VUB Contextual Research in Law

  (Source: UGent ) Drs. Florenz Volkaert, PhD-researcher at UGent and voluntary associate at CORE,  will publicly defend his PhD-dissertation  “Commercial treaties (1860-1914): a networked history of international law and trade” on  Friday 3  November  2023  at  17:30 .  About the dissertation:    The doctoral thesis examines commercial treaties in international law from 1860 to 1914, using methodological tools from network science. First, it finds that economic historians have overestimated the importance of the Cobden-Chevalier network of commercial treaties (1860-1871) due to a misunderstanding of the substantive legal clauses and a Eurocentric reading of the treaties. Second, it provides a critical overview of the development of international legal doctrine (1886-1914). The doctoral thesis illustrates how international lawyers legitimised colonialism and imperialism in the construction of legal doctrine, American exceptionalism, the reception and appropriation of European legal con

  (Source: ULB - Centre de Droit International ) Drs. Filip Batselé, voluntary associate at CORE, who did a Joint PhD UGent-ULB  will publicly defend his PhD-dissertation  “The Start of a Regime: The First Generation of Western European Bilateral Investment Treaties (1959-1989)”  on Monday 30  October 2023  at  18:00 .  About the dissertation:    On a worldwide basis, there exist more than 3000 bilateral investment treaties (BITs). These are international agreements between (usually) two states in which both sides agree to specific legal rules and dispute settlement procedures to govern investments undertaken by nationals of one treaty party in the territory of the other treaty party. This thesis investigates the origins of those treaties. Why do BITs look the way they do? Why did Western European countries start negotiating these agreements? What did diplomats aim to do when including some inherently vague provisions (e.g. the requirement to provide ‘fair and equitable treatment’) in

  (image source:  Iași University press ) Dr. Raphaël Cahen contributed a chapter to the Liber Amicorum  of Prof. Gheorge Cliveti (University of Iași). More information on the book here .

(image source: Ostend Company Conference website ) In 1722-1723, Emperor Charles VI, Count of Flanders and Duke of Brabant, granted the charter of the Imperial East India Company in Ostend. The company's shares were traded on the Antwerp Stock Exchange. Its ships went to China and India. International pressure brought the Emperor to suspend (1727) and retract (1731) the charter, although clandestine activity continued until a lot later in the eighteenth century. The Belgian Royal Marine Society and the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) organise an international conference in Ostend, 23-24 November 2023. Program: Thursday 23 November 2023 9:15      Welcome : Jan Mees (VLIZ) & Eduard Somers (Royal Belgian Marine Society) Carl Decaluwé (Governor of the Province of West-Flanders) Torsten Feys (VLIZ), Frederik Dhondt (VUB), Michael-W. Serruys (Royal Belgian Marine Society) & Stan Pannier (VLIZ) 10:00    Key Note 1 :  Small companies in a global perspective  – Cátia Antunes (Leide

Historisch woordenboek der Belgische juristen (19 de -20 ste eeuw) Oproep tot bijdragen   (Justitiepaleis te Brussel, tussen 1884 en 1914, foto door Gustave Hermans; bron afbeelding: Rijksmuseum ) Dit project wordt gedragen door Frédéric Audren (CNRS/Sciences Po Paris, gastprofessor ULB, Saint-Louis UCLouvain en VUB), Jérôme de Brouwer (ULB), Wim Decock (UCLouvain), Frederik Dhondt (VUB), Georges Martyn (UGent), Bérengère Piret (Saint-Louis UCLouvain) en Patrick Wautelet (ULiège/ULB) Het Dictionnaire historique des juristes belges wordt een historisch woordenboek naar het model van het Dictionnaire historique des juristes français (ed. Patrick Arabeyre, Jean-Louis Halpérin & & Jacques Kynen, PUF) of de Juristas Universales (ed. Rafael Domingo, Marcial Pons). Recent rechtshistorisch onderzoek heeft ertoe bijgedragen om talrijke Belgische juristen of juridisch relevant personen uit de vergetelheid te halen, dan wel extra in de schijnwerpers te plaatsen (we denken met name aan

  (Source: Geneva Graduate Institute ) In the second workshop of the Workshop Series: New Directions in the Theory & History of International Law, dr.  Stefano Cattelan  will give a presentation on the subject of Art, Law, and the Aesthetics of Sea Power in the Early Modern Age .  More information about the workshop and programme can be consulted on the following website .

  Our research group welcomes a new researcher:  Louis Debersaques , who will work on the EOS-project "Construction History", both at the faculties IR (Engineering) and RC (Law and Criminology). You can find more information on Louis ' page.

(image source: VUB Graduation Ceremony, 9 Oct 2023) With the start of the new academic year, positions in academia traditionally change. These are the main modifications for our group as of 1 October: drs. Rodrick Van der Smissen will start as fulltime academic assistant  for the courses Politieke Geschiedenis van België  (Prof. Dhondt) and Historische en Vergelijkende Inleiding tot het Publiekrecht   (Prof. Dhondt), while pursuing his PhD research on Roman law and insolvency in the 19th century under the direction of Prof. Dave De ruysscher dr. Stefano Cattelan (Carlsberg Fondet Internationalisation Grant) started to teach the course History and Theory of International Law  at the Brussels School of Governance , last August dr. Wouter De Rycke remains on board until February to concentrate on the scientific valorisation of his PhD research drs. Louis Debersaques joined us as  PhD-candidate  on the EOS-project on Construction and Legal History (Prof. dr. Dave De ruysscher/Prof. dr.