Maastricht Centre for Law & Jurisprudence
The Maastricht Centre for Law & Jurisprudence (MCLJ) promotes excellence in research in the areas of legal philosophy, legal theory, (international) legal history and the intersection of these fields by holding colloquia, workshops, conferences, and other academic exchanges with a view to serving the scholarly community and society at large.
Upcoming MCLJ events
The MCLJ Annual Conference 2027 on "Future Normativities:
The Foundations of Law and Political Community" will take place on Friday, 29 January 2027, at the Faculty of
Law of Maastricht University. Interested researchers should submit abstracts (500-1000 words) and a short bio (150 words) to e.couperus@maastrichtuniversity.nl by Friday 16 October
2026. Please put ‘Abstract Conference 2027’ in the subject line of your email. For the conference description and the full call for abstracts, please see here.
On 1 July 2026, Manon Moerman will defend her PhD dissertation entitled ‘Normative Hybridity in Private Partnerships. An Exploration into the Rules of Conduct for Business Partners in Early Modern Amsterdam (1601 – 1791)'. More information to follow
Upcoming activities of MCLJ members
Massimo Fichera is co-organiser of the two-day annual RECONNET conference entitled:Constitutionalism: toward a jurisprudence for the future, organised at The University of Surrey Law School (25-26 June).
Roland Pierik will present a keynote lecture at the two-day annual RECONNET conference, organised at The University of Surrey Law School (25-26 June), entitled: Convention Constitutionalism: Paving the Way for a European Constitutional Future.
Massimo Fichera will present a paper at the two-day RECONNET conference on "Constitutionalism: toward a jurisprudence for the future, organised at The University of Surrey Law School (25-26 June). The paper is entitled Communal Constitutionalism and the Notion of Legitimate Authority."
Roland Pierik will present a paper at the 2026 ICON·S Annual Conference in Dublin (29 June- 1 July) on "Reimagining Public for a Fractured World- Technology, Identity and Truth". The paper is entitled: Defending Convention Constitutionalism.
- Massimo Fichera will present a paper at the 2026 ICON·S Annual Conference in Dublin (29 June- 1 July) on "Reimagining Public for a Fractured World- Technology, Identity and Truth". The paper is entitled Originalism, Traditionalism and Common Good Constitutionalism: Three Versions of Identitarian Constitutionalism
Between 27 July and 01 August 2026, Antonia Waltermann will participate in the workshop ‘How Does Law Exist and Hold Validity?’. https://www.villavigoni.eu/en/event/how-does-law-exist-and-hold-validity/
Past events and activities of MCLJ members
On 20-21 June 2026 Monica Garcia-Salmones organized an author workshop on "The Common Good and the Common Goods".
Antonia Waltermann gave a talk on ‘Reasoning or Simulation?’ at the Lisbon summer school of Legal Reasoning and AI on 19 June, 2026.
https://lisbonpubliclaw.pt/en/eventos/summer-school26-on-legal-reasoning-artificial-intelligence/
Roland Pierik presented a paper entitled: Should the ECtHR change its course? A legal-philosophical perspective at “Revisiting the ECHR: A Closer Look at Calls for Change”, Faculty of Law, Leuven University, 22.05.2026. https://www.law.kuleuven.be/apps/activiteiten/calendar/revisiting-the-echr-a-closer-look-at-calls-for-change-6669
- Monica Garcia-Salmoes presented a paper entitled ‘Nature and Law’ at the Departmental Seminars, Department of the History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, on the 14 May, https://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/news-events/seminars-reading-groups/departmental
On 12 May 2026 the Law, Authority Normativity and authority research stream at the Maastricht Centre for Law & Jurisprudence (MCLJ) organized a meeting to discuss the implications of the recent CJEU judgment on Hungary's controversial "child protection" laws, titled: Commission v Hungary: a reappraisal of European values?
Antonia Waltermann travelled to Oslo (Norway) as a fellow of the research project ‘Authentic Reasoning: Rethinking Legal Doctrine in the Era of Artificial Agents’ funded by the Centre for Advanced Study at the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters (CAS) and participated in the first workshop of the project between May 11 – 14, 2026.
- Lukasz Dziedzic presented the paper "Legal representation of natural entities" at the Jurisprudence and Legal Philosophy seminar series at Tilburg Law School on Thursday, 30 April from 10.45-12.30, in room M534 (Montesquieu building, 5th floor).
Research
MCLJ studies law by adopting a multidisciplinary and (methodologically) pluralistic approach. Moving beyond traditional doctrinal legal research, we start from the presumption that a correct understanding of (positive) law, its meaning and its institutions, requires comprehension of the different contexts where law operates. These are the contingent historical circumstances where the legal system emerged, how positive law is embedded in broader normative-philosophical and societal debates on customary law, constitutionalism, democracy, human rights and the rule of law or the functioning of law (or not) as a coherent system of norms.
MCLJ's research mainly takes place in the following research streams:
1. Law beyond the human
2. Law, normativity and, authority
3. Law and mind
4. Global markets, nature and the common good
News
BlueLab: preparing law students for responsible AI use
- Researchers
Paula Lozada named Face of Science
MCLJ Annual Conference 2026: “Law in a changing world”
Populism, the principle of primacy and the values of the EU
Symposium VWR-VSR: Vulnerability and the Law – Multidisciplinary Perspectives
Events
Blogs
Law in a Changing World – the 2026 Annual Conference of the Maastricht Centre for Law & Jurisprudence
- Law
On 27 and 28 January 2026, the Maastricht Centre for Law & Jurisprudence (MCLJ) organised its second annual conference with a theme inspired by these issues: Law in a Changing World. The conference’s purpose was to tackle key aspects of this changing reality, investigate its causes, and study novel legal methods and moral and political goals.
A New Place for Jurisprudence: Launching the Maastricht Centre of Law & Jurisprudence
- Law
The Maastricht Centre for Law & Jurisprudence (MCLJ), a new research institute created at the Maastricht Law Faculty in spring 2024, held its launching event on 23 January 2025. The MCLJ brings together, facilitates, and supports research in jurisprudence – widely conceived. Research conducted at the Centre is multidisciplinary with a focus on philosophy of law, legal history, and legal theory.
