Institute of Legal and Constitutional Research
About Us
The Institute of Legal and Constitutional Research is the home of outstanding cross-disciplinary research in the fields of law, legal history and constitutionalism at the University of St Andrews. Founded in 2015, it unites leading scholars with a large and diverse student body across a wide range of fields including law, history, international relations, literature, classics and philosophy. Particular expertise lies in legal history, global constitutionalism, and legal aspects of international relations.
A distinguishing characteristic of the Institute is its vibrant community stretching beyond academia, fostering a network of researchers and practitioners across the fields of law, politics, and constitutionalism. Much of our research is focused on learning from law in action, working with legal practitioners whose expertise stretches from the local to the global. With a broad and expanding range of links that reaches across Britain, Europe, North America and as far as the Antipodes, we host a number of distinguished visiting scholars and legal professionals for longer visits, lectures, seminars, and workshops. Members of the Institute are leading participants in major international collaborative projects, in addition to providing teaching and supervision at St Andrews.
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Legal and Constitutional Studies at the University of St Andrews
Legal and constitutional studies have a long and distinguished tradition at the University of St Andrews, stretching back to the Papal authorization of the teaching of Civil Law in 1432. Three of the American Founding Fathers attended, or received degrees, from the University. In addition to hosting PhD students and postdoctoral researchers, today’s Institute offers a dedicated Master’s programme: MLitt in Legal and Constitutional Studies.
Student Law Society and Alumni
The University of St Andrews is home to a vibrant Student Law Society. We also benefit greatly from the support and active involvement of a dedicated body of St Andrews’ alumni, who work in professions across the broad spectrum of politics and law, helping us to foster future generations of St Andrews’ lawyers, policy makers, and leaders.