Abstract

In this article, I will show that “human dignity” as an explicit legal concept appears rather late in domestic Belgian law, as it was only inserted into the Constitution in 1994. This does not mean, of course, that the value of human dignity did not inspire many older legal provisions. Notwithstanding its late appearance, it immediately became very popular: there is literally an explosion of the use of the term in all areas of law. In this article, I will give some examples of areas of law in which human dignity has made its appearance. Nevertheless, the concept of human dignity remains rather vague and open, and although it was initially thought of as having a genuine emancipative potential, in recent years, jurists have come to realize that human dignity may also be detrimental to fundamental rights protection. Recently, there are more and more voices who warn against this dignity inflation. It is too early to argue that human dignity’s high days are over, but in the future, it is possible that human dignity will be used with more care and attention.