The Manuel Ballbé Chair closes the academic year with a conference on energy

The Manuel Ballbé Chair in Human Security and Global Law of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona will be in charge of closing the 2025/26 academic year.

The session will be inaugurated by UAB Rector Javier Lafuente Sancho and by Roser Martínez Quirante, director of the chair. Under the name of “Energy in Dispute: regulation as a shield”, the event will include a central conference by Santiago Martínez Garrido, secretary general of Iberdrola.

The conference addresses the main legal and regulatory challenges of the current international energy context, marked by geopolitical tension, the protection of critical infrastructures, and the growing technological interdependence of strategic systems. In this scenario, regulation is consolidated not only as an instrument of economic structuring, but also as a key element to guarantee institutional stability, the protection of essential services, and human security.

In addition, the progressive digitisation of energy infrastructures and the increase in automated environments introduce new vulnerabilities and technological dependencies, which forces one to rethink the role of law in the face of risks that directly impact institutional resilience and the capacity of states to ensure operational continuity and social protection.

With this conference, the Manuel Ballbé Chair reaffirms its commitment as a space for academic reflection on the transformations of global law, human security and the governance of complex risks in highly technological societies.

The event will also include the PhD thesis defence of Justo Garzón Ortega, entitled “La Regulación Jurídica de las Hermandades y Cofradías de Semana Santa ante los Retos de la Sostenibilidad en el siglo XXI”. [The Legal Regulation of Holy Week Brotherhoods and Cofradías in the Face of Sustainability Challenges of the 21st Century].

The Faculty of Law invites PhD students, research staff and the entire university community to participate in this session dedicated to analysing some of the most relevant energy, regulatory and social challenges of today.