Albert Lilar

Who was Albert Lilar?

Albert Jean Julien François, Baron Lilar was a Belgian politician of the Liberal Party and a Minister of Justice.

Lilar was a renowned lawyer of Admiralty and International Private Law in Antwerp, and Chairman of the International Maritime Committee. He was also a Professor of Law at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He was the husband of the writer Suzanne Lilar, and father of the writer Françoise Mallet-Joris and the 18th century art historian Marie Fredericq-Lilar. In his political life, Lilar was a liberal senator of the Arrondissement Antwerp and four times Minister of Justice. He became Minister of State in 1969. Under the Gaston Eyskens Government, Lilar was vice-president of the Cabinet. As Vice-Premier, he was elected president of the Round Table in 1960 whose discussions lead to the independence of the Belgian Congo. A great humanitarian and defender of human rights, no death penalties were carried out under his terms as minister of justice.

The Albert Lilar Prize from the Comité Maritime International is awarded for a leading work on maritime law published in any language in the world during the previous five years.