European Society for Empirical Legal Studies

Welcome to the European Society for Empirical Legal Studies (ESELS). Our Society brings together persons and organizations from across Europe and beyond, sharing an interest and involvement in Empirical Legal Studies in both academic research and teaching.

Our upcoming Annual Conference takes place in Toulouse (France) on 19-20 June 2025. The call for submissions opens on 15 December.

Read more about our newly established ESELS Working Group on Computational Legal Methods here .

Vacancy: post-doc empirical approaches to the rule of law (more info here)

ESELS

Promoting ELS in a European context

Our European Society offers opportunities to bring together persons and organizations engaged in Empirical Legal Studies (ELS) to stimulate multi- and interdisciplinary research.

The aim of ESELS is to promote empirical-legal scholarship among European and international researchers and institutions and to encourage exchange and collaboration between empirical-legal scholars, as well as providing a European platform for upcoming researchers engaged in ELS.

ESELS is committed to foster a methodologically pluralist, intellectually open, and disciplinary inclusive academic culture actively promoting academic interest in ELS on a European level.

Upcoming ESELS event

Save the date: ESELS Conference 19-20 June 2025 in Toulouse (France)

The next Annual ESELS Conference will take place on 19-20 June 2025 and will be hosted in the heart of Europe by the Université Toulouse Capitole – the oldest university in France and one of the oldest universities in Europe (founded in 1229).

The Université Toulouse Capitole is known for its commitment to Empirical Legal Research, having organized the 2023 International Conference on ELS and in 2023 and 2024 workshops on Empirical Legal Research.