VUB Contextual Research in Law

  (Louis XIV by Le Brun; source: Wikimedia Commons ) On Thusrday 28 May, prof. Frederik Dhondt was interviewed by Gert Geens (VRT Radio 1/De Wereld Vandaag) on the abolition of the Code Noir  enacted by Louis XIV. More information here .

  (image source: SHD Turin ) dr. Stefano Cattelan and Prof. Frederik Dhondt will present at the Journées internationales  of the Société d'Histoire du Droit , organised in Turin by the University of Turin around the theme "Droit de l’art, du patrimoine et des biens culturels: histoires, normes, circulations". More information on the conference website .

  Prof. Dr.  Dave De ruysscher  has been awarded the Jean Stengers Prize of the Académie Royale de Belgique for the triennial period 2023–2025.  He received this distinction in recognition of his study A Political Economy Imparted: Trade, Law, and Institutions in Antwerp c. 1400–1680 , a work that sheds new light on the interplay between legal frameworks and economic development in the early modern Low Countries.  Our warmest congratulations to the laureate!

    (image source:  Sciences Po ) On  27 May 2026 , Prof.  Laurent De Sutter  will host a lecture by dr. Amina Hassani (Sciences Po Law School). Abstract: Large corporations suing states for hindering their profits by adopting social or environmental legislation: this is the scene that plays out daily in the private tribunals of investment arbitration (or ISDS, "Investor-State Dispute Settlement"), the cornerstone of globalized capitalism. Forged in the heart of declining empires to preserve, "through the magic of law," the plundering of resources in decolonized countries, this justice of capital has relentlessly extended its reach through international agreements and free trade treaties. In its tribunals, cases affecting the vast majority are decided in secret… to the benefit of multinationals and the "lawyers" who keep the machine running. Amina Hassani brings together all the pieces of the puzzle and shows how arbitration erodes the sovereignty of state...

  (image source: Università di Padova) Dr. Stefano Cattelan will present on Venetian neutrality in eighteenth-century diplomacy at the University of Padova on 22 May 2026. Read more here .

  (source: University of Florence ) Dr. Stefano Cattelan will present his recent monograph Mare Clausum: The Formation of the Law of the Sea in Pre-modern State Practice and Legal Doctrine (c. 1350–1650)  at the University of Florence on 19 May 2026. More information here .