Granting Social Assistance to the “unwanted” Dependency and Deportability in Belgian Welfare Trials

Drawing from three cases and the way they were debated in welfare court, this contribution explores the way human dignity is defined and enforced by legal professionals. It shows that in social assistance cases, judicial decisions are contingent upon the way members of the bench understand the law, establish truthfulness and assess possibilities for enforcement. It also shows that judicial decisions are not made in a social vacuum: while politics do not directly influence their work, judges still reflect on the political context within which their decisions are written, on the way they can be perceived and on the legal or political changes that can happen as a consequence.