Lancashire Law School Launches the Institute for International and Comparative Law

Our world renowned legal scholars launched the Institute for International and Comparative Law to offer consultancy and advice to governments, international organisations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Our leading professors in international law, Keyuan Zou and Michael Salter founded the Institute back in 2015 as part of our wider plan to use the Law School to host international conferences and develop more academic outputs.

The programme now contributes to the teaching of undergraduate and master’s courses within the Law School, and the supervision of doctoral students, along with our School of Humanities, Language and Global Studies.

Institute launched with global conference on Chinese law

At its launch, a global conference saw scholars from across the international law sector focus on the Chinese legal system and developments and reforms under Xi Jinping’s leadership. This was followed up by three separate panels exploring public, business and international dimensions.

Professor Zou, said: “It is impossible to know China well without knowing its law and legal system. The conference offered the opportunity to legal scholars at home and abroad to observe the legal developments under the current leadership of Xi Jinping and to see how China’s legal system can help the country progress towards the rule of law.”

"We created the Institute to expand our internationalisation agenda. Many staff and students within the Law School are working within this research area, we saw an opportunity to develop a series of clusters in international law with an interdisciplinary approach."

Professor Michael Salter

Institute continues to influence

Since its creation, the Institute has held conferences, seminars and workshops on Preston Campus each year, focusing on a range of maritime security and diplomacy.

Professor Zou has also delivered a variety of public lectures in the UK and abroad, in addition to serving on editorial boards, acting as a peer reviewer across the world and securing funding to continue the Institute’s work and research.