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About the centre

• Objective
• Background the establishment of the Centre
• An interdisciplinary and international research centre
• Management and organisation

Objective

The objective of CRS - Centre for Studies in Legal Culture is to promote interdisciplinary cutting-edge research on the relationship between law and culture. Taking as its point of departure the double assumption that law is a cultural phenomenon and that its impact is, to a great extent, culturally and socially determined, the Centre seeks to develop and support research within a wide variety of subjects related to legal culture.

The concept of legal culture

In this context, legal culture is understood as an umbrella term for a variety of approaches to law, all of which are based more or less on the common view that legal innovations and trends can only be understood by supplementing traditional legal normative analyses with broader socio-cultural analyses.

The Centre's approach and research area

The Centre's approach and research area, thus, also subscribe to the general international trend within leading-edge legal research, namely the desire to promote increased dialogue between the applied and dogmatic legal disciplines, as well as the ambition to significantly interact at the same time with other humanities and social science research.

Research issues

The research issue that forms the foundation for the CRS can be defined as empirical and theoretical legal studies. The Centre focuses especially on the following two research areas:

a) Development of an up-to-date legal methodology in the light of increasing internationalisation, including studies in concept development, new types of regulation, the emergence of new legal frameworks etc.

b) Empirical and theoretical studies in legal culture, including, in particular, studies on the history and sociology of European law and the European legal profession, and analyses of the internationalisation of law.

Background the establishment of the Centre

The establishment of the Centre

The Centre was established based on the basic premise that there is a significant need for strengthening research in, especially, the methodological aspects of law. It is our assumption that through a formalised collaboration between the various research traditions included at the Centre, a strong research environment can be created that will be able to make significant contributions to innovations in the field of legal science - both dogmatically and methodologically. The interaction within the Centre between, on the one hand, historically oriented analysis and, on the other, theoretical and sociological legal methodologies, is seen as the necessary framework for understanding law in its centuries-old traditions while at the same time contributing to the analysis of its continuous renewal.

Research activities

The aim of this kind of research effort is to promote, in the long term, jurisprudence as a frontier science with regard to research in the interaction between today's societal and legal changes. In this context, the Centre seeks more generally to strengthening the international and supranational areas of study, as well as the development of the theoretical and methodological aspects of law.

An interdisciplinary and international research centre

Basic premise

The Centre is based on the basic premise that while Danish law may be national, it belongs in a transnational and international context that is currently undergoing change via Europeanisation and globalisation processes. Consequently, it is logical for the Centre to focus on, e.g., European harmonisation efforts as well as to contribute, in a more expanded form, to comparative international legal studies and actual studies of law and globalisation.

Seminars and guest lectures

The Centre acts as a platform for the hosting of seminars and guest lectures with prominent Danish and international researchers within the Centre's area of study. The Centre seeks, in this connection, to develop open seminars as part of the conduct of research projects.

The Centre will regularly invite relevant external lecturers to lunch seminars in an effort to substantialise its daily activities. An additional aim is to host, at appropriate intervals, a large-scale conference on legal culture in Copenhagen, e.g. at the Carlsberg Academy, to publicise the Centre in the international community and make it a key player within its field of research.

Management and organisation

The Centre management is managed by Mikael Rask Madsen, Ditlev Tamm, Hanne Petersen and Henrik Palmer Olsen, with the following division of labour:

Centre management
	Mikael Rask Madsen, Executive Director Generally responsible for the Centre and its activities. As the daily leader of the Centre he represents the Centre vis-à-vis the Faculty of Law and the Dean. He is responsible for issues related to budgets andthe Centre's day-to-day operation and communication.
	Ditlev Tamm, external relations Responsible for the Centre's external relations (outside the Faculty of Law), including representation, applications for external financing and other application activities. He is also responsible for contact with and further development of the Centre's network of partners, associates and the Centre Council.
	Hanne Petersen, event manager Responsible for the practical aspects of the Centre's activities and for establishing the social environment at CRS. She is particularly responsible for organising the lunch seminars, lounge events, conferences and workshops as well as other activities. .
	Henrik Palmer Olsen, research education and training Responsible for the development and implementation of courses and other training, especially with a view to training PhD students, postdoctoral students etc. in scientific and legal methodology. He is also responsible for the development of the Centre's competencies and resources within applied research and consulting activities, including coaching in connection with applications for external research financing.