The Institute for Comparative Law and Legal Theory: Our mission

The new millennium has presented the Hungarian higher education sector, including legal training, with new challenges. The Faculty of Law at Szeged University, therefore, has taken all appropriate steps to meet these new challenges. In tune with preserving the set of values and unique character inherent in its image, it is the unconcealed intention of the Faculty to facilitate being immersed into a European scientific and academic community in which Hungary has officially held an enduring membership since the spring of 2004.

To further the achievement of these comprehensive objectives, the Institute for Comparative Law and Legal Theory is in close collaboration with those in charge of teaching Comparative Law, Legal Theory, the Sociology of Law and related courses as well as Foreign Language Legal Training Programmes.

At present, three foreign language legal training programmes are available at the Institute: the Basics of Common Law and English Legal Translation LL.M, the International and European Trade and Investment Law LL.M and a joint German Legal Translation LL.M with the University of Potsdam (Deutsches Recht mit Ausbildung zum Fachübersetzer LL.M). Moreover, students participating in the international Erasmus programme and Hungarian students are welcome to join the Comparative Legal Training Programme, which offers a wide variety of courses in English, French and German.

The Institute: A history

2003 saw a new academic research department established by the Faculty of Law at Szeged University, the Institute of Comparative Law, to make sure comparative legal research would gain more traction and the various foreign language programmes at the Faculty might be provided with a permanent venue. In addition to creating the Institute, the Faculty provided for the introduction of a compulsory course known as Comparative Legal Studies in order that the students graduating from the Faculty could master an overall knowledge about the legal systems of Europe and those around the globe, which they might inevitably get into contact with during their future work.

Since its inception, the Institute has been chaired by Prof. Dr. Attila Badó.

For a more detailed history of the Institute, click here.