The study of law stands transformed in recent years. Traditional doctrinal and historical research must now incorporate new inter-disciplinary methodologies and take account of the internationalization of legal practice and thinking. Meanwhile, the substance of legal research must contend with the impact of new technologies and address global changes that call for legal responses.

To meet these challenges, the research mission of the Department is broad. Its aim is to provide thought leadership on legal issues that affect all aspects of social, economic, and cultural life.

Comparative methods have always been a core feature of the Department, which has sought to locate the study of national law in comparative frameworks with the law of other jurisdictions, the law of the European Union, and international legal regimes.

Building on this background, the Department’s research engages with a range of methods and approaches: from the empirical to the theoretical; from doctrinal issues to inter-disciplinary inquiry; from law and economics to law-in-action; from philosophy to legal history. From this range, the Department’s scholarly research is at the forefront of modern legal inquiry.

The Legal Studies Department works closely with the Bocconi Law School and the PhD School in Legal Studies.