CORE LEGAL THEORY SEMINAR: Amina HASSANI (Sciences Po) (Ixelles: VUB - Faculty Council Room, 4th floor, 13:00, 27 MAY 2026)

  

(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 states and dispossesses populations to protect the flow and accumulation of capital at all times and in all places. As the scandal has come to light, its defenders dream of extending its tentacles even further, threatening any project of ecological transition and social justice.

This will take place at 13:00 in the Faculty Council Room. 

More information on the speaker here.