Foundations of law

Since its foundation, the faculty has placed a focus on research into the philosophical, sociological and historical references of the law. While empirical research dominated in the beginning, such as Johannes Feest’s research on the penal system, the focus has been expanded since then to include a wide spectrum of legal theory and legal philosophy problems.

This included for example, in the field of analytical legal philsosophy, the question of how to understand the concept and the mode of existence of law (cf. Lorenz Kähler, Potentialism as a Position beyond Positivism and Natural Law Theory).

From the beginning, this fundamental research has provided numerous intra- and interdisciplinary starting points of research. Accordingly, research projects carried out at the faculty in the area of foundations of law intersected with the transnationalisation of law, but also with legal policy and European unification, which were researched in particular in cooperation with the Centre for European Legal Policy. Diversity law, especially gender law, has been and continues to be researched primarily in cooperation with the Bremen Institute of Gender, Labour and Social Law.

The results of fundamental research do not only provide valuable contributions to the theoretical discussion, but are also applied to practical individual questions. They are incorporated into teaching in various areas of specialisation, and are at the centre of the area of specialisation Foundations of Law.