News & events 2022

Event
24-11-22
Sebastiaan Van Severen
Lecture by Nilufer Oral

On 24 November 2022, Professor Nilufer Oral will give a public lecture (from 09.00 to 10.30) as part of the 2022-23 International Order & Justice Lecture Series at Ghent University (Doctoral schools, Volume IV).  The title of the lecture is 'Climate change and the protection of the marine environment'. Professor Oral will also take part in a closed seminar with (post-)doctoral researchers.

Prof. Nilufer Oral is a member of the United Nations International Law Commission and co-chair of the Study Group on Sea-level rise in relation to international law. She served as a legal advisor to the Turkish Foreign Ministry for law of the sea and as a climate change negotiator. She is a Distinguished Fellow of the Law of the Sea Institute at Berkeley Law; has lectured at the Centre for International Law (NUS); the UN Regional Law Courses for International Law, and at the Rhodes Academy for the Law of the Sea.

With the support of the Flemish Government.

Event
24-11-22
Sanctions Workshop Groningen - From cradle to grave: The policy cycle of EU restrictive measures

On 24-26 November 2022, the University of Groningen is organizing a sanctions workshop (co-organized with Ghent University), entitled 'From cradle to grave: The policy cycle of EU restrictive measures'.  The call for papers is available here: https://www.rug.nl/research/globalisation-studies-groningen/news/call-fo.... A preliminary programme will be available shortly.

Restrictive measures – the EU’s official notions for sanctions – are increasingly imposed by the EU to pursue its foreign and security policy objectives, ranging from fighting terrorism, managing conflict and promoting human rights. This trend started with the entry into force of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, but the recent war in Ukraine has set in motion new forces in the world of sanctions that require a wide interdisciplinary discussion to reflect on how the recent changes represent long lasting innovations in sanctions practices.

With this objective in mind, we would like to foster a multidisciplinary discussion that will lead to an edited volume with contributions to the discussion on sanctions in the different phases of the policy cycle. When submitting your proposal, please indicate the phase of the policy cycle where your chapter aims to contribute: how sanctions are put on the EU’s agenda, how are they formulated, how can they be adopted, how are they implemented and finally how are they evaluated (agenda setting – policy formulation – adoption – implementation – evaluation).

Among possible topics are cases of CFSP restrictive measures, extraterritorial sanctions, the Blocking Statute but also other trade measures that could qualify as sanctions (e.g. measures falling within the scope of the proposed Anti-Coercion Instrument) as well as the various implementation challenges that affect sanctions effectiveness and their economic impact.

For more information, consult the RUG website

 

Event
23-11-22
Lecture Nicole de Moor 23/11/2022

[NL] Lezing Nicole De Moor 'Over muren, bootjes en dromen: de toekomst van het internationaal en Europees asiel- en migratierecht'
23 November, 10.00 AM - 1.00 PM, FIlm-Plateau, Paddenhoek 3, Gent

In deze lezing plaatst staatssecretaris Nicole de Moor asiel en migratie in een bredere duurzaamheidscontext, en dit vanuit internationaal en EU-perspectief. Het gastcollege kadert in de vakken 'internationaal recht en duurzame ontwikkeling' (prof. An Cliquet) en 'migratierecht' (prof. Ellen Desmet). CESSMIR leden zijn welkom!

Event
10-11-22
Sebastiaan Van Severen
Lecture by Veronika Bílková

On 10 November 2022, Professor Veronika Bílková will give a public lecture (from 10.00 to 11.30) as part of the 2022-23 International Order & Justice Lecture Series at Ghent University (Volume IV).  The title of the lecture is 'The War in Ukraine and the OSCE Moscow Mechanism'. Professor Bílková will also take part in a closed seminar (from 12.00 to 13.30) with (post-)doctoral researchers.

Veronika Bílková is a senior researcher and the head of the IIR Center for International Law. She graduated from the Faculty of Law of Charles University (Mgr., JUDr., Ph.D.) and from the Faculty of Arts of Charles University (political science and French Mgr., PhDr.). She holds a Diploma of International Law from the University of Cambridge. She also works as an associate professor at the Faculty of Law, Charles University. She is a member of the European Commission for Democracy through Law (the Venice Commission) of the Council of Europe and of the Managerial Board of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, on behalf of the Czech Republic. She is also the Secretary-General of the European Society of International Law (ESIL).

With the support of the Flemish Government.

 

 

 

 

 

News
06-09-22
Sebastiaan Van Severen
GRILI Member Florenz Volkaert wins ESIL Young Scholar Prize

The European Society for International Law (ESIL), at its annual conference, has awarded its Young Scholar Prize to GRILI Member Florenz Volkaert for his paper "The Most Favoured Nation Clause in Late 19th- and Early 20th-Century Legal Doctrine: A Tool for Civilisational and/or Economic In/Exclusion?".

More information about the prize can be found here.

Event
29-04-22
Tom Ruys
Seminar: ‘The responsibility of non-state actors in the case of atrocity crimes’
GRILI invites  you to the Seminar ‘The responsibility of non-state actors in the case of atrocity crimes’ on Friday 29 April 2022 from 14.30h until 17.00h (Brussels time). The event will be live-streamed (only).

  
The introductory lecture by the International Francqui Chair Prof dr David Scheffer (Northwestern University) will be followed by responses from Prof Dr Tine Destrooper (Ghent University), Dr Luca Ferro (Ghent University), and Ms Brigitte Herremans (Ghent University), as well as a Q&A session with the registered participants. 

If you wish to participate, you can register by clicking on this link.

Event
29-04-22
Luca Ferro
INTERNATIONAL FRANCQUI LECTURE AND SEMINAR

On Friday 29 April 2022, International Francqui Professor David J Scheffer will give a lecture on 'The Responsibility of Non-State Actors in the Case of Atrocity Crimes'. The session will be chaired by Professors Yves Haeck and Tom Ruys, with Professor Tine Destrooper acting as senior respondent and Dra. Brigitte Herremans and Dr. Luca Ferro serving as early career respondents. After the lecture and responses, there will be ample time for Q&A with the audience.

David Scheffer is senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), with a focus on international law and international criminal justice. Scheffer is Clinical Professor Emeritus and Director Emeritus of the Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in Chicago, International Francqui Professor at KU Leuven and UGent (Belgium), Professor of Practice at Arizona State University, and Vice-President of the American Society of International Law. From 2012 to 2018 he was the UN Secretary-General’s Special Expert on UN Assistance to the Khmer Rouge Trials and he was the Tom A Bernstein Genocide Prevention Fellow working with the Ferencz International Justice Initiative at the Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide, US Holocaust Memorial Museum (2019-2021).

More information on time, location and registration will be posted here as soon as possible!

Event
27-04-22
Luca Ferro
Cinéssential vol. 1 / LES MISÉRABLES

Cinéssential - a new, interfaculty film club at Ghent University, co-founded by GRILI - is pleased to announce its second screening in the 2022 "Violence, Civil War & Ethnic Struggle" film and debate series: the phenomenal film LES MISÉRABLES.

The event will take place on Wednesday 27 April 2022, from 19.00-22.00, in the Filmzaal Plateau. The timing is of course no coincidence, as the second round of the French Presidential elections will have taken place only a few days earlier.

In LES MISÉRABLES, Stéphane has recently joined the Anti-Crime squad in Montfermeil, a sensitive district of the Paris projects. Paired up with Chris and Gwada, whose methods are sometimes unorthodox, he rapidly discovers the tensions between the various neighbourhood groups. When the trio finds themselves overrun during an arrest, a drone begins filming every move they make. The film is based on a real-life occurrence of police violence which was observed and filmed by director Ladj Ly.

The film will be expertly introduced by Dr. Eduard Cuelenaere (CIMS – expert on European popular cinema and the relation between film and national identity), and followed by a short panel debate including three excellent speakers:

For those interested, please register here (free entrance). We hope to welcome many of you there!

Event
01-04-22
Luca Ferro
BELGIAN NETWORK OF JUNIOR RESEARCHERS VISITS GRILI

Since 2 years, the Belgian Society of International Law has a Junior Network, which gathers PhD/post-doc researchers in international law (public and private). One of the activities they organize are visits to the international law centers of the different Belgian universities. The Network will be visiting Ghent on Friday 1 April.

The afternoon will start with a roundtable discussion with diplomats from the FPS Foreign Affairs, where the topics ‘International Law in Practice and in Academia’ and ‘International Law in Belgium’ will be discussed. Panelists are Ms. Sabrina Heyvert (Director of International Law Division ), Mr. Nicolas Fierens Gevaert (J3 – Public International Law) and Mrs. Véronique Joosten (Human Rights Director), and the roundtable is moderated by Dr. Luca Ferro. Afterwards, there will be a short presentation of GRILI by Prof. Tom Ruys and of Network members affiliated to Ghent University and a legal-historical tour of Ghent by Prof. Georges Martyn.

For more information, please contact Network Co-President Drs. Filip Batselé.

Event
17-03-22
Luca Ferro
BOOK PRESENTATION: The economic weapon - The rise of sanctions as a tool of modern war

On Thursday 17 March 2022 (12.30-14.00 PM Brussels time) GRILI (UGent) and the Research Group CORE (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) will host an online book presentation of Dr. Nicholas Mulder’s (Cornell University) first monograph entitled ‘The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War’ (Yale University Press, 2022). The monograph is the first international history of the emergence of economic sanctions during the interwar period and the legacy of this development, and is based on multi-country archival research. During the event, Dr. Mulder will present his new work, which will be commented upon by Dr. Alexandra Hofer (Utrecht University). The book presentation is open to the public, you can register to attend this event at https://webappsx.ugent.be/eventManager/events/bookpreseconomicweapon (Zoom link in the confirmation e-mail).

Dr. Nicholas Mulder is an Assistant Professor at Cornell’s Department of History. He works on European and international history from 1870 to the present. His research focuses on political, economic, and intellectual history, with particular attention to the era of the world wars between 1914 and 1945. A full profile of Dr. Mulder can be found here.

Dr. Alexandra Hofer is Assistant Professor in Public International Law at Utrecht University School of Law, Department of International and European Law. She is a member of the Utrecht Centre for Regulation and Enforcement in Europe (RENFORCE). A full profile of Dr. Hofer can be found here.

Event
08-02-22
Luca Ferro
online seminar on data protection laws and international organizations

On Tuesday 8 February 2022, from 12.00-13.30, GRILI hosts a new virtual seminar on 'The Applicability of Data Protection Laws to International Organizations', featuring two excellent speakers (bios below). The seminar is open to the public, but please register with Ms. Kristien Ballegeer to receive the link shortly before the seminar.

Zuzanna Gulczyńska is a doctoral researcher and FWO fellow at Ghent University. Her PhD research project focuses on the application of EU data protection rules and standards to international organisations. Zuzanna’s research interests focus on European constitutional and institutional law, as well as the interplay between European and international law. As regards substantive law, she is interested in the international and EU fundamental rights, in particular the right to privacy and data protection.

Massimo Marelli is the Head of Data Protection Office at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Massimo is a member of the Advisory Board and a Fellow of the European Centre on Privacy and Cybersecurity at the University of Maastricht, and the co-editor of the DigitHarium, a global forum to discuss and debate digital transformation within the humanitarian sector, with a focus on humanitarian protection, policy, ethics and action. He is also a member of the Brussels Privacy Hub Advisory Board, and  co-led the Data Protection in Humanitarian Action Working Series.