Who are we?
The Brussels Centre for Law, Government and Society brings together researchers from across the broad field of public law within an international community. Our members conduct doctrinal, empirical and comparative research that examines the national and international challenges facing public law in the first decades of the 21st century.
BruCeL's areas of research
Our research focuses on five specific areas of study, each of which, in its own way, relates to the primary functions of public law, namely the establishment, legitimisation and limitation of the exercise of public authority. These are set out in more detail below.
Research area 'Sustainability'
As a research group, we are convinced that the legitimacy of public authority in the 21st century will depend largely on the extent to which this authority succeeds in making our societies more sustainable, or, to put it another way, in delivering the public good of ‘sustainability’.
Specific topics within this research area include:
Climate change
Deforestation
Sustainable trade policy
Sustainable public procurement
State liability
Research area 'Fundamental Rights'
Fundamental rights fulfil both a legitimising and a limiting function vis-à-vis public authorities and are interwoven throughout EU, international and national law. In a rapidly changing world, these rights serve as guiding pillars for the legislative, executive and judicial branches. At the same time, these pillars may need to be reconceptualised in light of the challenges of the 21st century.
Specific topics within this research area include:
Horizontal effect of human rights
Balancing of different fundamental rights
Coordination of human rights instruments
Fourth-generation fundamental rights
Research area 'Digitalisation'
A fully cross-cutting theme is the unstoppable digitalisation that will characterise the 21st century and which we believe will pose various challenges to public law. This is due to the fact that digitalisation carries the risk that public law will no longer be able to fulfil its functions adequately, in both positive and negative terms. This research area examines the impact of digitalisation on law and society.
Specific topics within this research line include:
Algorithmic decision-making
Liability for AI
Legal protection in the digital information society
Labour law implications of digitalisation
Research area 'Dispute Settlement and Enforcement'
Dispute settlement and enforcement are traditional functions of public authority. The challenges facing public law, some of which are the subject of our other research areas, therefore present a specific challenge for dispute settlement and enforcement.
Specific topics within this research line include:
Enforcement of the law
Criminal prosecution of regulatory infringements
New experimental forms of enforcement, such as tax and criminal plea deals, and municipal administrative sanctions
Governmental action and the rights and obligations of individuals
Research area 'Governmental Action'
A defining feature of public authority in the 21st century is its increasing pluralisation. This research area therefore focuses primarily on governmental action within multi-layered legal systems. Vertical and horizontal pluralisation pose challenges to the constitutive, legitimising and limiting functions of public law, as the relationship between citizens, businesses and the government is gradually changing.
Specific topics within this research line include:
Social security protection and social dialogue
Contractual government action
Public-private partnerships
Public procurement law
Federalism
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