CONFERENCE: Contested Seas. War, Commerce, and the Making of the Law of the Sea (c. 1400–1800), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Ostend campus) (19-20 November 2026)

 International Conference

Contested Seas. War, Commerce, and the Making of the Law of the Sea

(c. 1400–1800)

 

Ostend: VUB aan Zee/VLIZ, 19–20 November 2026

Convenors: Stefano Cattelan (Vrije Universiteit Brussel / Brussels School of Governance), Frederik Dhondt (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

 

 

DAY 1 – Thursday, 19 November 2026

Venue: VLIZ
Jacobsenstraat 1, 8400 Ostend

Time	Session
09:00–09:30	Welcome and coffee
09:30–11:00	Session 1 – Plenary
11:00–11:25	Coffee break
11:25–12:55	Sessions 2 & 3 – Parallel
12:55–13:45	Lunch in situ
13:45–15:15	Sessions 4 & 5 – Parallel
15:15–15:40	Coffee break
15:40–16:50	Session 6 – Focused session
16:50–17:15	Coffee / transition break
17:15–18:45	Public keynote + reception
19:30	Dinner, Ostend centre

 

09:00–09:30  Welcome and coffee

Stefano Cattelan (Vrije Universiteit Brussel / Brussels School of Governance), Frederik Dhondt (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) & Torsten Feys (Flanders Marine Institute, VLIZ)

09:30–11:00  Session 1 – Plenary

Foundations of Maritime Order: Territory, Freedom, and Authority at Sea

1.      Florian Reverchon – Université Toulouse Capitole

De nuptiis Philologiæ et Neptunii. Sovereignty over Seas and the lex Deprecatio (D. 14, 2, 9) in the Modern Era

2.      Henry Jones – Durham University

Birth of the Territorial Sea? Re-reading the Anglo-Dutch Wars

3.      Matthew Cleary – Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań

Printing the Freedom of the Seas: A Census of the 1618 Mare Liberum and the Material Authority of Grotius’ Maritime Law

11:25–12:55  Session 2 – Parallel A

War, Neutrality, and Seapower

4.      Ubaldo Morozzi – Independent Researcher

1653: Tuscan Neutrality and the Battle of Livorno

5.      Stefano Cattelan – Vrije Universiteit Brussel / Brussels School of Governance

Guardians of the Gulf: Venetian Maritime Neutrality and the Law of the Sea, ca. 1688–1714

6.      Shoya Fugetsu – University of Tokyo

The Foundation of the British Seapower State: Maritime Interests in Political Society, 1688–1783

11:25–12:55  Session 3 – Parallel B

Prize, Capture, and Maritime Violence

7.      Aybüke Naz Durmuş Venturini – Hacettepe University

Prize, Property, and Payment: Commercial Law after Maritime Capture, c. 1650–1800

8.      Julia Weiyao Han – The University of Hong Kong

The Undivided Sea: Prize Courts, Insurance, and the Making of Maritime Law’s Division, c. 1650–1875

9.      Niels Fieremans – Ghent University / FWO

Heroes or Zeros? Shifting Perspectives on Maritime Plunder in the Renaissance Low Countries

13:45–15:15  Session 4 – Parallel A

Mediterranean Sovereignty, Ports, and Jurisdictional Practice

10. Scheyma Djaziri – Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne / IREDIES

Neither “Mare Liberum” nor “Mare Clausum”: Towards Mare Non Liberum in the Mediterranean

11. Mohamed Sobhy Hassan Ali Mohamed – Zagazig University

Legal Pluralism and Maritime Practice in Ottoman Egypt, c. 1500–1800

12. Soumia Ezzarktouni – Université Cadi Ayyad, Marrakech

Neutralité, commerce et juridictions portuaires marocaines: pratiques normatives et fabrique contestée du droit de la mer au XVIII^e siècle

13:45–15:15  Session 5 – Parallel B

Asian Seas, Treaties, and Maritime Sovereignty

13. Shinsaku Kato – Shiga University

Treaties and the Making of the Maritime Order in the Arabian Sea during the Eighteenth Century

14. Eduardo Cavalcanti de Mello Filho – University College London

The Nationality of Ships before “Nationality”: From the Ming Dynasty’s Hai jin to the Early Modern Friendship, Commerce and Navigation Treaties

15. Akrita Kaur & Arundathi M.S. – World Maritime University, Sasakawa Global Ocean Institute & Panjab University / Gujarat National Law University

Whose Mare Liberum? Eighteenth-Century European Jurists and Asian Maritime Sovereignty

15:40–16:50  Session 6 – Focused session

Maritime Neutrality and Trade in the Austrian Netherlands

16. Marion A. Huibrechts – KU Leuven

Maritime neutrality, economic policy, and government centralization in the Austrian Netherlands (1715–1784). The port city of Ostend as a hub for international trade

17. Théophile Goffin – Université libre de Bruxelles

Trade and Maritime Neutrality: The Austrian Netherlands’ Projects for Trade with Russia (1781–1785)

17:15–18:45  Public keynote + reception

Prof. dr. Indravati Hiltl-Félicité – Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

Beyond Mare Liberum: Empires and the Contest for Maritime Order

 

DAY 2 – Friday, 20 November 2026

Venue: VUB aan Zee
Graaf De Smet de Naeyerlaan 4, 8400 Ostend

Time	Session
09:00–09:20	Welcome and coffee
09:20–09:30	Welcoming
09:30–10:45	Keynote 2
10:45–11:10	Coffee break
11:10–12:40	Session 7 – Plenary
12:40–13:35	Lunch in situ
13:35–15:05	Session 8 – Plenary
15:05–15:30	Coffee break
15:30–17:00	Sessions 9 & 10 – Parallel
17:00–17:30	Concluding words and outlook

 

09:20–09:30  Welcoming

John Crombez – Mayor of the City of Ostend (TBC)

09:30–10:45  Keynote 2

Prof. dr. Surabhi Ranganathan – University of Cambridge, Lauterpacht Centre for International Law

Seeking Other Oceans – Chokepoints Past and Present

11:10–12:40  Session 7 – Plenary

Maritime Jurisdiction and Legal Order at the Turn of the Nineteenth Century

18. Luisella Zocca – “Giorgio Zanotto” Law Library, University of Verona

The Venetian Prize Commission and the Making of Habsburg Maritime Jurisdiction in the Adriatic (1798–1803)

19. Raphaël Cahen – Justus Liebig University Giessen / Vrije Universiteit Brussel

A Forgotten Expert of Maritime Law: Pierre Boulouvard (1752–1823)

20. Emmanuel Leroux – Université Paris Panthéon-Assas / Institut d’Histoire du Droit Jean Gaudemet

To Establish Freedom of Navigation on European Rivers at the Congress of Vienna (Dec. 1814–June 1815): Peace, Commercial Interests and Liberal Ideas

13:35–15:05  Session 8 – Plenary

Maritime Space, Freedom, and the Transformation of Legal Order

21. Filippo Ruschi – University of Florence

Sailing the Mare tenebrosum: the Ocean and the Crisis of the Respublica Christiana

22. Matilde Rocca – SOAS University of London

Upon Free Seas: Maritime Liberty and the Individual in the Age of Abolition

23. Daniele Mandrioli – Università degli Studi di Milano

Does “Artificial Land” Dominate the Sea? Past and Recent Trends of a Long-Standing Debate

15:30–17:00  Session 9 – Parallel A

Shipboard Order, Liability, and Maritime Jurisdiction

24. Matilda Sidel – Yale University

Masters between Land and Sea: Regulating Shipboard Order in the Sixteenth-Century Spanish Atlantic

25. Ionut Iordache – “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” Police Academy, Bucharest

The Evolution of Liability in Maritime Transport: From Early Commercial Practices to Modern Legal Concepts

26. Chiara Pavesi – University of Liverpool

State’s Jurisdiction over Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel on Merchant Vessels

15:30–17:00  Session 10 – Parallel B

Resources and the Regulation of Ocean Space

27. Samdup Dolma – Tibet Policy Institute

Extracting the Sea: Maritime Resource Economies and the Legal Construction of Exploitable Ocean Space, 16th–18th Centuries

28. Bui Tai Kien – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Viet Nam

From Resource Exploitation and Security to Environment: UNCLOS’s Uneven Regulatory Design

29. Lindsay De Jong – Erasmus University Rotterdam

The Depth of Colonial Roots: Attempting to Decolonise the Deep Seabed

17:00–17:30  Concluding words and outlook

ESIL IG HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL AWARDS 2025 ARTICLE PRIZE TO NICCOLO RIDI & THOMAS SCHULTZ

  

In April 2025, the ESIL IG History of International Law announced the inaugural edition of its annual article prize (link). With the prize, the ESIL IG History of International Law seeks to further its mission to promote and celebrate the history of international law as a vibrant and active (sub)field of international law scholarship.

After careful deliberation following the procedure outlined in the Call for Nominations, the Evaluation Committee has decided to award the 2025 Article Prize to:

Niccolò Ridi & Thomas Schultz (King's College London & University of Geneva)

for their article published in Volume 36 (1) of the European Journal of International Law, entitled

Distantly Reading the Recueil des Cours: Authority and Authorities in the History of the Hague Academy of International Law

The Evaluation Committee would like to congratulate the authors on the award.

An honourable mention goes to:

Léon-Castellanos Jankiewicz

for his article published in Volume 26 (2) of the Journal of the History of International Law, entitled

A New History for Human Rights: Conflict of Laws as Adjacent Possibility

The ESIL IG History of International Law Coordinating Committee would also like to thank its members for their active participation in the nomination process and warmly invites its members to participate again in the 2026 edition.

List of Article Prize Recipients

2024: Hanna Eklund (University of Copenhagen) - Peoples, Inhabitants and Workers: Colonialism in the Treaty of Rome

2025: Niccolò Ridi & Thomas Schultz (King's College London & University of Geneva) - Distantly Reading the Recueil des Cours: Authority and Authorities in the History of the Hague Academy of International Law

Anastasia Hammerschmied - Florenz Volkaert - Monica Garcia-Salmones - Sze Hong Lam

Fr

LAUNCH: The European Society of International Law (ESIL) Interest Group on European and International Rule of Law Webinar Series, 22 July 2026 [Online]

The ESIL IG History of International Law is sharing this event on behalf of the ESIL IG European and International Rule of Law

Launching the European Society of International Law (ESIL) Interest Group on European and International Rule of Law Webinar Series

European Society of International Law (ESIL) Interest Group on European and International Rule of Law is delighted to launch the ESIL Interest Group on European and International Rule of Law Webinar Series, a new webinar series designed to create a space for critical and interdisciplinary dialogue on some of the most pressing challenges facing the rule of law today. The series will bring together scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and members of civil society to examine how law operates across local, national, regional, and global contexts, and how it can contribute to addressing contemporary issues of governance, justice, and accountability.

For your reference, the flyer for the inaugural event and the registration QR Code can be found at here and the registration link here

This initiative aligns closely with the broader strategy of the European Society of International Law (ESIL) to expand opportunities for engagement with contemporary developments in international law through innovative online formats. In particular, it complements the ESIL Conversations initiative, conceived as a series of online events through which ESIL contributes to ongoing debates on international law, as well as the ESIL Teaching Corner Webinar Series, which promotes discussion on pedagogy and teaching practices. By creating a dedicated forum within the ESIL Interest Group on European and International Rule of Law, this webinar series seeks to contribute to these wider ESIL objectives while providing sustained engagement with questions relating to the rule of law, governance, justice, and accountability from both European and international perspectives.

It is particularly fitting that we begin with a conversation on taxation, racial inequality, and historical injustice, themes that invite us to reflect on both the promises and limitations of the rule of law.

Event Description – Taxation, Racial Capitalism and International Rule of Law

The inaugural webinar, “Taxation, Racial Capitalism, and the International Rule of Law: From Colonial Slavery to Global Governance,” marks the launch of the European Society of International Law (ESIL) Interest Group on European and International Rule of Law Webinar Series.

Through the insights offered by Anthony C. Infanti (University of Pittsburgh School of Law) and Steven A. Dean (Boston University School of Law), this inaugural event held on Wednesday July 22, 2026 – 12 :00 – 1:30 pm  sets the tone for a series committed to examining difficult questions, challenging conventional assumptions, and fostering meaningful dialogue across disciplines and jurisdictions.

This ESIL Interest Group on International and European Rule of Law Conversations brings into dialogue two important recent books—The Human Toll: Taxation and Slavery in Colonial America (NYU Press) by Anthony C. Infanti and Racial Capitalism and International Tax Law: The Story of Global Jim Crow (Oxford University Press) by Steven A. Dean —to explore the complex relationship between taxation, racial inequality, and the rule of law across time and space.

The conversation will be chaired by Paolo Davide Farah (University of Tulsa College of Law), Chair of European Society of International Law (ESIL) Interest Group on European and International Rule of Law, who will serve as moderator and discussant, facilitating the dialogue between the authors and situating their contributions within broader debates on the rule of law, epistemic authority, international governance, and fiscal justice. Carliss N. Chatman (SMU Dedman School of Law) will also serve as discussant, contributing additional reflections on the contemporary implications of taxation, inequality, and legal institutions. Together, the discussion aims to foster an interdisciplinary and critical exchange on the historical legacies and present-day challenges explored in these important works.

Moving from the fiscal architectures of colonial America to the contemporary global tax order, the discussion examines how legal and fiscal systems have historically contributed to systems of domination, exclusion, and racialized inequality. Infanti’s work reveals how taxation functioned not merely as a neutral tool of governance but as an instrument that helped structure, sustain, and legitimize slavery. Dean’s analysis extends this inquiry into the international sphere, uncovering how global tax rules have been shaped by, and continue to reproduce, forms of racial capitalism and structural inequality.

By placing these perspectives in conversation, the webinar seeks to interrogate the ambivalent role of the rule of law: not only as a framework that aspires to justice and accountability, but also as a system that has, at times, facilitated exploitation and entrenched disparities. The discussion will also consider whether and how law, particularly in the context of European and international governance, can serve as a tool for redress, reform, and more equitable global fiscal arrangements.

Engaging with historical legacies and contemporary challenges, this conversation invites participants to reflect on key questions at the intersection of law, political economy, and global governance: To what extent can the rule of law confront its own complicity in past and present injustices? What lessons do these histories hold for current debates on international taxation, reparations, and fiscal justice? And how might evolving legal frameworks within the EU and beyond contribute to reshaping a more inclusive and equitable global order?

The inaugural webinar, “Taxation, Racial Capitalism, and the International Rule of Law: From Colonial Slavery to Global Governance,” will take place on Wednesday July 22, 2026, from 12:00–1:30 PM EST. Participation is free and open to all. Registration is available at:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSenhxQcN6nndaMpfluOGg0YZCyhriqNIrzdFqfgrISpInOkHQ/viewform?usp=dialog

The member of the  ESIL Interest Group might be also interested in the recent ABILA webinar on Decolonizing Comparative Law and Development: Indigenous Legal Orders, Legal Pluralism, and the Coloniality of Method Across International Law, IP, and Trade Governance, that the IG organized and held on June 1.

Webinar recording here

Post-webinar reflection and summary here

Background, concept note, speaker information, and suggested readings here

PRECONFERENCE WORKSHOP ESIL ANNUAL CONFERENCE: ESIL IG History of International Law; "Conflict, Crisis and Continuity – Historical Perspectives", Teatinos-Universidad Málaga, Spain (3 September 2025)

 

2026 ESIL Annual Conference International Law and Conflict: An Enduring Tension?

Pre-Conference Workshop:

Conflict, Crisis and Continuity – Historical Perspectives

Thursday 3rd September 2026, 09:00 to 12:00

Blvr. Louis Pasteur, 26, Teatinos-Universidad, 29010 Málaga

Contemporary debates frequently describe international law as being in crisis, particularly in light of escalating global conflicts and challenges to normative authority. This year’s pre-conference workshop consisted of two panels convened to examine the resilience of international law amid shifting political conditions during periods of historical upheaval. 

The first panel explores how territorial conflicts, imperial collapse, and the emergence of nation-states shaped the development of international law in the “semi-periphery” in the aftermath of the Treaty of Versailles. Together, they highlight how post-imperial uncertainty, territorial contestation, and geopolitical realignment not only challenged classical international law in Central and Eastern Europe but also led to the emergence of country-specific or regional approaches toward international law. The second panel examines the relationship between warfare and the evolution of international law from the early modern period to the twentieth century. Through studies of maritime neutrality during the recurrent European wars of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries and the shifting legal treatment of pillage in the aftermath of the Boxer Intervention of 1900, the papers demonstrate how “conflict” often served as a catalyst for adaptation and reinterpretation of classical international legal doctrines. 

Programme

09:00 – 09:15	Introduction and words of welcome (Dr Florenz Volkaert)
09:15 – 10:10	Panel 1: Laws of War or Law on War? History of International Law in Asymmetric Conflicts
	Dr Stefano Cattelan (Vrije Universiteit Brussel/Brussels School of Governance): Neutrality as Crisis Management: Small Powers and the Law of the Sea in Recurrent European Wars (c. 1688–1714) Professor Danny Orbach (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) & Dr Ziv Bohrer (Bar-Ilan University): A Pendulum of Legal Bandwagoning: The International Law of War on Pillage During and Following the Boxer War
	Moderator: Dr Sze Hong Lam, National University of Singapore
10:10-10:30	Break
10:30-11:50	Panel 2: The Paris Peace Conference as a Moment of Crisis? Debates on International Law from a Regional Perspective
	Dr Artur Simonyan (University of Regensburg): Between Empires and After Empire: Armenia in the History of International Law
	Ágoston Frank (University of Vienna): Conflict and Crisis as the Origin and Driving Force of Hungarian International Law Between the Two World Wars Peter Odrich (Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory, Frankfurt/College of Europe): A Conflictual Affair: Internationalising Upper Silesia
	Moderator: Dr Anastasia Hammerschmied, Käte Hamburger Kolleg, Münster
11:50:12:00	Concluding Remarks (Dr Florenz Volkaert)

Conveners

Mónica García-Salmones Rovira – Anastasia Hammerschmied – Florenz Volkaert –  Sze Hong Lam

 

VACANCY: Three PhD Positions in Legal History and Early Modern International Law (Brussels: Vrije Universiteit Brussel - VUB, DEADLINE: 8 JULY 2026)

VACANCY: Three PhD Positions in Legal History and Early Modern International Law (Brussels: Vrije Universiteit Brussel - VUB, DEADLINE: 8 JULY 2026)

(image source: VUB)

The European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant project TREATYLAB – “The Labyrinth of Treaties: International Law Behind the Scenes of Early Enlightenment Diplomacy, 1712–1763” at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) is currently recruiting three fully funded full-time PhD researchers in the fields of legal history, diplomatic history, and early modern international law.

Hosted at the Faculty of Law and Criminology (Department Metajuridica), the project investigates the intellectual and practical foundations of eighteenth-century diplomacy through a substantial corpus of handwritten memoranda preserved at the Archives diplomatiques of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in La Courneuve (France).

Each doctoral position combines:
• archival and doctrinal research
• participation in a large-scale digitisation project
• preparation of a doctoral dissertation (monograph)
• publication in peer-reviewed journals
• active collaboration within an international ERC research team

The research team consists of the Principal Investigator, a postdoctoral researcher, and three PhD researchers.

Available PhD projects:

(1) PhD1 – “They Called it Peace? The Use of Force and the Cycle of Truces, 1712–1763”
Focus: ius ad bellum, use of force, diplomatic legal argumentation.
PhD1 vacancy announcement 

(2) PhD2 – “The Latin and Atlantic Bond? Bourbon Law of Nations in Europe and America, 1712–1763”
Focus: Franco-Spanish relations, Bourbon diplomacy, law of nations, empire and trade.
PhD2 vacancy announcement 

(3) PhD3 – “Doctrine and Practice: Early Enlightenment Doctrine and Practical Legal Writing, 1712–1763”
Focus: the role of legal doctrine (Roman law, law of nations, public law, private law, etc.) in diplomatic practice.
PhD3 vacancy announcement

Eligibility:
Applicants should hold a Master’s degree in Law or History.

Conditions and benefits include:
• full-time doctoral scholarship (initial 12 months, extendable up to 48 months upon positive evaluation)
• expected starting date: 1 October 2026
• extensive home-working possibilities
• generous leave arrangements
• reimbursement of public transport commuting costs
• research training opportunities and an international academic environment

Application deadline: 8 July 2026

Applications should be submitted via the VUB academic vacancies website and must include:
• CV
• motivation letter
• diploma (not applicable for VUB alumni)

The selection procedure consists of: (1) an initial selection based on the application file; and (2) job interview

Further information on the project is available at: TREATYLAB project website & VUB academic vacancies website

(copied from ESCLH blog)