Christophe Maes is a (part-time) assistant professor at the University of Antwerp’s Faculty of Law, where he teaches courses in History of Public Law and Legal History.
Christophe obtained his PhD in Law in 2020 at KU Leuven with a dissertation on the notion of sovereignty in the Belgian Constitution of 1831. This legal-historical research explored the interpretation of sovereignty in the constitutional debates of the Belgian constituent assembly of 1830-31 and Belgian legal scholarship (1831-1960s). His postdoctoral research concerned the legal role of collective identity and focused on national and constitutional identity. He is currently also affiliated with KU Leuven and UC Louvain Saint-Louis – Bruxelles.
Christophe holds a BA in Law from UNamur (2004) and an MA in Law from KU Leuven (2007). He finished his BA in History (2009) and his MA in Ancient History (2010) at KU Leuven. From 2010 to 2015, Christophe worked as a lawyer at the Bar of Leuven.
Areas of Expertise:
- Sovereignty
- Political Representation and Citizen Participation
- Separation of Powers
- History of Political Theories and Ideologies
- Collective Identity
Selected Publications:
- Maes, C. & Van Crombrugge, R. (2024) "Corona, constitutie en constitutionele identiteit. Komt aan de constitutionele identiteit een internrechtelijke werking toe?”, in K. Reybrouck, A. Rochtus, M. Spinoy en W. Verrijdt (eds.), De Belgische Grondwet en noodsituaties. Lessen uit de COVID-19-pandemie, Intersentia, 2024, 247-279.
- Maes, C. & Leijssenaar, B. (2021) “Constituent Power in the Belgian National Congress and the 1831 Belgian Constitution”, in Deseure, B., Geenens, R., Sottiaux, S. (eds.), Sovereignty, Civic Participation, and Constitutional Law: The People versus the Nation in Belgium, Routledge, Abingdon/New York, 2021, 116-134.
- Maes, C. & Deseure, B. (2020) “‘The Nation will always prevail’. Sovereignty, representation and participation in 1830 Belgium”, Tijdschrift voor Rechtsgeschiedenis / Revue d’Histoire du Droit, 88 (3-4), 2020, 1-37.