Author: Vision & Global Trends – 26/10/2026
International Doctoral Workshop
Law and Social Change
Fourth Edition
Rome, 10-11 June 202
The Doctoral Program of Law & Social Change and Roma Tre Law Review are pleased to announce that registration is open for the third edition of the International Doctoral Workshop, which will take place on Thursday 10th and Friday 11th June 2027. The event aims to foster the collective discussion and academic exchange of doctoral candidates’ projects with their peers and academic staff. It allows participants to gain valuable feedback and promote their work within the extended academic community.
Upon evaluation, contributions may be published as contributions in the volume of the conference published by Rome TrE-Press or in Roma Tre Law Review as a stand-alone article. More information on the Roma TrE-Press Project on the following link, while information on Roma Tre Law Review is available at the following link.
Who can attend?
Applicants should be Ph.D. candidates, post-doctoral researchers or young researchers in the Law Department of Roma Tre University or in the Law Department of a partner University or Institution. Applicants from other Universities may be considered depending upon available places and relevance to the research themes of the program.
Themes
The Doctoral Workshop encourages innovative research that looks at law and legal culture – as well as the processes of law production and application – with cross-cutting perspectives with respect to different dimensions of law: national and supranational, public and private, substantive and procedural, formal and informal.
The Doctoral Workshop is open to any disciplinary fields as long as they seek to understand
the current social challenges for Law on the global stage. The main themes, and nonexhaustive
subtopics, discussed within the Workshop will be:
➢ Intelligences: The Human Being Put to the Test by AI
Civil and Contractual Liability: The crisis of traditional criteria of strict and
fault-based liability; Risk allocation in complex technological contexts;
Protection of contractual autonomy in the age of autonomous systems.
Criminal Law, Culpability and Legality: The resilience of the principle of
culpability, the mental element of criminal offences, and the principle of legal
certainty in criminal law in the face of the opacity of algorithmic systems (black
box).
Administrative Proceedings, Predictive Justice and Due Process: The use of
automated and predictive systems in public administration and judicial
proceedings, examined through the lens of transparency, the duty to provide
reasons for administrative decisions, the right of defence, and judicial review
across different legal traditions
Legal Personhood, Agency and General Legal Theory: The redefinition of the
concepts of legal subject, personhood and decision-making autonomy in light
of the autonomous actions of artificial systems, from the perspectives of legal
theory and legal philosophy
Transnational AI Governance and Regulatory Pluralism: The comparison of
different global regulatory frameworks and their respective implications for the
transnational protection of fundamental rights
➢ Law and Inequality: The Limits of Legal Protection in a Globalized World
The Paradox of Legal Equality: Between Universal Principles and Unequal
Realities
Power, Resources and Rights: The Legal Foundations of Socio-Economic
Inequality
The Unequal Right to Justice: Vulnerability, Legal Remedies and Institutional
Barriers
The Legal Dynamics of Inequality: Formalism, (Pre)judicial Discretion and the
Question of Substantive Justice
➢ Sovereignty, Security and Law: The Legal Architectures of Geoeconomic
Competition
Lawfare and the Strategic Use of Security Exceptions: The Tactical Use of
Litigation Proceedings, Safeguard Clauses and National Security Exceptions in
Multilateral and Regional Dispute Settlement Mechanisms; The Transformation
of Legal Rules and Jurisdiction into Instruments of Geoeconomic Pressure
Sanctions, Extraterritoriality and Countermeasures: The Compatibility of
Unilateral Economic Sanctions, Asset-Freezing Regimes and Export Controls
with the Principles of Territorial Sovereignty, Jurisdictional Immunities and
International Trade Law
Public Investment Screening and Economic Public Order: An Analysis of
Foreign Direct Investment Screening Mechanisms and the Exercise of State
Authorisation Powers (Golden Powers), Balancing National Security Protection
Against the Principles of Market Openness and the Free Movement of Capital
Trade Defence Instruments and Rapid Response Mechanisms: The Legal
Framework Governing Trade-Distorting State Subsidies, Countervailing Duties
and New Regulatory Instruments to Counter Economic Coercion in Response
to Mercantilist Industrial Policies
➢ The Legal Protection of Young People Through Time and Across Space
Children’s Rights in a Changing World: Student Protests in Europe and the
Right to Education; New Educational Models; Immigration, Unaccompanied
Minors and Family Reunification
Juvenile Criminal Justice and the Legal Protection of Minors: Juvenile
Offending and Criminal Responsibility; Crimes Against Minors and Child
Sexual Exploitation; Neuroimaging and Criminal Culpability; Child Witnesses,
Procedural Safeguards and the Right to Be Heard; Restorative Justice and
Juvenile Penitentiary Systems
Childhood Between Paternalism and Autonomy: Historical and Philosophical
Perspectives from Roman Law to Contemporary Legal Systems
Contributions can consist of either a presentation of the candidate’s research project in its most
advanced stage or the discussion of a specific topic related to it.
Registration / Cost coverage
The workshop is free of charge. Participants from partner Universities should bear their own
costs of travel and accommodation. However, for a limited number of participants who do not
receive scholarships, funding, or reimbursement of expenses for their participation, the
University of Roma Tre may be able to assist with accommodation in Rome. This option will
be available on a first come first serve basis, and to participants only. Further information on
this may be obtained from the organizers.
Application
In order to be selected, prospect participants shall submit the attached form filled out with their
personal information and an abstract of the paper they intend to present at the Workshop.
All abstracts should be submitted in English as this will be the conference’s official language.
Abstracts should be no longer than 300 words, and sent before the 5th of January 2027 to the
following e-mail address: egallo2@os.uniroma3.it
Selected applicants will be notified no later than the 15th of January 2027.
The final draft of the paper should be uploaded on a specifically created Google Drive Folder
– the link will be provided upon confirmation of participation – before the 1st of June 2027.
The length of the paper should be between 5.000 and 10.000 words (footnotes excluded).
Outline of the Workshop
Papers will be presented as part of a thematic round table. Presentations should last a maximum
of 15 minutes and will be followed by a general discussion chaired by a researcher or professor
in the relevant field (about 20 minutes).
Contact details
If you have any particular request concerning the Workshop, please contact the organization
committee at: egallo2@os.uniroma3.it federico.thofern@uniroma3.it claudio.mancini@uniroma3.it
agulina@os.uniroma3.it asebrechts@os.uniroma3.it
Thank you for your interest in the Workshop. We look forward to receiving your contributions
and to welcoming you in Rome.