Centres and other units

One of the strengths of the Faculty of Law is its many institutes and centers, which gather some of the leading researchers in their respective fields of law.

The conditions for successful cutting-edge research increase with a critical mass of committed researchers with common research interests. Therefore, the Faculty encourages and supports the formation of various forms of research communities that promote the quality of research. 

The Department and the Faculty of Law also have a number of foundations, several of which publish prestigious journals and publications. 

 

Institutes and centres

Fru Justitia
Photo: Andrey Popov

Within the University there are centres, including institutes, which are organisationally part of a department. These units are often integrative research environments, involving one or more subjects and departments as well as external partners, but can also be specialised research institutes.

At SU Law there are ten different institutes/centres where research is conducted in at least one of our focus areas of law, often in close cooperation with society and industry both nationally and internationally.

The Institute of European Law was founded following a decision of the Faculty Board of 22 January 1990. The Institute has as its main objective to promote research and education in European Law, and in particular in the area of European Union Law. The researchers who are affiliated with the Institute carry out research in a wide variety of areas of central importance to the European integration project such as Constitutional and Institutional Law of the European Union, Internal Market Law and European Competition Law. Of special interest is the interaction of European law and policy with the national law of the Member States, and in particular Swedish Law.

The Institute organizes research seminars and conferences, and cooperates with a number of Swedish and international academic institutions specialized in European law and policy.

www.institutetforeuropeiskratt.se/

Founded in 1956, Institute for Intellectual Property and Market Law (IFIM) is based at the Faculty of Law of Stockholm University. IFIM’s core mission is to promote research and education in the fields of intellectual property law and market law. To this end, IFIM undertakes several activities, including organizing events, maintaining and developing a special Library, and promoting knowledge of and research in the fields of intellectual property and market law.

www.ifim.se/

The Institute was founded in 1938 by a donation from C. G. Bergman (1881-1938), professor of Legal History at Stockholm University College. The purpose of the donation was to encourage scientific studies in the field of so called ‘internal legal history’.

The Institute represents today a cornerstone in Swedish research on legal history, and its activities are conducted acccording to the guiding principles articulated by Bergman in his view of legal genetics.

Read more about Legal Genetics

The Axel Ax:son Johnson Institute of Maritime and Transport Law forms a part of the Faculty of Law at Stockholm University. It's conducts qualified research and teaching in maritime and transport law and regularly organises symposia and seminars on current topics in maritime and transport law.

Furthermore, the Institute runs the website Maritime Law Library. The purpose of the website is to provide information on the Institute's activities and research. The website is also a virtual library of maritime and transport law literature.

www.maritimelawlibrary.se/

The Institute for Social Private Law activities focus on research on the areas of private law that concern the basic conditions of social life and that affect people’s status as social beings – for example, labour law, tenancy law, and family law.

The activities are interdisciplinary insofar as more areas of law than private law are affected and that non-legal disciplines are also taken into account. The institute also attaches the utmost importance to collaboration with the surrounding society.

www.socialcivilratt.se/en/

Stockholm Centre for Commercial Law (SCCL) is under superintendence of the Area Board of Humanities and Social Sciences at Stockholm University. SCCL was inaugurated with inspiration from the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary, University of London. Today around 25 researchers, focusing on Commercial Law, are affiliated to SCCL, which makes SCCL to the leading research centre in Commercial Law in the Nordic region.

sccl.se/en/

The Stockholm Centre for International Law and Justice (SCILJ) is a part of the department of law at Stockholm University. Its mission is, inter alia, to develop research in international law, especially the relationship between international law and other legal systems and between international law and international politics and ethics, to strengthen the links between academia and practice, and to make international law visible in public discourse. The Center shall have an interdisciplinary and practice oriented character.

The Centre organizes a broad range of activities, including the 2021 Annual Conference of the European Society of International Law.

www.scilj.se/

The Stockholm Centre for the Rights of the Child is a research centre at the Faculty of Law, as well as a space for collaboration between child right's oriented researchers from all over Stockholm University. The centre is also the hub of a child law-oriented network of researchers from various scientific fields, both nationally and internationally, and has a wide network of contacts with representatives of authorities and organizations with an interest in child law issues.

Ultimately, the aim is to work through research and collaboration to ensure that children's rights are respected and realised, and to contribute to better living conditions for children and young people in our society.

su.se/stockholm-centre-for-the-rights-of-the-child/

The Stockholm Environmental Law and Policy Centre was established in December 2003 by the Vice-Chancellor of Stockholm University. The purpose of the Centre is to contribute to legal developments at the national, European (EU) and international levels through research, education and collaboration with other educational institutions, agencies and organisations, with a view to protect the environment and human health, and to promote sustainable development.

su.se/stockholm-environmental-law-and-policy-centre/

The Swedish Law and Informatics Research Institute (IRI) explores the interaction between Law and Information Technology. The topic is a meeting place for traditional legal studies, information science and information technology. Through this subject, the legal system acquires new working tools for the handling of source material, legal proceedings become automated and legal activities take on a new guise. Law and Information Technology focuses on both methodological issues and regulative issues.

The activities started in 1968 and are to a large extent project oriented. Apart from research, IRI is engaged in educational activities and Law and Information Technology (“Rättsinformatik”) has since the early 1980s been a compulsory component in the legal education at Stockholm University.

irilaw.org/

Since 2022, the Swedish Corporate Governance Institute (SCGI) is a new part of the Stockholm Centre for Commercial Law at the Faculty of Law, Stockholm University. The institute conducts applied research and education in the field of corporate governance and will contribute to promoting the regrowth of lawyers and economists with knowledge of the Swedish model of corporate governance. It will also serve as a platform for increased cooperation between practice and academia in corporate governance issues.

http://www.scgi.se/

 

Foundations

Hands holding plants
Photo: Mostphotos

Foundations related to the Departement of Law usually have the purpose of encouraging legal research and education. This is often done by enabling the publication of legal literature or by supporting international and interdisciplinary contacts of young researchers. A board of directors or trustees is responsible for managing the foundation's capital in accordance with its statutes.

The Edvard Cassels Foundation comanages the The Edvard Cassels Foundation, the Hans Thornstedt Memorial Foundation and the Lars Hjerner Foundation for Legal Activities. The foundations provide grants in the form of service grants and grants for special purposes.

The Edvard Cassel Foundation (in Swedish only)

The Folke Schmidt Memorial Fund Foundation for Labour Law Research was established by the decision of the Faculty of Law at Stockholm University on 9 February 1981. The Foundation aims at stimulating research and advanced studies in Scandinavian Law and Comparative Labour Law, especially at the Law Department at Stockholm University.

The foundation provides a yearly allowance in order to sustain the supply of books in Nordic & European Labour & Employment Law in the Labour Law Library at the Department of Law

Board of Directors:

Professor Laura Carlson, Senior lecturer Petra Herzfeld Olsson,  Chief Justice of the Swedish Labour Court Sören Öman

Auditors:

Senior lecturer Petra Herzfeld Olsson

The Foundation for publications published by the Faculty of Law at Stockholm University (Stiftelsen Skrifter utgivna av Juridiska fakulteten vid Stockholms universitet) runs the "Juridiska biblioteket" and has supported the publication of legal literature in the form of two series since 1985. In recent years, the Foundation has concentrated its activities on the publication of e-books. 

www.juridiskabiblioteket.org/ (in Swedish only)

The Foundation seeks to stimulate the legal scientific research of the Faculty of Law, especially by supporting younger researchers in their international and interdisciplinary contacts.

Board of Directors:

University Lecturer Pernilla Leviner (Chairperson), University Lecturer Elisabeth Ahlinder, Doctoral Student Alexander Unnersjö.

Deputy Members:

Professor Peter Melz, Professor Jori Munukka and Doctoral Student Emelie Kankaanpää Thell

Juridisk Tidskrift (JT - Law Journal in English) is based at the Faculty of Law at Stockholm University and intends to reflect all areas of law with contributions that may interest lawyers, judges, prosecutors, in-house lawyers and other practicing lawyers, as well as researchers with a legal specialization. The journal is divided into five different sections: Articles, Cases, Arbitration, Reviews and Debate.

Juridisk Tidskrift (in Swedish only)

The aim of the Law Faculty's Trust Fund for Publications (SJF) is to promote legal research and education. This is done, among other things, by the foundation publishing or participating inthe publication of legal literature. To this end, SJF distributes regular grants and scholarships, aimed primarily at researchers and teachers working at the Department of Law at Stockholm University.

The Law Faculty's Trust Fund for Publications (in Swedish only)

 

Contact

If you want to get in touch with one of our centres or institutes, please refer to their respective websites where you can find contact details for the board or administration.

On this page