Inaugural speech by Samantha Besson: "Rebuilding the international institutional order"

Born in Beirut (Lebanon) in 1973, Samantha Besson is a Swiss and British professor at the Collège de France, Paris, and holds the chair of International Law of Institutions. She is also a part-time professor of Public International Law and European Law at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland).

Samantha Besson holds a degree in Swiss and European law (Universities of Fribourg and Vienna), a magister juris in European and comparative law (University of Oxford), a doctorate in law (University of Fribourg) and a habilitation in legal theory and Swiss, compared, European and international constitutional law (University of Bern). She has been a visiting professor at the Universities of Zurich, Duke, Lausanne, Lisbon, Harvard Law School and Penn Law School. She has also taught at The Hague Academy of International Law. Samantha Besson was a resident professor at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin and is a member of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Nantes. She also sits on the committee of the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Samantha Besson's research interests lie at the interface of international law, European law and legal philosophy, and focus in particular on the law and theory of human rights, the sources of international law and international responsibility, compared international law including European and compared law of external relations, and democratic theory. Her latest publication is Due Diligence in International Law (Collection of Courses of the Hague Academy of International Law, Brill 2020).