The Institute of Criminology was founded in 1959, with the support of a benefaction from the Wolfson Foundation. It is part of the Faculty of Law, but its multidisciplinary teaching and research staff are recruited from sociology, psychiatry, psychology, law and other disciplines. The Institute has a very active programme of funded research on a wide variety of topics - recent projects have included work on criminal careers, desistance from crime, cross-national criminal process studies, crime control policy, the effectiveness of community penalties and mentally disordered offenders.

The Institute’s Radzinowicz Library has one of the world’s largest collections relating to crime, criminal justice and related topics, including a wide selection of periodicals, pamphlets and publications of historical as well as contemporary interest.
more »

The Lauterpacht Centre for International Law

The Research Centre for International Law was established within the Faculty of Law in 1983. Its name changed in 1997 to The Lauterpacht Centre for International Law in recognition of the important contributions to International Law made by Sir Hersch Lauterpacht (Whewell Professor of International Law, 1938-55, and subsequently a Judge of the International Court of Justice) and by his son, Professor Sir Elihu Lauterpacht (Director of the Centre, 1983-95). It exists to promote international law by a combination of individual and group research, whether undertaken privately by scholars or funded externally, and by the publication of monographs and collections of primary materials, including the International Law Reports. The Centre attracts a steady stream of visiting scholars from all over the world, mainly from universities and government departments.

The Centre has its own premises in Cranmer Road, close to the University Library and Law Faculty. It arranges a full programme of meetings, including weekly lunches and evening sessions, drawing upon speakers from abroad as well as from Cambridge and other British universities. These occasions, and the Centre's 'open house' policy, make the Centre the principal meeting place for those in Cambridge interested in international law. All postgraduate law students are welcome at its meetings.
more »

The Centre for European Legal Studies (CELS)

Since 1992 the Centre for European Legal Studies has provided a focus in the Law Faculty for activities in the field of European Community Law (now European Union Law) and European Comparative Law. The core of CELS' activities is, for the moment, the constitutional order which, since the 1950s, has been evolving on the basis of the European Community Treaties, and legal ties between that new polity and the other countries of Europe, and the wider world. The interests of the Centre also embrace the national jurisdictions of the different European countries, including those of the former Eastern Bloc, and their relationship with the common law.

CELS seeks to encourage individual and collaborative research of the highest international quality on matters falling within its remit. It also seeks - through its publications (which include The Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies) and through a programme of lectures and seminars - to disseminate knowledge and understanding of European matters among the academic and the wider community.
more »

Centre for Corporate and Commercial Law (3CL)

The Centre for Commercial Law (3CL) is a focal point for members of the Faculty of Law with research interests in the fields of corporate law and commercial law, and in related areas including corporate governance, corporate finance, insurance law and corporate insolvency. The 3CL organizes conferences, seminars and other events to disseminate research and to foster dialogue on emerging and controversial topics in these fields. The 3CL is a member of Cambridge Finance which coordinates the programmes of research and study in all areas of finance across the University of Cambridge. Proceedings from 3CL conferences and seminars are published in leading journals and series.
more »

Centre for Public Law

The Centre for Public Law was established by the Faculty Board of Law in 1996 to provide a focus for activities in the fields of constitutional and administrative law, and regulation and regulatory systems. The interests of Faculty members cover a wide range of public law in the UK, the European Union, and the common law jurisdictions of the Commonwealth and the United States, from constitutional and administrative law and theory (i.e. institutions, civil liberties, human rights, and judicial control), to the regulation of business and utilities.

The Centre organises a discussion group of Faculty members, visitors and research students interested in public law. Those interested should contact the Centre through the website.

The Centre aims to promote research in the area of public law, and to develop into a research centre of national and international reputation. The Centre does this by providing:

• a focal point for the exchange of ideas between academics, practitioners and others (including members of public and regulatory bodies), through a conference, seminar and lecture programme in Cambridge and London;
• Support for Faculty members and Visiting Scholars engaged in relevant research projects. In 2002 Justice Hlophe became the first Clifford Chance Distinguished Visitor; and
• Encouragement and development of research output by the Faculty’s research students through its discussion group and publishing the proceedings of its conferences.

Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law

The Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Law (CIPIL) was established in 2004 to expand the work of the Intellectual Property Unit. It exists to foster the study of all aspects of intellectual property law and information law and associated subjects. It organises conferences, seminars and visiting lectures, undertakes research and collects material in these expanding and controversial fields.

The European content of its work is growing with the rapid penetration of EC and other measures, such as the European and Community Patent Conventions, Community trade mark, registered design and plant variety right, and the various harmonisation directives in the areas of copyright and designs, e-commerce, Internet content regulation and data protection. The Centre is also particularly interested in the development of British Commonwealth and United States law and in the relevant international conventions, including the TRIPs Agreement (Trade-Related Intellectual Property) of the World Trade Organisation. Its current research interests include the regulation of biotechnological inventions, legal responses to the development of digital technology, the impact of information law on medical research, legal protection of brands, as well as various aspects of the history of copyright and trade mark law.
more »

The Centre for Business Research

The Centre for Business Research (CBR) carries out empirical research on enterprise, innovation and governance in contemporary market economies. It specialises in the construction and analysis of large and complex datasets on SMEs and innovation; longitudinal analysis of regulatory change affecting business firms; fieldwork-based research on corporate governance and organisational practice; and the comparative study of law and finance. It receives external funding from a number of sponsors including the Economic and Social Research Council, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and the European Union. It is located in the Judge Business School Building.
more »

The Centre for Tax Law

The Centre for Tax Law was established in 2001; its mission emphasises both research and teaching in its task of furthering the study of tax law – in Cambridge and beyond. The primary activity of the Centre is an annual series of workshops, principally run for the UK tax administration but which Cambridge students can often attend. These workshops focus on current issues of a tax policy nature and often involve presentations by overseas experts. In addition, the Centre runs a biannual conference on tax history.

The Centre also facilitates the editorship of a series of tax publications, both of papers presented at the tax history conferences and a specialist series of tax law publications by Cambridge University Press.
more »

The Cambridge Forum for Legal and Political Philosophy

The Cambridge Forum for Legal and Political Philosophy (CFLPP) was founded in 1999 by several Faculty members and Ph.D students with jurisprudential interests. It began with a reading/discussion group that still actively operates during each academic term, but its activities have expanded considerably. It now encompasses approximately 80 faculty members and research students from the Faculties of Philosophy, History, Law, and Social & Political Sciences.

The CFLPP became an officially recognised research forum within the Faculty of Law in 2001. It has already organized two major international conferences and many public lectures by distinguished speakers. Furthermore, for the past five years the CFLPP has been the principal organiser of the annual UK Analytic Legal and Political Philosophy Conference. In 2013 it will host an international conference on liberalism and perfectionism. Planning is also underway (in collaboration with a major publisher) for the creation of a journal focused on the areas of philosophy covered by the CFLPP. In the meantime, the CFLPP's reading/discussion group and public lectures will continue to foster interdisciplinary interaction among Cambridge faculty members and students who are interested in issues of legal and political philosophy.
more »

The Cambridge Transitional Justice Research Network

The recently emerged field of transitional justice strives to develop new frameworks of reference for understanding fundamental socio-political change in societies emerging from periods of violence and oppression. The Cambridge Transitional Justice Research Network (CTJRN) is an informal association of Cambridge-based scholars interested in transitional justice. Members hail from a variety of disciplines and sub-disciplines including law, political science, international relations, sociology, philosophy and social anthropology.
more »