Research centres and projects

Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory

Website of the Max Planck Institute for Legal History and Legal Theory a research institute based in Frankfurt. It is one of the nine Max Planck institutes, engaged in advanced legal research, which forms part of the Max Planck Law network. Departments within the Institute focus on the following areas of legal research: European and Comparative Legal History, Historical Regimes of Normativity and Multidisciplinary Theory of Law. The site gives information on the research projects being undertaken along with seminars and events.

Institute for Information Law

Website of the Institute for Information Law (IViR) a research centre within the Faculty of Law at the University of Amsterdam. The purpose of the IViR is to further the development of information law and research covers freedom of expression, intellectual property law, media law, privacy, broadcasting and advertising law. Details of the Information Law Series of books, published by Kluwer Law International, are given on the site with older volumes made freely available to download. There is also information on individual research projects, lectures and other events held at the Institute.

University of Edinburgh Centre for Legal History

Website of the Centre for Legal History a research department at the University of Edinburgh. The Centre’s research interests focus on Roman law, learned laws in the Middle Ages, history of law in Europe, Scots law history and legal history of Louisiana. The site gives information on events including conferences, lectures and seminars organised by the Centre and links to relevant resources – other research centres, societies, websites and journals. A selection of videos of lectures is also made available on the site.

Centre for People’s Justice

Website of the Centre for People’s Justice an initiative of the University of Liverpool Law School working in partnership with the Universities of Glasgow, Sheffield, Swansea, Wrexham, Ulster and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies London. The Centre is focused on community-led research looking at how law is made and understood by the public. There is information on the academic team and current projects.

From Words to Deeds: Research Project

Research project which focused on armed non-State actors (ANSAs) and their impact on International Humanitarian Law (IHL). It was primarily funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The project’s goals included promoting compliance with IHL regulations and understanding ANSA perspectives. This website includes reports, articles, books, and case studies, primarily in PDF form. It also contains links to other useful resources.

Institute of Legal Informatics and Judicial Systems

Website of the Institute of Legal Informatics and Judicial Systems (IGSG) which was created in 2019 from the merger of the Institute of Legal Information Theory and Techniques (ITTIG) and the Research Institute on Judicial Systems (IRSIG). IGSG is based in Italy and conducts research on the “relationship between law and information and communication technologies, then on judicial systems, their institutional setting, the organization and interactions with the economic and social environment”.

Critical Legal Collective

The Critical Legal Collective (CLC) is a US-based group of scholars and activists focusing on branches of critical legal theory, including Critical Race Theory, Asian American Legal Scholarship, ClassCrits, Critical Legal Studies, Feminist Legal Theory, eCRT (empirical Critical Race Theory), Indigenous Law and Policy, Jurisprudence of Distribution, LatCrit, Law & Political Economy and Third World Approaches to International Law. The website has brief details of CLC projects concerning academic freedom, constitutional law, critical education, and democracy in higher education institutions.

Refugee Law Initiative

The Refugee Law Initiative (RLI) is an academic centre at the School of Advanced Study, University of London carrying out interdisciplinary research and teaching with a focus on law, policy and practice. The website gives details of courses, consultancy and events, research projects and publications. Information is provided about the RLI's Refugee Law Clinic, which provides pro bono legal advice for refugee clients. There is also a blog on refugee law and forced migration.

Institute for International and Comparative Law in Africa (ICLA)

ICLA was founded in 2011 at the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria. Its website details past and ongoing research projects and makes available their publications and data. It also has an African Constitutions section, providing the constitutions of over thirty African states, country reports, information about a number of books on African constitutional law, and the reports of the Stellenbosch Annual Seminar on Constitutionalism in Africa (SASCA).

Decolonial comparative law

Research project based at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg. The website outlines the subject of decolonial comparative law and provides a bibliography of decolonial legal studies and decolonial theory. Details of the project’s events and publications are also available, and there is a mailing list to join. The main page is available in English, French, German, Portuguese or Swahili; most of the remaining content is in English.
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