Graduate School of Law and Criminology

Legal research

Law influences society as much as society influences law. Therefore, legal research is as diverse as society is. It is as much about companies trading globally as about respect for the human rights of the weakest in society. It is as much about contracts, family and property as about social security, organization of government or taxation. It has to build upon history, yet take full account of the latest technological developments.

Diversity does certainly not spell isolation however. Boundaries between different areas of the law or between different national legal systems are constantly redefined or may even disappear. That is why our legal research increasingly proves intra- and interdisciplinary. It also has a strong reputation for being comparative, European and international in nature. Indeed, while national law helps shaping European law, it is in turn ever more determined by Europe and by international law in a context of globalisation.

Criminological research

Crime and insecurity … in every newspaper, on every news bulletin, day after day: crime and crime control policies are a key component of the world we live in. In the doctoral programme of criminology, these phenomena, with their preconditions, desired and undesired outcomes and costs, are subject to multidisciplinary research. From victim to offender, from prevention to punishment, from law enforcement to offender rehabilitation and reintegration: these are some of the topics among which criminological research spans.

Being one of the first universities in Europe with an independent criminology program, we offer a unique opportunity to do research in this field, under the supervision of internationally known scholars.

The Law Faculty participates in a number of international research networks including Sarfal (Strategic Alliance of Research Faculties in Law), the Ius Commune Research School and networks supported by the EU framework programs.