Annual Conference 2024
ESELS Conference Report Elche 2024
On 20-21 June 2024 the highly successful Annual Conference of ESELS took place in the city of Elche (Spain), hosted by the Universidad Miguel Hernández. For two days more than 120 scholars working in the field of Empirical Legal Studies from all over Europe and around the world convened and contributed to fruitful intellectual exchanges and collaboration on empirical-legal research and teaching.
Day 1
After a wonderful, historical address by the major of Elche on Wednesday the 19th, the Conference officially started off on Thursday the 20th with a warm welcome by ESELS President Catrien Bijleveld and opening by vice-rector Vicente Micol Molina.
In the first plenary address, keynote speaker Juan S. Mora-Sanguinetti shared his expertise on regulatory complexity and the impacts of anti-discrimination legislation and “green regulation”, followed by an engaging discussion with the audience.
From the end of the morning onwards interactive panel sessions on Empirical Legal Research took place, in which scholars from different legal backgrounds and disciplines showcased their researching findings and engaged in productive discussions with their ELS colleagues.
In the afternoon, after a delicious lunch, the ESELS General Assembly convened. The attending ESELS members elected Tilmann Altwicker as ESELS Future President (2025/26) and Rita Gsenger as ESELS Board Member.
Also, during the GA Jessie Pool was thanked for all her efforts for the Society before stepping down as past President. Finally, Julien Bétaille delivered a compelling presentation on the next ESELS Conference in the wonderful city of Toulouse, on 19-20 June 2025.
At the end of the afternoon the ice cream event with poster presentations offered more networking opportunities. The first day concluded with a social gathering with drinks at the pool of the beautiful, palm-surrounded Hotel Huerto del Cura, followed by a wonderful dinner featuring many delicious Spanish specialties.
Day 2
The second day of the conference commenced with another set of engaging ELS panel sessions, providing participants with more opportunities to explore interdisciplinary topics of interest, on criminal law, compliance, constitutional studies and European courts.
During the plenary session at the end of the morning, moderated by ESELS President Urška Šadl, two intriguing keynotes were delivered. Barbora Holá captured the attention of the audience with a compelling address on “Doing Justice after Atrocities”, followed by an insightful discussion by Mathias Siems on the most recent developments in the growing field of Comparative Empirical Studies in Europe.
After the keynotes attendees enjoyed another networking lunch, further strengthening the connections formed during the conference. The afternoon featured two additional rounds of stimulating panel sessions, offering participants the chance to delve into a diverse range of subjects and engage in fruitful dialogues, for example during the Presidential Panel on the meaning and importance of ELS for legal scholars and students.
The closing ceremony was chaired by past President Catrien Bijleveld, delivering thankful words to the outstanding local organization for making this great event possible. On behalf of the local organization Fernando Miró Llinares handed over the ESELS flag to Executive Secretary Erik Wesselius, to be displayed again during the next Annual Conference in Toulouse on 19-20 June 2025 at the Université Toulouse Capitole.
Annual ESELS Conference
ESELS Conference 19-20 June 2025: Toulouse
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.
Vacancy
Post-doctoral position in Empirical Legal Studies
We seek a candidate with an excellent research background to join our Department of Economics and Empirical Legal Studies team. The department is fully integrated into the international ELS community, with members playing a pivotal role in establishing the European Society for Empirical Legal Studies and the European Journal of Empirical Legal Studies. We aim to develop our legal research team further.
The successful candidate is expected to bring in and develop their own, internationally competitive, research agenda and collaborate with department members on their suitable existing research projects, such as field experiments on discrimination, laboratory experiments on human-machine transactions and contract design, disparities in judicial decision-making, penal policy, and other policy-relevant topics.
Candidates should possess a PhD or JSD with solid training in research methods (economics, law, or related social science). A law degree or substantial legal training would be an advantage.
Workplace: Department of Economics and Empirical Legal Studies
Supervisor: doc. Ing. Josef Montag, Ph.D.
E-mail of the supervisor: montagj@prf.cuni.cz
Details about this and other Post-Doctoral jobs at our faculty and how to apply are here https://lnkd.in/dZz_kpfH.
Stay informed about ESELS
First edition ESELS Newsletter 2024
Welcome to the ESELS bi-annual newsletter
As of 2024, the European Society for Empirical Legal Studies publishes its
newsletter twice a year. The aim is to inform ESELS members about the
Society’s activities and conferences as well as highlight the work of ESELS
members.
In this first edition, we introduce a new candidate for at-large board member
and a candidate for ESELS President. We also highlight the launch of the
European Journal for Empirical Legal Studies and look forward to the ESELS 2024 Annual
Conference in Elche.
Finally, Julien Bétaille (Associate Professor, Toulouse
Capitole University Law School and Member of the Institut universitaire de
France) sheds a light on the critical role of empirical research in
environmental law.
Happy reading!
Elche 20-21 June 2024
Constructing new indicators of regulatory complexity: the impacts of anti-discrimination legislation and “green regulation”
There is a broad social debate on how to achieve more environmentally sustainable growth, how to make labor markets more egalitarian and how to achieve greater equality in women’s access to job opportunities. One question to be resolved and analyzed is whether the strategies implemented by administrations through regulation are responding to this social debate and whether they are being effective.
Thanks to the digitization of the texts of the regulations adopted for different countries, such as Spain or France, as well as the use of “textual analysis” techniques, we can map the legislation and generate objective indicators (at national or regional level) of the evolution of these issues in the regulations. The indicators show an increase in regulation over the last decades and a high heterogeneity between countries and regions. Among other results, we identify 3,482 regulations related to renewable energies since 2000 in Spain or 11,228 (only at regional level) in the case of anti-discrimination regulations (since 1996).
These indicators of regulation (and regulatory complexity) can be used to understand their economic or social impacts through econometric models.
Are you interested in attending the keynote by Juan S. Mora-Sanguinetti during our Annual Conference? Please register on our website.
Elche 20-21 June 2024
Doing justice after atrocities – a case study of Bosnia and Herzegovina
In the aftermath of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990’s criminal law and prosecutions were considered the main and the most appropriate response to widespread atrocities committed during the conflict. Criminal law was seen not only as a reactive tool for punishing individuals but also as a panacea for broader political and societal issues considered at the roots of large-scale violence and crimes. Hopes and aspirations of justice advocates were running high.
Thirty years and hundreds of international and national prosecutions on, the time is ripe to critically evaluate the empirical reality of ‘doing justice after atrocities’ in Bosnia. Was justice done and seen to be done? Based on existing legal empirical research this keynote will explore sobering realities of atrocity prosecutions and punishment in Bosnia and Herzegovina and critically assess and discuss criminal law as a tool of reacting to and preventing atrocity crimes.
Are you interested in attending the keynote by Barbora Holá during our Annual Conference? And to attend the keynote by Mathias Siems? Please register here.
Elche 20-21 June 2024
European Studies in Empirical Comparative Law
This keynote discusses the possibilities and challenges of European scholarship on empirical comparative law, that is, research at the intersection of empirical and comparative law studies.
It shows that, while empirical legal studies in Europe lag behind developments in the US, empirical comparative law has already achieved some prominence in Europe. Based on content analysis of law journals and working papers, it provides descriptive data on the transatlantic divide in empirical legal studies and comparative law, as well as on the use of empirical comparative law. In conclusion, empirical comparative law should become an important element of empirical legal studies in Europe, although some hurdles still need to be overcome.
Are you interested in attending the keynote by Mathias Siems during our Annual Conference? Please register on our website.