VUB Contextual Research in Law

In the academic year 2023-2024, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, CY Paris, the University of Warwick, the University of Ljubljana and Nova Lisboa brought together students, academic staff and external experts in the Connected Learning Community Legal History , this time around the theme connectedness in legal history . Students came together in Brussels in March for the peak event, and published their final output of this unique cross-campus learning experience on the blog of the Connected Learning Community. The virtual exhibition ( prezi ) combines all of their entries.

  (image source: WeKonekt ) ULB and VUB organise the WeKonekt.BXL -week, traditionally the last week before the Spring Holidays. During this week, students and staff are abducted from Ixelles, Etterbeek or Jette, and brought to the city centre, where they are taught in significant places, or by societally relevant partners of these two open minded universities. This Tuesday's course Rechtsgeschiedenis/Legal History (taught in Dutch) takes place in the KBR's Newspaper Room  between 15:00 and 17:00. The course is open to all interested audiences and will treat the Peace of Utrecht (1713) . RSVP with Frederik dot Dhondt at vub dot be. More information on WeKonekt.BXL on the iniatiative's website .

(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 ...

(bron afbeelding: EUTopia ) Connected Learning Community Legal History 2023-2024 EUTopia is de Europese universiteit waarvan de VUB een stichtend partner is. Gelanceerd door rector Caroline Pauwels zit het VUB-engagement intussen al in het vierde jaar. Ook jij kan als student iets betekenen. De Connected Learning Communities brengen studenten samen van verschillende partneruniversiteiten om samen te leren , aangestuurd vanuit de student. Deze “gemeenschappen” gaan uit van de eigenheid van elke partner (de urbane context, de studentenpopulatie) en zijn gericht op meertaligheid (je kan documenten uit je eigen taal presenteren, zolang er maar een Engelstalig abstract is). Sinds 2021-2022 draait de Connected Learning Community Legal History, onder andere door de hulp van externe experten die met het jaarthema al lang begaan zijn. We bestuderen juridische problemen van vandaag door juridische bronnen uit het verleden te bespreken. Ook dit jaar zullen studenten van de VUB (Prof. ...

  (group picture 9 March 2023; source: EUTopia CoLeCo Blog ) The student delegations from Nova Lisboa , Ljubljana , CY Paris , VUB and the University of Warwick have published their reports on the EUTopia CoLeCo Blog. Read them all here .

(Source: EUTopia Legal History Blog ) EUTopia Peak Event March 2023 From 9 to 12 March 2023 , students from the five partner universities will gather in Ljubljana for the EUTopia Peak Event on labour migration. More information and the full programme are available on:  EUTopia CoLeCo Blog  and EUTopia website (Source: EUTopia Legal History Blog )

    (image source:  ASP ) dr.  Raphaël Cahen  will present the collective work  Les professeurs allemands en Belgique  (ASP, 2022, eds. R. CAHEN, J. DE BROUWER, F. DHONDT & M. JOTTRAND) at the conference  Enseigner le droit hors frontières nationales. 3e journée d’études «Enseignants de droit hors de métropole»,  organised in Aix-en-Provence on 30 September 2022. This conference is a  hybrid  event. More information  here .

(image source: EUTopiaLegalHistory ) The Connected Learning Community Legal History:Minority Rights, established within EUTopia at the joint initiative of the VUB (Prof. Dhondt, dr. Cahen) and CY Paris (Prof. Argyriadis-Kervégan), allows students of both institutions to work with their colleagues from Barcelona (UPF, Prof. Aragoneses), Warwick (dr. Bryan/dr. Doyle) and Ljubljana (Prof. Skrubej), with the guidance of three external experts (dr. Leon Castellanos Jankiewicz/Asser Institute - dr. Emmanuel dalle Mulle/Graduate Institute-Universidad Autonoma de Madrid - dr. Daniel Grafenauer/Institute of Ethnic Studies, Lubljana). On 30 June, the end result of this year's group has been published as a  virtual exhibition . More details on the EUTopia  CoLeCo Legal History Blog . The VUB student delegation treated the case of Dutch speakers in Brussels as a minority. Their audiovisual interventions are integrated in the blog and exhibition, but can be found below as well:

  (image source: Riksarkivet ) Some of the best papers written in the elective course Rechtsgsechiedenis/Legal History  under the direction of Prof. Dhondt and prof. Cahen are rewarded with the publication of a summary in Dutch on the CORE website. The transfer from our old website to this blog is at present complete. 2020-2021 : Jihane Lamhiyek: Kleen (1841-1923) en Wheaton (1785-1848) over de verplichtingen van de neutrale staten: ingezoomd op de onpartijdigheids- en onthoudingsplicht Leslie Kassongo Tambu, Somerset v. Stewart and the pursuit of justice (?) Pieter Cooreman, Het Barrièreverdrag van 29 oktober 1709 tussen Koningin Anna van Groot-Brittannië en de Hoogmogende Heren Staten-Generaal 2019-2020: Rodrick Van der Smissen, Privileges voor slavenhandelaars ? Joni Van Laeken: James Lorimer en zijn controversiële visie op oorlog en neutraliteit Joran Gielens:  Het internationale regime van spoorwegen in oorlogstijd Xavier Van Belleghem: Chrisine de Pisan en de gerec...

In the WeKonekt.Bxl-week, organised by VUB and ULB to emphasise their link with the city, the MA course Rechtsgeschiedenis/Legal History  moves to the KBR (the Belgian Royal Library) in the heart of Brussels on 29 March (15:00-17:00). This course is devoted to the history of international law. The session of 29 March 2022 will treat the Declaration of War by Emperor Charles VI  in the War of the Polish Succession (1733-1735), a conflict that turned around the legal status of the Italian principalities of Parma, Piacenza and Tuscany , with theatres of war in Germany, Italy, Poland and -surprisingly- no fighting in the Austrian Low Countries due to a neutralisation convention concluded between France and the Dutch Republic. This comes on top of the annual visit to the Precious Old Works  of the library, which took place on 8 March this year: students could gaze at Suarez, Gentili, Grotius, Vattel, the Corps Universel Diplomatique du Droit des Gens , pamphlets on the Imperia...

Prof. Dr. Julio Luis Arroyo Vozmediano (UNED Madrid) will give a guest lecture in the master course   Legal History   (prof. Dhondt/dr. Cahen) on   Tuesday 19 April  at   15:00 . Prof. Arroyo contributed to a collective work in Spanish on the partition treaties in   2016   and published on the matter in   t he International History Review   ( Routledge ). More on the speaker on the UNED’s   website .   The course will take place physically on campus, but is also accessible through Teams. RSVP here . (source:  Casa del libro )