Description

This expert seminar features a presentation by Lauri Mälksoo, who will discuss his newly published book Russia, the Soviet Union, and Imperial Continuity in International Law (Oxford University Press, 2025), available in open access here: https://academic.oup.com/book/61432. The book examines how imperial and Soviet legal traditions continue to inform contemporary understandings of statehood, sovereignty, and international legal order.

The seminar is jointly organized by the Ghent Legal History Institute and the Ghent Rolin-Jaequemyns International Law Institute (GRILI) and takes place within the framework of the FWO Senior Research Project “Soviet Approaches to Emergency”.

The event is intended for scholars and students interested in international law, legal history, and the enduring legal and political legacies of Russian/Soviet empire.

Speaker: 

Lauri Mälksoo is Professor of International Law at the University of Tartu in Estonia. He is member of the Institut de Droit International, of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe and of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. He is the author of, most recently, the monograph "Russia, the Soviet Union, and Imperial Continuity in International Law" (OUP, November 2025).

Moderator:

Dr Alina Cherviatsova, Postdoctoral Researcher, FWO Senior Research Project, "Soviet Approaches to Emergency”, Ghent Legal History Institute , Faculty of Law and Criminology, Ghent University

Time: 18:30-20:00, 27 April, 2026

Place:  Lokaal 8.1 Multimedialokaal, Universiteitstraat - Oude School, Campus Aula;  Address : Ingang 8 Universiteitstraat 2-4-6