On Thursday 20 January 2022, the Institute for Procedural Law organized a focus group with five magistrates (from the courts of first instance, appeal and the Court of Cassation) and five lawyers from different bar associations. This focus group took place within the framework of the doctoral research of drs. Max De Schryver.

The participants engaged in an interactive discussion about various topics relating to the regulation of procedural documents in civil procedure. Amongst other things, the discussion concerned the way parties (should) draft their procedural documents, the possibilities parties have to raise new claims, arguments or procedural exceptions and the question of who should is best placed to make rules regarding procedural documents. During this discussion, various proposals and visions were subjected to critical scrutiny. Furthermore, this focus group did not limit itself to views on Belgian civil procedure, but also dealt with comparative law perspectives.