be answered. The question has two facets. First, which jurisdiction has the preferable approach in terms of the right to liberty. Second, how the Belgian approach could be improved. However, before any meaningful answer could be formulated for either of these facets, several terms had to be defined and operationalised.

659. Restrictions of liberty – The first Part of this book does exactly that. The right to liberty and the free movement of persons under the ECHR were analysed in detail. This provides a detailed and nuanced answer to the question what a ‘restriction of liberty’ is. Part I focussed first on the ECtHR case law related to the scope of application of the right to liberty and the possibilities to limit this right. Next, the case law on the free movement of persons was discussed.

660. Evaluative and normative framework – The main goal of the right to liberty is the prevention of arbitrary detention. Two main principles which aim to achieve this goal were identified: legal certainty and proportionality. The analysis also showed that those same principles are at the core of restrictions to the free movement of person