Law
We’re driven by transnational questions that affect us all such as global and national governance, environmental sustainability, global justice, commercial regulation, international legal relations, and post-colonialism.
This global outlook is complemented by our interest in local issues, with research that explores transformations in communities and cultures, crime and security, law and religion, social care, disability rights, family dispute resolution and the legal professions.
Approaches
Our research spans the full spectrum of approaches from the doctrinal to the theoretical. We’re a pioneer in socio-legal studies and home to the Journal of Law and Society, established in 1974.
We have a strong foundation in interdisciplinary work, where law intersects with diverse fields including sociology, psychology, history, business studies and criminology.
Since bringing together the disciplines of Law, Politics and International Relations in 2014 (and becoming the School of Law and Politics), interdisciplinary research and collaborative activities - including joint centres across these fields - have flourished.
Located in Cardiff, at the heart of a devolved nation and motivated by a commitment to civic engagement and public service, we work closely with devolved and national governments and civil society organisations. These include:
and global bodies such as:
- the European Union (EU)
- the United Nations (UN)
- the Hague Conference on Private International Law.
An inclusive research environment
To accurately represent and effectively research all facets of our discipline, we strive to create a gender-balanced and ethnically diverse team.
Over half of our female colleagues are now at Senior Lecturer level or above and 17% of our staff identify as black, Asian and minority ethnic including our Head of School, Professor Urfan Khaliq. We increased black, Asian and minority ethnic representation in our postgraduate research community, through mobilising scholarships and are working to improve representation for UK black, Asian and minority ethnic students.
How we work
Our research agenda explores many aspects of life and capitalises on the wealth of diverse expertise that we have within the School.
To help navigate the breadth of our research we have grouped our activities into complementary areas: