ABSTRACT
Beyond the obvious attractions of beer and chocolate, Belgium has much to offer as a site for legal historical research and lessons for any study of legality and the Holocaust. The two dominant linguistic and cultural groups, Flemish and Walloon, have lived in an uneasy peace since the country was founded. In late 2007, a general election resulted in a political stalemate which led to the country being governed on an interim basis, as the key political parties, divided in large part but not solely along the nation’s linguistic border, were unable to form a stable ruling coalition.1 For some, this was the inevitable result of the inherent instability of the country’s constitutional structure and led many to conclude that Belgium/Belgique/België was in its last throes of separation and division.2 Radical proposals for a new constitutional structure were advocated as the crisis endured.3 Finally, in March 2008, months of negotiations led to a precarious and complex arrangement among the various parities which resulted in a political, constitutional compromise allowing for the creation of a ruling “permanent” but always fragile coalition government.4
