VUB Contextual Research in Law

(image source: Laurent Desutter)   On 28 October 2026 , Prof. Laurent De Sutter  will present his new book, La Planète artificielle .  Laurent De Sutter is Professor of Legal Theory at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Professor of International Law & Literature at Sciences Po Law School in Paris. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Global Center for Advanced Study in Dublin, and Managing Editor of the Perspectives Critiques series published by Presses Universitaires de France and the Theory Redux series published by Polity Press. This will take place at 18:00 at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Faculty of Law, Faculty Council Room, C2.07A. See MazeMap for the room's location. Map by MazeMap More information on the speaker here .

    (click on image to enlarge) Dr. Stefano Cattelan will present his recent prize-winning monograph Mare Clausum: The Formation of the Law of the Sea in Pre-modern State Practice and Legal Doctrine (c. 1350–1650) (Brill, Legal History Library/Studies in the History of International Law) at the Brussels School of Governance on Thursday 15 October at 18:00 (room "Nice"). Disputants will be dr. Daniel Quiroga-Villamarín (Vienna) and Prof. em. dr. Erik Franckx (VUB). Prof. dr. Stefaan Smis (VUB) will moderate.

  (image source: Merlin ) Dr. Stefano Cattelan and Prof. Frederik Dhondt published in the Acta  of the Société d'histoire du droit 's 2024 conference, organised in Toulon around the theme "legal history and the sea". Volume abstract: La mer est un territoire de droit autant qu’un objet de conquête. À travers les siècles, elle a façonné les normes, les pouvoirs et les imaginaires juridiques. L’ouvrage interroge la manière dont le droit a saisi la mer comme espace singulier : tour à tour lieu d’échanges économiques, de conflits géopolitiques, de régulations impériales ou de mutations environnementales. S’y croisent l’étude des ports et des détroits, la question de la liberté des mers, le rôle des flottes commerciales et militaires, les enjeux coloniaux, ainsi que les formes juridiques de la piraterie, du commerce ou du trafic. Une attention particulière est portée aux doctrines, aux coutumes et aux institutions qui ont façonné les pratiques maritimes à travers les siècl...

  (click on image to enlarge) Dr. Stefano Cattelan will present his recent prize-winning monograph Mare Clausum:  The Formation of the Law of the Sea in Pre-modern State Practice and Legal Doctrine (c. 1350–1650)  (Brill, Legal History Library/Studies in the History of International Law) at the Brussels School of Governance on Thursday 15 October  at 18:00  (room "Nice"). Disputants will be dr. Daniel Quiroga-Villamarín (Vienna) and Prof. em. dr. Erik Franckx (VUB). Prof. dr. Stefaan Smis (VUB) will moderate.

  The program for the conference " Contested Seas: War, Commerce, and the Making of the Law of the Sea " is now available, including a registration link. More information here .

(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 .