Samantha Besson, born on March 30, 1973, in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

, is a law professor specialising in Public International Law and European Law. She holds the chair "The International Law of Institutions" at the

Collège de France The (), formerly known as the or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment () in France. It is located in Paris near La Sorbonne. The has been considered to be France's most ...

(Paris) and is a part-time professor at the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (; ) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg ...

(Switzerland).

Biography

Originally from the

Vaud Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...

canton in Switzerland, she studied at the universities of Fribourg (Bachelor and Master's degree in 1996 and doctorate in 1999),

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

(Magister Juris in 1998) and

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

(habilitation in Legal Theory and in Swiss, Comparative, European and International Constitutional Law in 2004). She then taught at Oxford University (2001-2003) and the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

(2001-2005), before becoming a professor at the University of Fribourg (since 2004). She has also been a visiting professor at the Universities of

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

(2007-2010),

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

(2009),

Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...

(2010),

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

(2010-2019),

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

(2014),

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

(2019) and

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City. The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...

(2024). From 2011 to 2012, she was a Research Fellow at the

Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin The Institute for Advanced Study in Berlin () is an interdisciplinary institute founded in 1981 in Grunewald, Berlin, Germany, dedicated to research projects in the natural and social sciences. It is modeled after the original IAS in Princeto ...

. She has taught in various capacities at

The Hague Academy of International Law The Hague Academy of International Law () is a center for high-level education in both public and private international law housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Courses are taught in English and French and, except for External ...

(2009-2013; 2013; 2020). She was a member of the Scientific Council of the Nantes Institute for Advanced Study Foundation up until 2021, and is currently a member of the Board of the Swiss Academy of Human and Social Sciences, and was the very first delegate for Human Rights at the Swiss Academies of Sciences. She is also the co-chair of the ILA Study Group on the International Law of Regional Institutions, and an associate member of the Institute of International Law since 2021. Samantha Besson has also been a member of the Board of the Swiss Society of International Law since 2022. In 2019, she was elected at the Collège de France (only woman out of twelve nominations) as holder of the Chair "Droit international des institutions" (The International Law of Institutions). Her inaugural lecture took place on 3 December 2020, and was titled "Reconstruire l'ordre institutionnel international" (Reconstructing the International Institutional Order). Besson's research interests lie at the intersection of general International Law and legal philosophy, and in particular: international and European human rights law; international and European law on sources and responsibility; comparative domestic, regional and European Union external relations law; international and European citizenship law and democratic theory. In 2021, she was named Chevalière de l'

Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

. In 2024, Besson was awarded an honorary doctorate by the

Catholic University of Louvain The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Selected works

''A full bibliography is regularly updated on the Collège de France website'''', and a certain number of articles are accessible online''''.'' * Samantha Besson (ed) (2023). ''Consenting to International Law'' (in English). Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. p. 362. * Samantha Besson (ed) (2022). ''Inventer l'Europe'' (in French)''.'' Paris, Odile Jacob. p. 288. * Samantha Besson (ed) (2022). ''Theories of International Responsibility Law'' (in English). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 400. * Samantha Besson (2021). ''Reconstruire l'ordre institutionnel international: Leçons inaugurales du Collège de France'' (in French). Paris: Collège de France/Fayard. . ** English version: Samantha Besson (2021). ''Reconstructing the International Institutional Order: Inaugural Lectures of the Collège de France''. OpenEdition Books/Collège de France. ** German version: Samantha Besson (2022). ''Zum Wiederaufbau der internationalen Institutionenordnung''. Translation by O. Ammann and D. Wohlwend. Beiträge zum Völkerrecht. Basel: Helbing Lichtenhahn & Baden-Baden: Nomos. * Samantha Besson (2020). ''La'' due diligence ''en droit international'' (in French). Leiden: Brill Nijhoff. p. 432. . ** English version: Samantha Besson (2023). ''Due Diligence in International Law''. Translation by S. Knuchel. Special Collection of the Hague Academy of International Law, Leiden/Boston: Brill/Nijhoff 2023. p. 242 pages. . * Samantha Besson, Samuel Jubé (eds) (2020). ''Concerter les civilisations - Mélanges en l'honneur d'Alain Supiot'' (in French). Paris: Seuil. p. 496. . * Samantha Besson, Andreas R. Ziegler (2020). ''Traités internationaux (et droit des relations extérieures de la Suisse)'' (in French). Berne: Stämpfli. p. 1808. . * Samantha Besson, Yves Mausen, Pascal Pichonnaz (eds) (2019). ''Le consentement en droit'' (in French). Paris: LGDJ. p. 374. * Samantha Besson (2019). ''Droit international public'' (in French). Berne: Stämpfli. p. 827. . * Samantha Besson (2019). ''Droit constitutionnel européen: Précis de droit et résumés de jurisprudence'' (in French). Berne: Stämpfli. p. 520. . * Samantha Besson, Jean D'Aspremont (eds) (2018). ''The Oxford Handbook of the Sources of International Law'' (in English). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 1232. . * Samantha Besson, Nicolas Levrat (eds) (2017). ''International Responsibility. Essays in Law, History and Philosophy'' (in English). Zürich: Schulthess. p. 258. . * Samantha Besson, Nicolas Levrat, Pola Cebulak (eds) (2015). ''L'Union européenne et le droit international= The European Union and international law'' (in French). Genève ; Zurich ; Bâle / Paris: Schulthess / LGDJ. p. 248. . * Samantha Besson, Andreas R. Ziegler (eds) (2014). ''Egalité et non-discrimination en droit international et européen'' (Multilingual). Zürich: Schulthess. p. 238. . * Samantha Besson, Eva Maria Belser (eds) (2014). ''La Convention européenne des droits de l'homme et les cantons / Die Europäische Menschenrechtskonvention und die Kantone'' (in German). Zürich: Schulthess. p. 348. .CS1 * Samantha Besson, Stephan Breitenmoser, Marco Sassoli, Andreas R. Ziegler (2013). ''Völkerrecht - Droit international public. Aide-mémoire'' (in German). Zürich: Dike. p. 436. . * Samantha Besson, Andreas R. Ziegler (eds) (2013). ''Le juge en droit européen et international / The Judge in European and International Law'' (in French). Zürich: Schulthess. p. 343. . * Samantha Besson, Nicola Levrat (eds) (2012). ''(Dés)ordres juridiques européens /European Legal (Dis)orders'' (in French). Zürich: Schulthess. p. 290. . * Samantha Besson (ed) (2011). ''La Cour européenne des droits de l'homme après le Protocole 14 / The European Court of Human Rights after Protocol 14'' (in French). Zürich: Schulthess. p. 248. . * Samantha Besson, John Tasioulas (eds) (2010). ''The Philosophy of International Law'' (in English). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 626. . * Samantha Besson, Jose Luis Marti (eds) (2009). ''Legal Republicanism: National and International Perspectives'' (in English). Oxford: Oxford University Press. . * Samantha Besson, Jose Luis Marti (eds) (2006). ''Deliberative Democracy and its Discontents'' (in English). Routledge. p. 296. . * Samantha Besson (2005). ''The Morality of Conflict: Reasonable Disagreement and the Law'' (in English). Oxford: Hart Publishing. p. 624. . * Samantha Besson (1999). ''L'égalité horizontale: l'égalité de traitement entre particuliers. Des fondements théoriques en droit privé suisse'' (in French). Fribourg: Editions Universitaires de Fribourg. p. 526. .

References

Academic staff of the University of Fribourg {{DEFAULTSORT:Besson, Samantha Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Members of the Institut de Droit International Academic staff of the Collège de France International law scholars