Raoul Charles, Baron Van Caenegem (14 July 1927 – 15 June 2018), was a Belgian historian and noted expert in the field of European legal history.
He studied the history of continental and English common law, and why they diverged so sharply.
He revealed the significance of power struggles between the judiciary, legislators, and legal scholars.
Van Caenegem became a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1977.
[2] Van Caenegem was married to the British-born historian Patricia Carson, who was ennobled in 1996 with the personal title of Baroness.