VUB Contextual Research in Law

Dra. Léna Sylvestre obtained the permission to submit her PhD Dissertation (Joint PhD agreement CY Cergy Paris Université/Vrije Universiteit Brussel) and defend it publicly on Saturday 23 May 2026 .  The candidate will defend her dissertation entitled " L’influence de la pluralité linguistique dans l’élaboration et l’application de normes internationales. Étude de cas historique du régime multilingue de l’Organisation des Nations Unies " before a jury consisting of: - Prof. Dr. Paul De Hert (VUB) - Prof. Dr. Dirk Heirbaut (UGent/KVAB-Academia Europaea)  - Prof. Dr. Sylvie Monjean-Decaudin (Sorbonne Université)  - Dr. Gésa Dannenberg (CY) Jury President: Prof. dr. Renaud Baumert (CY). Supervisors are Prof. Dr.  Caroula Argyriadis-Kervégan  (main supervisor, CY) and Prof. dr.  Frederik Dhondt  (VUB). More information with the candidate: lena dot melanie dot renee dot sylvestre at vub dot be.

  (image source: Edinburgh UP ) Our alumnus dr. dr. Niels Fieremans ( JointPhD UGent/VUB 2023 , D. Heirbaut/J. Dumolyn - D. De ruysscher) published his prize-winning doctoral dissertation in open access with Edinburgh University Press. Abstract: Late medieval Bruges was a commercial hub that connected Hanseatic, English, Scottish, Portuguese, Spanish, Aragonese, and Italian traders. This book focuses on the conflict resolution of the aldermen and how merchants operated within this legal framework. The key question being whether Bruges was a city of justice. Although this was sometimes claimed by travellers, a lot of merchants confronted with the practicalities of conflict resolution in Bruges, disagreed. Fieremans analyses how customary law, institutional frameworks, and commerce intersected and were challenged by the aldermen's pursuit of justice. By clarifying the working of the aldermen, it advances our knowledge of the basic mechanisms of a late medieval law court and the evol...

(image: CHUK; source: QS China ) dr. Stefano Cattelan will present at the Asian Legal History Conference , with the support of a FWO travel grant.  Full program below: Day  1: 17 March 2026 (13:00 – 17:30) CUHK Graduate Law Centre (GLC), 2 nd Floor, Bank of America Tower 12 Harcourt Rd, Central, Hong Kong Island 13:00-14:00 Introduction to the Conference and Keynote Address (Venu e: GLC Moot Court) Introduction and Welcome to CUHK Professor Renisa Mawani, Canada Research Chair in Colonial Legal Histories, University of British Colombia Title: The Time of Emergency in Colonial India, Burma, and Siam, 1914-1921 14:00-14:15 Break       Venue: GLC Moot Court Venue: Lecture Theatre 1 Venue: Classroom 5 14:15-15:45 1.1 From Socialist Labour Discipline to Legal Governance: Historical Trajectories of PRC Labour Law ...