Contextualising Legal Research: A methodology seminar for PhD candidates

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This seminar addresses research methods for law-in-context research, that is doctrinal research that includes some elements of the context. It consists of two parts.

The first is a discussion of doctrinal research, the core of which is the systematic reconstruction of legal doctrine. What are its methods? How is academic research different from research in the context of legal practice? How to design a research project and make choices with regard to, e.g., research objectives, research questions, the selection and collection of research materials, and interpretation methods? How to describe the state of the art and develop theoretical frameworks?

The second part is a discussion of law-in-context research. Doctrinal research can in many ways be enriched both by empirical studies and by the humanities. When should doctrinal researchers include those disciplines, and which ones should they choose? How precisely to include insights, theories, or methods from auxiliary disciplines? How to incorporate the insights of other disciplines in doctrinal projects? How to justify evaluations and recommendations for legal reform? Researchers who do interdisciplinary research with a non-doctrinal core project may confront questions like how to include doctrinal research in their empirical or theoretical projects.

LEVEL: Basic

METHOD: Doctrinal/legal + suggestions on how to make it empirical

ABOUT THE LECTURERS: 

Sanne Taekema is Professor of Legal Theory, Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Bergen, Norway.

Wibren van der Burg is Professor of Legal Philosophy and Legal Theory, Erasmus School of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam.

They have taught and published widely on legal research methods. Their book “Contextualising Legal Research. A Methodological Guide” has been published in June 2024 by Edward Elgar.

PREREQUISITES: No prior knowledge is required.

The seminar will be interactive. Therefore, we ask participants (when possible) to prepare in advance brief answers to two questions, so that they can be discussed during the seminar:

What is the main research question of your PhD project; what are the subquestions?
A. For researchers with a doctrinal core project: Are you planning to do law-in-context research? If so, on which disciplines do you rely and why?
B. For researchers with a non-doctrinal core project: Which disciplines do you rely on and why? How do you plan to include legal doctrinal research in your project and why?

Please mail your answers (in a Word document) before October 28 to vanderburg@law.eur.nl

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ELS Academy’s No-Show Policy:

Please note that the workshops are given by experts in the field who do this on a voluntary basis. Places are often limited and we have people on the waiting list. For this reason, the ELS Academy has a strict no-show policy. In case you are prevented from attending the workshop, kindly send an email to contact@elsacademy.nl at least 48 hours before the workshop to make space for people on the waiting list.

If you do not attend the workshop without prior cancellation, your supervisor will be informed about your no-show and you will not be able to register for another ELS Academy event for the next two months. This is also very unfortunate for us, however, it can be prevented if we receive a simple cancellation via e-mail.

Thank you for understanding and see you there!