Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law

Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law
Name	Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law
Established	1970s (roots earlier)
Type	Research institute
City	Freiburg im Breisgau
Country	Germany
Parent	Max Planck Society

Contents

Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law was a research institute of the Max Planck Society located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, focusing on comparative criminal law, international criminal law, and criminal policy. The institute engaged with scholars and institutions across Europe and the world, interacting with courts, universities, and intergovernmental bodies such as the International Criminal Court, the European Court of Human Rights, and the United Nations. Its work intersected with figures and entities including Hans-Christoph Grigoleit, Rolf Schmitz, European Commission, Bundesverfassungsgericht, International Law Commission, and numerous university law faculties.

History

The institute developed from earlier German research traditions linked to the Max Planck Society and postwar legal reconstruction efforts associated with scholars like Friedrich Carl von Savigny-influenced jurists, and later directors who engaged with comparative projects involving France, Italy, United Kingdom, United States, Japan, and Brazil. During the Cold War era the institute corresponded with legal institutions including the Hague Academy of International Law and the League of Nations successor bodies, and after the 1990s it pivoted toward issues addressed by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and the Rome Statute processes. Directors and researchers collaborated with eminent jurists like Antonio Cassese, Luigi Ferri-related Italian scholars, and interlocutors from the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law and the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology.

Research emphasized comparative criminal law, international criminal law, criminal procedure, and criminal policy, engaging with institutions including the International Court of Justice, the European Commission for Democracy through Law (Venice Commission), and national supreme courts such as the Bundesgerichtshof and Cour de cassation (France). Themes included transnational crime, human rights adjudication under the European Convention on Human Rights, evidentiary standards discussed in the context of the Nuremberg Trials, and doctrinal interfaces with legal theorists like H. L. A. Hart and Lon L. Fuller. Projects addressed substantive offenses in treaties such as the Convention against Torture, international cooperation instruments like the Mutual Legal Assistance, and institutional design questions raised by the International Criminal Court and ad hoc tribunals. Objectives included producing comparative analyses useful to ministries of justice (e.g., Bundesministerium der Justiz, Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom)) and to judicial reform initiatives in transitional contexts like South Africa and Chile.

The institute functioned within the Max Planck Society research network alongside sister institutes including the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law and the Max Planck Institute for European Legal History. Leadership comprised directors, research group leaders, and visiting researchers drawn from universities such as University of Freiburg, University of Bonn, University of Heidelberg, University of Oxford, Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, University of Tokyo, Universidade de São Paulo, and University of Cape Town. Affiliates included judges from the European Court of Human Rights, prosecutors from the International Criminal Court, legislators from national parliaments like the Bundestag, and staff seconded from the Council of Europe and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The institute hosted fellows funded by programs such as the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.

Notable projects included comparative codification studies that referenced legal codes such as the German Criminal Code, the French Penal Code, and the Model Penal Code (United States), empirical studies on penal policy referencing datasets used by the World Bank and the OECD, and doctrinal analyses informing reports to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights and contributions to the drafting of the Rome Statute. Major publications and series involved editors and authors connected with journals and publishers associated with Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Springer, and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law publishing outlets. Researchers contributed to milestone works alongside scholars like Christopher B. Kaiser-adjacent authors, and produced handbooks on topics relevant to practitioners at the International Bar Association, academics at the European University Institute, and policy-makers at the European Commission.

The institute cultivated partnerships with universities and international organizations, engaging in collaborative research with the International Criminal Court, the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform and Criminal Justice Policy, the Hague Conference on Private International Law, and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. It organized conferences and workshops with participation from jurists associated with the International Law Association, the American Society of International Law, and the European Society of Criminology, and maintained exchange programs with institutions like Columbia Law School, King's College London, Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, and the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study. The institute advised truth commissions and transitional justice bodies in countries including Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Facilities supported research with specialist libraries and archives comparable to holdings at the Humboldt University of Berlin law library and linked to digital resources of the Max Planck Digital Library. The institute provided access to legal databases used by practitioners at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, historical collections referencing the Nuremberg Trials papers, and seminar spaces for visiting scholars from institutions such as Stanford Law School and Universität Zürich. Administrative and technical support facilitated publication series, doctoral supervision in cooperation with the University of Freiburg Faculty of Law, and hosting of international symposia with partners like the European Court of Justice and the Council of Europe.

Category:Max Planck Society institutions