Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law

Within the framework of its research activity the Institute carries out several Global Knowledge Transfer projects abroad. These projects are mainly externally funded (i.e. by the German Foreign Office, the European Union, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)) and are directed in particular to post-conflict societies aiming to establish state structures based on the rule of law and democratic principles.

The Global Knowledge Transfer activities focus mainly on supporting constitution making processes (e.g. in Somalia with UNDP funding and Sudan with EU funding) and helping to rebuild and stabilize new legal orders by training law professionals (legal clerks, judges in supreme and constitutional courts and other courts, ministry officials and other lawyers, i.e. in Afghanistan with funding by the German Foreign Office). Moreover, the Institute is involved in secondary legal education (i.e. a Masters Program in Chile with DAAD funding) and in administrative reform (e.g. in Mongolia and in Afghanistan, primarily with funds from the German Foreign Office). The Global Knowledge Transfer activities originated in the significant and successful involvement of the MPIL in the peace negotiations between North and South Sudan and the subsequent drafting of the interim constitution, which ended the longest lasting conflict in Africa and to this day provides the framework for peaceful coexistence.

By means of the Global Knowledge Transfer projects the Institute’s research results are directly rendered beneficial to development projects. The project activities are closely tied to the Institute’s research focus. In providing legal expertise the Institute reverts to the manifold research projects of its scholars in comparative public and international law. Concurrently the project activity is a valuable catalyst for the academic work conducted at the Institute. Several research projects, such as scholarly articles or PhD theses have been initiated by the Global Knowledge Transfer activity. Research on countries such as Libya and Somalia is only made feasible by cooperation with local jurists.

The Institute’s co-director Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Rüdiger Wolfrum presides over the Global Knowledge Transfer activities. Dr. Tilmann Röder coordinates the Middle East and Central Asia projects and manages the Global Knowledge Transfer Secretariat. The Africa projects are headed by Dr. Matthias Reuss.

 

Countries:

• Afghanistan
• Central Asia
• Chile
• China
• Iraq
• Libya
• Mongolia
• Somalia
• Sudan
• Turkey

 

Issues:

• Symposium on Constitutional Law in Islamic Countries

 

Thematically related research groups at the MPI:

• "E pluribus unum - Legal treatment of Diversity and Homogeneity (Otto-Hahn-Group)
  
• "Law and Governance of Development Cooperation"  (Schumpeter-Fellowship)
• Minerva Research Group on Judicial Independence