About the Institute of European and Comparative Law
Welcome to the IECL! The IECL provides a focus for research and teaching in the fields of European law as well as comparative law (both broadly defined) and is at the helm of the Law Faculty's European and Comparative Law Research Group. The Institute also includes within it, as an associated specialist unit, the Centre for Competition Law and Policy which is devoted to research and teaching of competition law and policy at the University of Oxford.
The Institute is instrumental in the teaching of EU and European law, comparative law and competition law at Oxford. Members convene the relevant undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as graduate Discussion Groups. The IECL also contributes to the Faculty's 'Course in Legal Methods' for research students. In addition, the Institute manages the Law Faculty's popular and highly competitive four-year undergraduate programme, Law with Law Studies in Europe, which involves a year at one of Oxford's partner universities in continental Europe, by preparing the Oxford students who go abroad in their third year and by welcoming incoming exchange students who study for the one-year Diploma in Legal Studies in Oxford.
The Institute's research agenda is driven ‘bottom up’ by the interests and activities of its members. In relation to European law, this includes the law of the European Union from the CJEU in Luxembourg as well as human rights law from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. The scope of interests covered by members of the Institute is broad and ranges from the black letter law of the internal market - from EU private law to anti-discrimination law and issues of state aid and competition - to topics in legal history (such as the link between Empire and European integration) as well as fundamental constitutional and institutional questions. The UK may have left the EU but EU law as well as European law in its wider context remains an important area of practice in the UK. The Institute with its unique combination of skills in both European and comparative law is in a particularly good position to accompany the fast-moving developments and continues to act as a beacon of EU law scholarship outside the European Union itself.
On the comparative law side, the Institute's remit is nowadays much wider than its traditional strength in the study of different European jurisdictions and comparisons between them. The scholarship of IECL members extends to the study of many other legal systems around the world and engagement with comparative law in regions such as Asia and Africa. Aside from bridging the common law—civil law divide(s) in numerous ways, members at the Institute are also leading the way in the emerging fields of ‘comparative regional law’ and ‘comparative common law’. All areas of comparative private and public law are well represented together with the relevant methodological expertise.
The IECL holds regular seminars and conferences, many of which are published as part of the IECL book series, produced in conjunction with Hart Publishing. We also foster, on behalf of the Law Faculty, strong and productive academic links with institutions and researchers worldwide, often resulting in collaborative projects. Our Academic Visitor programme remains popular and every year hosts about twenty scholars and post-doctoral researchers carrying out advanced research in either EU, European and/ or comparative law. These scholars make a significant contribution to our academic community at Oxford. We are also happy to explore longer-term affiliations of post-doctoral researchers holding external research grants in relevant fields and will support appropriate grant applications.
For further information about the activities of the Institute and past events, see our Annual Reports.
For forthcoming events and activities, see our Events page.