Chris De Cock

Area of expertise

International humanitarian law

Biography

Chris De Cock obtained master’s degrees in the fields of Aeronautical and Military Sciences, Law, Political Sciences, Public Management and Administration, Security and Defense, and International Relations and Diplomacy. 

After graduating from the Belgian Royal Military Academy, he held different command positions before joining the MOD’s Legal Department as military legal advisor. In September 2017, he became the senior legal advisor of the EU’s military-strategic headquarter in Brussels. He retired from active service on 01 July 2023, after which he became visiting professor of law at the Free University of Brussels (VUB) and the University of Ghent (U Ghent). In 2025, he joined NATO’s Office of Legal Affairs as temporary assistant legal advisor. Today, he is still visiting professor of law at the VUB.

Functions outside of the VUB

Professor De Cock is also Program Director at the Study Centre for Military Law and the Law of War (Brussels), as well as course director and Member of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law (San Remo).

Selection of publications

• C. De Cock, ‘Rules of Engagement in Large-Scale Combat Operations: Force enabler or Much Ado About Nothing?’, Lieber Institute of Law and Warfare, 13 Dec24.
• C. De Cock, ‘The Protection of Essential Services from Attack in Times of Armed Conflict’, Swiss Review of International and European Law 34, no. 3 (2024): 315-334.
• C. De Cock, ‘The Conflict in Gaza: Operation “Swords of Iron” and International Humanitarian Law’, German Military Law Review, Issue 1/2024, 1-14.
• C. De Cock, 'Urban, Protracted and Hybrid: Applying the 4th Convention to Nowadays Conflicts', Proceedings of the Bruges Colloquium, N°52, Autumn/Automne 2022, 38- 142.
• C. De Cock, ‘International Law in Action. The Role of the Legal Advisor in Operations in the 21st Century’, in: O. Rovetta and P. Lagrou, Defeating Impunity, (New York-London, Berghahn, 2021), 206-230.
• C. De Cock, ‘Legal Implications of Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq and Syria’, IYHR, Vol. 47, (Martinus Nijhoff, 2017), 69-138.

Prizes

Chris De Cock is a double recipient of the Certificate of Merit by the Military Lieber Society.