VUB Contextual Research in Law

(source: TREATYLAB) Today, we welcomed three new PhD candidates  on the ERC Consolidator Grant TREATYLAB: Arlan Hoste, Mathias Campens and Lorenzo Veglia. More information on the new team members on TREATYLAB's website .

(image source: BSoG ) dr. Stefano Cattelan was interviewed by two students of the Brussels School of Governance on contemporary evolutions in the law of the sea. Abstract: In this episode of Noctua, hosts Michela Franzosi and Matthew Jones are joined by Prof Dr Stefano Cattelan, Adjunct Professor at the Brussels School of Governance and Postdoctoral Researcher at Vrije Universiteit Brussel. Specialising in the history of international law and the Law of the Sea, his research explores the development of maritime law and its continuing relevance to contemporary ocean governance. Together, they explore some of the most pressing contemporary issues in the Law of the Sea, focusing on the interception by Israel of a flotilla attempting to breach its naval blockade, China’s construction of artificial islands in the Pacific Ocean, and U.S. strikes against vessels in the Caribbean Sea suspected of transporting drugs. Through these cases, they discuss how international law regulates state condu...

(image source: Routledge) Prof. Dave De ruysscher contributed a chapter on the history of the international law of responsible business to The Routledge Companion to International Law and Responsible Business , edited by Bart F. Wernaart and published by Routledge.  Read more here .

(image source: Firenze University Press) Prof. Dave De ruysscher contributed to the roundtable “Risk, Uncertainty and Bankruptcy before Modernity: Language, Experience and Historical Understanding”, published in the collective volume Gestione del rischio, insolvenza e bancarotta nel mondo premoderno (secc. XIII-XVIII) / Risk Management, Insolvency, and Bankruptcy in the Pre-Modern World (13th-18th Centuries) , edited by Angela Orlandi.  Read the contribution here in open access: DOI 10.36253/979-12-215-0963-2.32.

  (image: Passau; Source: Wikimedia Commons ) Prof. Frederik Dhondt and dr. Stefano Cattelan will present the ERC Consolidator Grant TREATYLAB at the Transkribus User Conference 2026 in Passau (Germany). More information on the conference website .

  EUTopia CoLeCo Legal History 2026-2027: Law and Image(s) (image: the judgment of Cambyses, or what happens to a bad judge, by Gerard David, Groeningemuseum Brugge; source: Topstukkencollectie Vlaamse Overheid) Since 2021, students and academic staff from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), the University of Ljubljana, CY Cergy Paris Université, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona), NOVA University Lisbon, and the University of Warwick have been working together in a unique hybrid learning environment. The Connected Learning Community combines online and hybrid meetings with a physical peak event and the publication of student research on the EUTopia CoLeCo Blog. For the 2026–2027 academic year, we invite you to explore the theme Law and Image. At first sight, this may seem like a thoroughly contemporary topic. We live in a world shaped by images : short videos, streaming platforms, social media, and visual communication influence how we understand law, politics, and so...